Rounders 2
The opening scene:
We see the beautiful Niagara Falls on the screen. Majestic...the work of mother nature. The seventh wonder of the world. Eons of motion. Constantly flowing, never stopping for anything, or anyone. Always on the move. Even during those frigid New York winters, when it can be -30c outside with the wind-chill. It still flows, without a purpose. There doesn't need to be one. It doesn't need one. But that's not what this story is about. Our story involves rivers too. Just of the different kind.
[Just then the camera pans to the right...and we see a beautiful neon lit sign...]
Fallsview Casino...We deal excitement. Come play.
Come play with the Sponsored Pros.
[Betman voice over]
You know I can just turn this truck around get on the 410/QEW...cross the bridge and be there in about 55 minutes...even during rush hour.
I'd just have to take the 407 instead. You see...the truck that I drive now has a transponder. It's not my truck. I am just driving it for this guy I know. Night shift, making deliveries. Shipping stacks.
Sure 407 charges you for the convenience. But it's worth every penny..$7.81 each way. But we can afford it. We are a Sponsored Pro. $5 contract. I signed on the dotted line by opening one of those Golden Breasts.
I know its not a good deal. The Suits know it too. But They control the market. So either their terms, or no deal. We are a nobody right now. So we have to work our way to the top.
I have always believed in myself. As far back as I can remember. Trying to do the impossible. Daring to think different. Always playing from the heart. Win or loose. I always believed in my game. Believed in myself.
Even when everyone said I was terrible, that, I couldn't play poker.
2021shipit said I couldn't even play preflop! Can you believe that? Who can not play preflop? All possibilities exist.
The flop has not even hit the felt and you already folded? Well you are just a quitter. Happy to lose less. Not me.
I took a meeting. Combined databases. Even though it is against the terms. But we do it anyway, for teaching purposes only. You see...we have all been fooled. Any two cards can win. It's the truth. Go check in your databases.
In vast majority of the hands that get dealt, on any table in the world, live, or online, what would have been the eventual winning hand often gets folded preflop. You have been folding winners. I have been folding winners. We all have been folding winners!
So how can this guy on the interwebs know anything. Surely, he doesn't know. He couldn't know. I was certain he doesn't even play poker.
Naturally, I wrote him a letter and told him what I thought of him. Even offered him a deal. But he declined. As expected. He said he can't play online. I never did hear back from him about my read. Yo 2021shipit... Bro....at least tell me if my read was right? It doesn't matter. Like I said. We are a Sponsored Pro now ($5 Contact).
Sort of like a 10-day contract in the NBA...Designed by the Suits to make sure I am legit. I am. I always have been.
I don't know if I ever told you...few hours ago I was playing on Pokerstars...the microstates. 10 NLz. Only have enough for one buy-in. I should probably save it, look for a safer spot. Something is bounds to come up. I have been doing well on the Spin n Goals. Since we started playing professionally. We have played 10 games thus far. With a record of 6 wins and 3 second place finishes and 1 third. I like my chances. Against any one.
We started with 500 starcoins....good for two toonies and a loonie. Starscoins are the hottest new Crypto. I need to invest in Crypto...All the Poker Pros are doing it. Since I am a Sponsored pro, I too must invest... to belong.
We have Starcoins. I received 500 Stracoins as part of the rookie Sponsered Pro contract. They have been just sitting in my account. Time to get in action. Time to invest. Invest in ourselves. In our future. I am the future. But we are smart about it. We diversify our portfolio a little bit. I like emerging markets....untapped resources...anything that has not been overly explored. Lots of unknowns, so high variance, but we know there is still value there.
So I trade my 500 Starcoins, for 3 Spin n Goal tickets. Two $2 and one $1 Spin N goal ticket. That was all what we had to our name. 3 Spin N Goal tickets. I used one of the $2 Spin N Goal tickets and tried my luck to Spin it up. Prize pool was $4. But we lost. Third place. Good for Bronze medal in the Olympics. But nothing on Pokerstars. Nothing but experience, to get better and try again. That's what I did. I played again. Just to be safe, the $1 Spin N Goal ticket first. We did better. We fought harder. We got heads up, built ourselves up a 4 to 1 chip lead. But in the end Suits had other plans. They wanted to test my mental toughness. If they are going to sponsor me, they need to know I have the right stuff. You can't crack under pressure. I don't. I am Betman. I **** diamonds under pressure. So we lost. Second Place. Silver medal. I didn't care. For me, it showed that I belong.
