LOL Poker Players and The Probelm with the Lifestyle

Part One - LOL Poker Players

So I was grinding the other day at a 2/5 table when a guy sits down or moves next to me. I'm pretty talkative at the tables and I can obviously see that he is playing very aggressive with a wide range (a ton of hands). He's youngish looking so I give him a little shit about it and we get to chatting about poker and the donkaments (tourneys for the uninitiated) that he is playing during the series. He tells me about how he usually plays 5/T and his life traveling the world following the various tournament series with the big action and big buy-ins. Basically he is far more baller than I am. Anyway, his name is Luis and he wishes me well after remarking that he just can't take 2/5 seriously.

Strangely enough I end up seeing him around a lot over the next 24 hours and the three of us (me, him and Chad) hit it off pretty well so we hang out a bit. He's a really nice and chill guy and while I do question some of the moves he makes in donkaments I don't judge too harshly because I am not a donkament player and could be completely wrong. One of the most awesome stories that he tells us is about playing in a WSOP event with durrrr (the event during which durrrr got second) and how he sat next to durrrr for ~2 days in a row. Apparently he finished in the 30s in the same event. We make sure to get the correct spelling of his name to so that we can look him up on hendonmob.

And what do you know, he only has 22k in cashes lifetime. Not this year, lifetime. Turns out he is mostly full of shit (some of the time?). I then look up the results of the event he claimed to have gotten 30-whatever in and what do you know...there is no one matching his name or anything close to that name who cashed in the event AT ALL. He is a Venezuelan citizen with a US Green Card but I can't find a record of him ever cashing for more than 12k anywhere.

But he's a super nice guy and sometimes he isn't lying! It just doesn't make any sense. Even if he just travels the world playing 5/T or 10/20 during these series he is still considerably more baller than I am. I saw him talking to some of the 5/T guys in the poker room here so they definitely know him. Maybe he is the table fish and just has a rich family or is independently wealthy at 25. So strange. Kind of fits considering one of the hands he told us about. Just a terrible, terrible line.

He also went on about his hot friends and how he only dates super rich girls. And that seems to be true. He introduced us to his friend Lily who, as it turns out, is also some kind of super baller. I was introduced to her when she was at the blackjack table in the midst of losing however much money. She told me that she plays the same things Luis does: 5/T, 10/25 and bigger buyin donkaments. When I asked her for an estimate of how much she has lost lifetime in the pit she told me ~250k. Lol wtf. My number is somewhere around 5k I would guess and I am very proud to say that I have not played any blackjack the entire time. There really is nothing that compares to the energy at the craps table when a shooter is hot though. I definitely saw a guy sitting with ~30k yesterday at craps with a black on the pass line ($100) and $600 or so most of the numbers. But I digress. So at this point I am thinking, "wtf is everyone more baller than me fml". Today though Luis told me that Lily is a terrible poker player and that she is being backed/sleeping with someone who is actually good. So that made me feel better I guess. It's kind of amusing to think that there are lots of "professionals" out there who suck at poker but come from money. People's capacity to delude themselves knows no bounds.

Part Two - The Problem with the Lifestyle and LOL Poker Players

It's Saturday night in the nicest casino in Atlantic City and there are people everywhere. An absurd concentration of beautiful women and money pass by me in waves as I sit here typing away at my computer in the lounge that is reserved for hotel guests in a T-shirt and jeans. I think there is a lingerie themed party going on somewhere judging by some of these outfits. It's 12:15am and I woke up less than 2 hours ago. I am living in a casino for 3 weeks. I still have to work for 6+ hours as soon as I finish typing this.

And these are just some of the problems with the Lifestyle. Games are always best when recreational players don't have to be at work. That is, the evening, the weekend and holidays. Those are also the best times to go out and party with friends. Clearly I can't work and party and I do need to eat. So it's unfortunate.

Poker also has its darker side. I was playing last night and two guys sat down at my table. One of them was clearly mentally challenged in some way. I couldn't wait to play with him. Another one was clearly drunk. Same thing. Half of them are degenerate gamblers (this includes pros) while a bunch more are lying scum. There are good people everywhere but of all the places in the world the casino probably has the smallest percentage of them. Even prison is better I think; I once visited a prison with my high school Law class and met some nice guys. Meh, maybe it's close between prison and the casino but that is not exactly the most ringing endorsement I have ever given.

Of course, I have also met some amazing people through poker. People who's outlook on life is similar to mine, people that are incredibly nuanced in their thought and think deeply about the game, people that love the game as much as and often more than I do. It's unfortunate and strange that such a wild variation exists on the felt, but I guess that is everywhere and losing money happens to brings out the darker parts of people that usually remain hidden in deep crevices.