More About C-Dog
There is so many ways to make new acquaintances and form relationships in all walks of life. For me and my Degen comrades, the common denominator was poker. That’s exactly what started my friendship with C-Dog.
A couple years after my first encounter of polling his dance credentials, I was invited to a local card game by Max Cuckold FKA “The Slot Guru”. This was around the time Max and a couple of his friends believed I was a pro. They were very excited to have me grace their presence on the table-top felt they had in a backroom of a local watering hole. I arrived on time and was able to get a seat before the game was full. Blinds were 50/$1 and Max was the bank. Everyone was buying in for $20 to $60. I requested two hundred bigs like a boss. A few of the players looked at me sideways like I was trying to show off. But one player in particular seated directly across from me stood his ground. This young 20-year-old wasn’t going to get pushed around by me. He quickly pulled out his wallet and handed Max a crisp $100 bill to add to his $80 stack. I then realized that he in fact buys in for the most amongst this circle.
They’re all chit-chatting with each other and I’m pretty sure I dove right into the action. Any hand I was in, the kid who topped off would study me. I started to feel like I’ve met this goofy kid before. Frail, lanky, blonde, glasses. But it finally clicked when someone said “C-dog, it’s on you!” while he was staring me down after a flop bet. We started to talk after that as we confirmed we both remember each other. But most of my talk was needles trying to get him going because he clearly didn’t like how I was pushing the table around. He was comfortable as the table-captain, but was outmatched with me present. I went on to win about $300ish, mostly C-Dogs money. It was easy pickings with this young upcoming group of players. They weren’t as educated with Black Friday happening prior to this game.
As time went on I was invited to more games by Max and would always see C-Dog grinding. I pretty much got the best of him, but he would try his hardest to bust or bluff me. Kind of got expensive for him. We became friendly though considering he was a Degen with a great sense of humor. I was already deep into casino life and would tell him about all the gambling the casino has to offer. It wasn’t long before he started to accompany me on poker runs and even overnight benders.
I can still remember his first overnight stay after we were friendly enough for me to invite him. I had a nice suite at Foxwoods for the weekend. I got a text from him asking if I wanted to go because he planned on going up. I guess a girl he knew was turning 21 and a group of his friends were going. I told him I was already there, to come through. I had Poker Jay and Chris from CT already with me. Also had 2 girls on the way. C-dog was only 20 and it showed when he knocked on the door with a backpack like a college kid. He was shocked when he seen the suite. I told him he could crash with us, so he immediately tried to return the favor. This is when he unzipped the backpack and offered us loose beer cans which we all declined. We had Goose bottles on ice, with mixers on deck. Then his age really showed when he started shot-gunning these Natty Ice cans.
After a couple drinks, the girls I knew showed up. This got C-Dog riled up even more. He was intervalling shot-gunning beers with hitting his vape at a high-rate of speed. Age again began to show with him looking like a light-weight. But we were all geared up feeling good once we hit the floor for some gambling. He was having so much fun he completely forgot about his group of friends who were down there. They were amateurs and he liked how I rolled. Considering his bank-roll was pretty short for weekend table minimums. I offered to go partners. I matched his $300 and we took turns firing away while table hopping. Between the steady flow of liquid spirits and us commanding the winning spirit we managed to get our roll up to $4k before he passed out from going too hard. Being a seasoned vet already, I kept gambling. I blew through that $4k on roulette in the early hours of the morning while he was upstairs dreaming about how to spend his winnings. I was pretty sick about how fast it all went. He was even sicker when he asked about his share when he awoke. I told him I lost it while he was sleeping, but gave him his original $300 from the additional $1,700 I had on me which was locked in the safe. He went downstairs with that $300 and tried to recreate the magic from the night before. Wasn’t the same and he was quickly bust.
I was really torn on what to do, nobody likes losing, and even worse having to pay for additional losses. The way I seen it, I gave him the money he brought so he was even. He had a great night and was able to leave even after everything. Also he would never have been on a winning streak like that without me controlling the decisions. But it was his first big win and he really wanted the winnings. He was a friend and a very nice kid who never did me wrong. So it pained me either decision I had to make. We found a middle ground and I gave him $1k once we returned home. So he got $1,300 total back from me. He was content. Also locked up a win for him with me giving it to him once we were back in town. That winning night definitely set a burning desire in him for many future casino trips. Raised the bar for expected results.
We got closer as time and Degen trips went on. We got along great with the whole drinking/gambling combo. When he finally turned 21 I got him the Studio suite with connector and pool table. All his guests were blown away. By this point he was hook, line, and sinker. He would try to make as many trips as his work schedule allowed. He loved the VIP feel he would get. He was truly about that Degen-Life. Loved every aspect aside from the losing. The losing put him in a predicament to keep upgrading jobs. Big-Y wouldn’t cut it, so he got into the auto industry for big franchises. He eventually worked his way up to lead service adviser. That required an abundance of work hours. So his overnight stays turned into us leaving the casino at 5:30am after a long night of gambling. I can still remember driving home while he slept and his alarm for work going off as I drop him off at home. He loved the fast life, but it came at a cost.
Fast forward to September 2016. Between C-Dog’s work schedule and my ejection status, our trips became sparse. I was going hard in my FL venture and he was catching wind about the fast-life through social-media. I got a call from him one night while I was down there. He was kind of beating around the bush asking what I was up to. He was surprised to hear things were legit given my infamous track-record. Sounded like he wanted in, so I told him I would talk to him a bit more when I got home. I honestly didn’t take him too seriously because he was deep into his job and a 5-year relationship. So when he followed up with me when I returned I was surprised. I explained the whole gig to him. He seemed compelled to take a shot and move down to FL, leaving everything behind. He initially planned on telling his girl he found a new job once he arrived there. That was outrageous to me. I insisted he let her know and travel back and forth to which he agreed. He planned to stay with us at first, then get his own apartment. He was going to buy and sell cars, keeping all profit minus $150 rep fee. He also decided he was going to start his first sale with his late-model Impala that only had 65K on it. He got it from an old guy for $600 who brought it in for service. The guy didn’t want to pay the recommended service cost and opted to take C-Dog’s offer to purchase. So he saves on a plane ticket and has a car already lined up for sale. That worked out fine too, because Max was driving down the SUV I bought.
The day of departure finally arrived. C-Dog pulled up in his low mileage Impala filled with belongings. He had his TV, golf clubs, X-box, full wardrobe, and some other miscellaneous items for his future apartment. His height also came in handy aside from our pick-up basketball games. He helped strap my poker table to the roof of the SUV Max was driving. We said our good-byes, but wouldn’t be long. I would be seeing them in 2 days when I arrived by plane.
Not sure if C-Dog knew exactly what he had in store for him, but this Degen had balls. Left everything behind, chasing the Degen dragon.