I can play with the best of them. So I take a deep breath, and we take our last shot. The last $2 Spin N Goal Ticket. My ticket to the la la land. I used it to sign up for another game. The prize pool came up as $4. That's good enough for me. I play the best poker of my hour. And win. That's right. I came first. In three short games.. I went from third to second to first.
Naturally gifted. Right then and there, I started a new challenge. To play 100 Spin N Goal games. No bankroll needed. We have $4.
That's is plenty for the great ones. So we started. Kept a tally, won our first game as a professional, the second, the third. By the time we finished playing the first 10. Our record was 6 wins, three seconds and a solo third.
I felt like it is unfair. This game is holding me back. I need tougher competition. So I switch gameplan. We play cash games instead.
My specialty.
That brings us back to that 10NLz game. While I am looking around, who do I see on the tables.. well.. it's Chan. Jackie Chan? No. Johnny Chan? Nope. Who then? Cpporu Chan. The Crypto Billionaire? The one and the same. He plays on Pokerstars?
Sure does. Go look him up. I decided you know what. This is the guy I am going to test myself against. You want to be the champ, you gotta take out the champs. Champions of life. So I took a seat. No you didn't!. I did. I buy into the game for everything I had in my online account
at that moment. Around $9 something. I was patient. Built my stack up a little. Playing my game. Just waiting for the right move. Against the Crypto Billionaire.
Soon enough it came up.
Here's the hand to let you know how it all went down.
PokerStars Zoom Hand #227555512443: Hold'em No Limit ($0.05/$0.10) - 2021/06/13 14:44:32 ET
Table 'Aludra' 6-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: SteffaniTS ($10 in chips)
Seat 2: Domraczej ($10.49 in chips)
Seat 3: Ken91 ($11.37 in chips)
Seat 4: Betman Win$! ($11.59 in chips) Sponsored Pro.
Seat 5: picasoh ($10 in chips)
Seat 6: cpporu chan ($18.52 in chips) The Crypto Billionaire.
Domraczej: posts small blind $0.05
Ken91: posts big blind $0.10
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Betman Win$! [3s As]
Betman Win$!: raises $0.15 to $0.25
picasoh: folds
cpporu chan: calls $0.25
SteffaniTS: folds
Domraczej: folds
Ken91: folds
*** FLOP *** [5s 8c Ad]
Betman Win$!: bets $0.20
cpporu chan: calls $0.20
*** TURN *** [5s 8c Ad] [9c]
Betman Win$!: checks
cpporu chan: checks
*** RIVER *** [5s 8c Ad 9c] [Ah]
Betman Win$!: bets $0.60
cpporu chan: calls $0.60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Betman Win$!: shows [3s As] (three of a kind, Aces)
cpporu chan: shows [8d 8h] (a full house, Eights full of Aces)
cpporu chan collected $2.15 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2.25 | Rake $0.10
I was shell-shocked. Not because I had lost. Not because I lost money.
I have lost plenty of money before. I ship stacks with the best of them. Win or loose. The outcome of any given hand never really mattered to me. Never has. Never will. You see I just play from the heart. I have always believed, there are no bad players...just bad plays. So I focus on just making the best decisions. Outcomes be dammed.
After this hand, I was struggling to hold my grip on reality. Not for the amount of money that I lost. In fact, the exact opposite. The amount of money I did not lose.
You see, I should have lost my stack. Almost anyone would in that hand on that river card. In this spot. So why didn't Cpporu Chan take all my money. I should have paid that man his money. He beat me. Straight up.
Instead, he just calmly collects whatever I put in on the river. Pays
Rake. And just walks away, without saying a word. The hand still haunts me.
I have been trying to figure out what does it all mean? Have I got it all wrong? Is it possible I am not as good I think I am ?
It is debatable what is more dangerous for the mind, lack of information or misinformation. In the former, you don't know any better, in the latter you begin to think you know better.
I thought I could take on Chan. I was absolutely convinced that I have what it takes to make it. To make it on 10NLz.
I have a sponsorship ($5 contract) to prove it.
But Chan single handedly crushed my hopes and dreams. I needed answers.
So I call my old friend Mike the Mouth. I met Mike while He was doing 2-5 for a small betting scam. Nothing big But the Feds just wanted to make an example out of someone. Unfortunately for Mike, his name came up. I was still doing my rotations at law school so his case came up to my desk. I took it pro bono. Had a good conversation with mike about the whole thing. He was so glad I was eager to help him with his case. I was glad I could help. I did the best I could. So we have kept in touch ever since. Occasionally running into each other in the hallways, during the series, always on our way to and from the Men's room.
