Stanky-Leg Giveth And Stanky-Leg Taketh Away self.poker
submitted 5 years ago by TheMadFlyentistCheck-Raises Bottom Pair
I encountered an interesting dynamic at the cardroom last night, and, in addition to a being a crazy story, I think there is some unique live cash game strategy to be learned here:
I got to the poker room just after dark; it was crowded, but not packed. After hitting the cashier cage, I found my seat at one of the many active $1/$2 NLHE tables. As soon as I sat down, a fellow youngster to my immediate right grumbled "Welcome to the table, bro. This clown (motions to an elderly black gentleman sitting across from us) has been going all-in like every hand and turning over trash."
I thanked the guy for the heads up, and settled into my seat. Over the next half hour, I proceeded to watch the gentleman that he motioned towards play like an absolute madman. He was clearly drunk, and clearly had money to blow. His preflop raises were typically to $20 or more and he did not hesitate to shove on any flop that he so much as grazed. It should also be mentioned that every time he turned over a winner (or a few times, a bluff), he would shout "STANKY LEG!" and proceed to stand up and perform the Stanky-Leg. YouTube the dance if you are unfamiliar, and then imagine a frail, 70 year old black man doing it after throwing 4s/5s on the table for bottom-two. All of the dealers knew this man as Stanky-Leg and apparently he was typically a 5/10 player, though I've never seen him before. Honestly, it was a pretty entertaining table.
As any reasonable player would, I decided to just wait for my spot to either re-pop him pre or call him in position and hope to double through his aggression. He had been running over most of the table and had a stack of about $500 at this point. On the rare occasions that his shoves were called, he turned over hands like Qx suited, Ace-rag, and suited connectors, typically for nothing better than top pair. Of course, the "good" players at the table were berating him for playing "such trash". Luckily a guy on my left gave one very stern "Don't tap the glass" and the conversation shifted to football. Tim Tebow to be exact. Blech.
Anyway, it was probably 45 minutes after I sat down that I looked down at two bullets in middle-position. Stanky-Leg was in the big blind and I had seen him defend his blinds like a wounded animal, so I decided just to raise instead of getting tricky. I made it 15 to go (pretty standard at this point thanks to Stanky) and both he and the small blind called. Flop came A97 rainbow, Stanky bet, I shoved, SB folded and Stanky called with a ragged ace. I doubled through Stanky and offered to buy him a drink, only to find out that he had been cut off by the house. He said "Thanks anyway, youngblood" and gave me a fist-bump.
So, with mission accomplished and roughly $500 in front of me now, I complacently leaned back and settled in, fully prepared not to play anything less than top-ten hands for the rest of the evening. Then, it happened.
One of the "good" players who had been berating Stanky earlier for playing trash decides to shove pre-flop from UTG for $307. That's right.
He made some speech about how he can't seem to see any flops thanks to Stanky, so he sees no option other than to shove. It folded to Stanky, who was suddenly very serious. Like scary serious.
Stanky stacked out $307 exactly but didn't push it forward just yet. He looked up and made eye contact with the shover. "You ain't played a hand in two hours, so I know you got aces or kings," Stanky declares. "But I'll tell ya, I'm all the way live over here."
There was an awkward moment of silence as the two stared each other down, until finally Stanky said "Lez do it" and pushed his stacks in with one hand. The blinds fold. Original shover turned over KK; Stanky flipped up 8d9d. The guy with KK literally let's out a howl of victory. The woman on his left says "Good play".
The dealer assembles the pot and the whole table watches intently as he burns one card peels off three more. The window card is the six of diamonds. Full flop is 6d7dTd. Our table goes GORILLAS. Stanky literally leaps out of his seat and screams "STANKY LEEEEEEGGGGG" and busts a serious move. I started laughing like a small child on Christmas morning, as did most of the table, save of course for homeboy with KK, who couldn't be saltier. He hadn't said a word and was just sitting with fists clenched, staring at the board in disbelief.
As though it mattered, the dealer burned and turned one more. Adding insult to injury, it was a king. The table this time let out a group "OHHH" as we all briefly sympathized with what's-his-face. Even the dealer tilted his head a bit, as though he was slightly pained by the cards he had dealt. With two raps on the felt, the dealer burns one and shows us the river. The table goes silent. It's the case king.
Just when I thought that the guy with KK was gonna take his beat like a pro and quietly re-buy, he proves me wrong. "JEEEEZUS CHRIST!" he belts out, "WHAT THE **** IS THAT ****?!? I MAKE THE PERFECT PLAY AND HE FLOPS A ****ING STRAIGHT FLUSH, THEN I RUN QUADS?!?! GOD DAMMIT!.." A supervisor appeared behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. "Sir," he said, "you need to relax."
Steaming, but not stupid, the man shut up. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two crisp Franklins to re-buy. Another supervisor came over and informed Stanky that he had just won the high-hand for the hour, which ended right after the crazy hand did. The supervisor then handed Stanky $750 cash.
Stanky turns to the table and announces "Guess what? I'm buyin' all y'all muhfuggas a drank!... Except for you!" He points at the man who had KK.
Still visibly furious, the man retorted "And why is that?"
Stanky leaned back, finished piling his chips into loose stacks and said quite succinctly "Because you a whiny *****."
I'm not sure if there is a moral to this story or whether it's just one of the craziest things I've ever seem in a cardroom. I guess my takeaway is: pick your spots, and don't be a whiny *****. Guys like Stanky-Leg aren't at the table every night, you have to capitalize when they are. And if you ever run quads after someone flops a straight flush in your eye, take it like a man. Otherwise, you may cost yourself some respect, or more importantly, a free drink.
-TMF
https://www.reddit.com/r/poker/comme...g_taketh_away/
