"If an old gambler offers you a deal that seems too good to be true. . . run."

I was playing at an underground game near the financial district in NYC. A guy -- probably about 45ish and known to many of the players in the game -- comes in and plays for awhile. Doesn't seem like a pro, but I've never seen him before so I dunno.

The table was talking about heads up play, and typical donkish stuff. Somehow, the topic comes around to PLO8.

He perks up and says to the table: "I love PLO8. I'll give anyone 2:1 on their money to play heads up PLO8. Whatever you win, I'll double it. Whatever I win, I keep."

This (obviously) gets my attention: "I don't know of any poker game that I wouldn't take 2:1."

Him: "What stakes?"

Me: "Let's do 5/10, buy-in 2000"

Him: "I like to play bigger. Let's do 25/25, buy-in 2000. Three games."

The topic changes a few times, and I get a little wary of the bet. He doesn't seem like a fish. If he was very confident of his skill, why would he want to play shallower?

Anyhow, when and if I run into this guy again I'm considering rekindling the challenge and taking him up on his offer. Naturally, I'm wary tho, of taking anything that seems like a sucker bet, especially in an underground with potentially unscrupulous individuals.

Advice? Does anyone know of this guy or similar offers in the NYC underground? Definitely seems to fall into the "too good to be true" category, right?

dont do it at an underground place in which you don't fully trust. Preferably at casino


At winstar some guy walks in and offers 2:1 to flip coins with people. Guy takes him up on deal and gets stuck 30k. Dont trust sketchball offers like that

clorox- it's more than possible it's legit and that he wants the stacks to be shorter just because he doesn't want it to take forever. Obv only do it at a casino though imo and make it bigger if he needs travel incentive. Sell pieces if necessary.

My avatar was serious (at least he seemed serious) about playing me hu NLHE for 50k or something a few years ago- at a casino. It was really "too good to be true" and I got spooked. Maybe I was the mark or maybe his backers were the mark or maybe there was no mark. IDK, I opted to not pursue it because I could not see his angle.

Also, HSNL (despite its 100% troll rate in strat threads) is actually very good for threads like this. I'd cross-post it there for sure. GL.

This doesn't sound like an angle to me so much as it sounds like a person suffering from inflated ego disease.

Reminds me of a HU 10/20 match I played a couple years ago where my opponent offered me the button permanently in exchange for action. I was suspicious but later came to the conclusion that he wasn't an angler, just a bad judge of his own skill level.

What game were you sitting in when he offered this? Maybe if you were playing $1/$2 he figured no one had a BR big enough to challenge him and was trying to be a bit cocky...but this could be entirely wrong. I knew a guy at a home game I used to play in back when I was playing $.25/$.50 that would always offer $100 hu SnG's to anyone because he 'knew' no one had that kinda dough and wanted to be baller. I took him up on the offer one day and after 3W in a row for me...he never offered it again haha. This was back when $300 was enough $$$ to live off of for 3 months i.e. 15 or 16

Stacks on the table were between 1k and 3k. We were playing 5-5 with optional mississippi to 25. That got bumped up to 50 shortly thereafter.

While he may have been engaging in some dick-wagging, there were plenty of guys there rolled enough to fade multiple 2k hu matches.

HU4ROLLZ itt

Like others have said, I would not do this in an underground room unless I'm real sure about the dealer and the surroundings, but if he's willing to do it in a casino (and you can find one who'll deal the game for you), why not go for it if you understand PLO-8 (and the basic strategy differences between high only games and high low games in general). He may just think you are a high only guy who does not have that understanding (and many players don't).

I doubt the guy would announce his deal to the entire table (including the dealer) if he were going to cheat you. More likely you would have been 'selected' to play such an awesome game. Kinda like how Madoff didn't put huge ads in the WSJ, it was all word of mouth. Most likely this guy is just showing some bravado and will never play you, or a small chance he is just rich and dumb.

Is your avatar the iceman? Limit hold'em player?

yes

Wow, you missed the biggest poker vacation cruise liner there was. FLoated on by eh?

He plays short at 2-5 almost everyday now, claiming to be great and playing like a bad-nit.


Wow

But yeah, take the guy up on it, just not anywhere except in a public room with public dealer etc.

Haha, I respect his hustling abilities and longevity and overall pleasant disposition. I also respect variance and the painfull pace of live hu. Having said that, yeah...

Painful slow game, ahhh geez its the worst ur right.

Variance????? You? Cmon.

I didn't say I was afraid of it, just that I respect it--> there's no guarantee I would have won the match (even if it somehow was legit).