I call Mike on his podcast and tell him...mike I need help. He asked...what happened. I said I busted through my Pokerstars distributions chest again this month playing the twister slots on Pokestars after that hand with Chan.
He is like, I have told you many times, quit fooling around. You are not a slots player. You should work on you poker game instead! I agreed.
Betman: Mike, can you help?
Mike-the-mouth: Are you in trouble again?
Betman: Yeah bro, I am, but not with Suits. I owe.
Mike-the-mouth: Gambling debt?
Betman: Yes, and it is all mine. I was supposed to get stacked in a hand. But I didn't.
Mike-the-mouth: I understand. What will it take for you to be free of this?
Betman: I need 10,000 pennies.
Mike-the-mouth: $10,000 dollars! I don't have that kind of money! You know I play high stakes poker for a living.
Everyone is solid. There is no money in high stakes poker.
Betman: No, NO Mike. I don't think you heard me right.
I don't need 10,000 dollars. I need 10,000 pennies. A Benjamin.
Mike-the-mouth: I hate to see you like this, and I want to help. If it is just a Benjamin. I can just drop it off later.
Betmath: It can't be later. Needs to be right now.
Mike-the-mouth: It's 12:30AM on Sunday Morning. I am watching Gman's survivor reruns on Netflix. Plus, there is no banks open right now.
Betman: I know, I am not going to the bank. I am going to Shoppers Drug Mart. And going to get prepaid MasterCard to deposit. Again.
Mike-the-mouth: You know how much activation fees they charge you on those!
Betman: I know, $7.95 for every Benjamin. It is a ripoff.
Mike-the-mouth: You know after that hand on Live at The Bike with Gman, I hated how the Brat did not let me keep my whole stack and instead asked to take his cut right then and there. It nearly broke me. Certainly broke my heart! So I understand how it feels when you want to ship stacks. I know the life that you have to lead and to do that to another is mitzvah and for that: I owe.
Mike the mouth: [Takes a rolled up Benjamin out of his scooter seat] So you take this Benjamin and get yourself out of this trouble. You hear me?
Betman: I promise, I can pay it back.
Mike-the-Mouth: I know you can. You are Betman! Good luck.
I take the Benjamin and ask my friend to borrow his truck. He is like, what do you need the truck for? There is no game. We are in a pandemic. Everything is shut down in Canada. Casino is closed. No more shipping stacks at night at Niagara by the rivers. I am like I know. I am not going to play at Niagara. I am going to play online instead. I need the truck to go to Shoppers Drug Mart and get me prepaid Master Card for $100, plus the $7.95 activation fee.
He kindly let me borrow the truck. I drive up to the Shoppers drug mart. It's 12.59 am now. Lots of weirdos in the parking lot. Most just puking around. Probably just drinking in the parking lot. Covid has shut everything down. Nothing to do, but wait. Wait for you turn for the vaccine. I am not getting that shot. Not yet. Not till the Emergency Authorization label comes off.
If it is so safe, why let drug companies off the hook? Let them be held accountable if something goes wrong.
Anyhow, I am not worried about Covid-19. No sir, tonight, I'm here to take another kind of shot. I walk into the Shopper's Drug mart and ask the cashier for $100 pre-paid card. She tried to sell me pre-paid Visa. No it won't work. I know. I need Mastercard. The one that reads.. "The Perfect Gift" Because that is truly what it is. I can see the look in her eyes as she hands me the card. Probably wondering, what does this guy needs the prepaid Mastercard at this hour on a Saturday Night? She doesn't know me. She can judge all she wants. I know myself. Some day I will be on TV. And then she will have a story to share.
So this is where we are now. I have a pre-paid master card in my hand. Good for 10 stacks on the 10NLz online at Pokerstars. I only have one mission...to ship stacks....get it all in by the river. Max RAKE. We Sponsored Pro. We don't whine about the rake. We just get better and beat the game instead.
Betman: Folding doesn't breed winners. You either get busy playing any two cards or get busy losing less.
In the meantime, keep reading the hand histories. Eventually, your name will get lit up along mine. I am gonna make you famous! I am Betman.
*Legal disclaimer* Please play responsibly. I am not a professional poker player . I just play like one. The names in this story are all made up. There are not based on anyone with a similar sounding name.
Last edited by Betman Win$!; 06-13-2021 at 09:13 PM.
