NYC Underground: Cash Game Mania

NYC Underground: Cash Game Mania

Posted on October 21, 2007

New York's Upper East Side. Home to old money, overpriced boutiques, and expensive restaurants. Old buildings adorn the tree-lined blocks, and - unbeknownst to the normal person - New York's largest, most successful card club is nestled six stories above street level. It was mid-July, and the city was hotter than a sauna in Cuba. I had arrived in town that night to meet with Adam, an old friend and poker buddy from college. Back at Brandeis, he would whip my ass in the games he hosted at his place. However, playing in London really made my game take shape, and I was eager to have my day; ready to rip him to shreds.

Adam's a good player. He routinely cleaned up the games at school, and he graduated to Atlantic City where he won a few tournaments, one for more than six grand. If he dedicated more time to the game, he could easily parlay it into a successful second income. However, he just got married, so he probably won't be playing much poker anymore. Tonight was one of his last hurrahs. We were going to get a few six-packs, meet up with his buddies, play some poker - and then the two of us were headed to the club to play for a little bit more than the $20 a game we played back at school.

The competition at the home game was weak. Ten of us were crushed in like sardines around a tiny table with beer spilling on everything. French fries and ketchup were getting smeared on the couches, pizza grease was dripping onto the felt. It was a mess. There were too many people, but we made the best of it and had a great time. Adam managed to win the first tournament, then took third in the next one, scratching up some stake for the tables at the club. I, on the other hand, was bounced out of both tournaments early when my kings ran into aces, and my aces were outflopped by queens. I had fun, but it was a total bummer to lose twice.

Before we knew it, we were drunk. Too much beer and not enough food in a two-hour span. We decided it was the perfect time to leave and go to the club. We walked a few blocks from the condo where his friend lived, and we found ourselves face-to-face with an office building. What? Were we in the right place? Adam pushed me toward the door, so I opened it. No alarms. We were doing all right so far. I looked at the board that listed the business, and they were all chiropractors. Then there was one that stood out. We chanced it, getting into the elevator and stopping at the sixth floor.

The doors opened into what looked like a closet. Before Adam could think about what to do, I walked out of the elevator and opened a door a few feet away. Before our eyes was a sight to behold. Besides being flat-screen TV heaven, there was a full bar and something like 20 tables. But the club was also packed to the brim. We had to wait for seats. We decided to play $1-$2 no-limit, with a $200 maximum buy-in. Adam and I split up, playing at different tables. I bought in for the max, while Adam bought in for $100 at the other one.

My table was unbelievably loose. It was a poker player's dream. Sitting to my right was an older, loud drunk guy who let everybody know that he had just won $8,000 playing online poker. He was throwing away money left and right. Three players were sitting on stacks of more than $1,000. To the drunk's right was a 15-year-old guy wearing a PartyPoker hat, and he had about $400 in front of him. To his right was the real story. His name was Todd, and he was on enough cocaine to kill an elephant. Todd was the table maniac; raising and reraising every pot. The guy to my left told me that Todd had already dropped about $1,500 at the table, and he just kept on throwing away more and more. To Todd's right were three novice players, all Asian men who worked on Wall Street. The other few players were young, and played textbook poker. Nothing fancy for them; they were just eking out a small profit.

I got mixed in quickly. A few hands in, I was dealt the Adiamond Kdiamond, and the action was raised to $12 from early position. There were three callers, and instead of just calling, I raised to $75. The player in early position pushed for the rest of his chips, which was about $400. Surprisingly, the player to my right called, and I just shrugged and called as well. We were off to the races, and I knew it before I turned my cards up. I figured one guy had Q-Q, and he did, but I was surprised when the other one turned over 6-6. The main pot was around $625, which was all I was eligible for. The flop was all rags, but the turn brought a beautiful ace. The river bricked out, and I ended up winning a pretty nice pot. What a good way to start!

I had turned my $200 into $625 before I even began to tangle with Todd. I folded for a while, thankful that I had hit that ace. Eventually, I was dealt A-J suited, a hand that too many people go broke on. I limped in, and when Todd raised to $20, that A-J looked like A-A. I reraised to $80 to isolate him, and it worked. Todd called, and we took a flop. Before we saw it, Todd said, "If I hit anything at all, I'm all in." Todd had about $800 in front of him, slightly covering me. The flop wasn't my suit, and it was 7-8-4, completely missing me. He was first to act, and immediately announced that he was all in. I went into the tank. I was almost sure that I was ahead, but a wrong call would cost me around $600. I simply couldn't call with ace high, as much as I wanted to, so I folded. I think he knew this, too, and to rub it in, he showed me A-9 offsuit. That hurt. Badly. I could have called and had my money in as a huge favorite, but instead, I folded the possible winner. C'est la vie, I guess. I erred on the side of caution, but it was soon to pay off.

Todd made it $15 to see a flop almost every hand. So, I decided to wait it out until I picked up something good. I glanced over to Adam's table and saw that he had tripled his stack, so we weren't leaving anytime soon. It didn't take long to pick up a premium hand, I had to wait only a few minutes. I was in the big blind with K-K, and action was raised to $12 from the player to the left of the under-the-gun position. Todd raised to $40, and I reraised to $200, confident Todd would call. The original bettor contemplated forever, looking at me as if he was saying, "You better have it." He eventually folded, and action was on to Todd. He still had me covered, and I had slightly more than $400 behind at this point.

"Whatcha got over there boy? You got a pair? I got a pair. I got a good pair."

We had been talking back and forth to each other ever since he pushed me off the A-J. It wasn't your friendly conversation though, it was all snide comments and sarcasm. I responded, "No Todd, I've got nothing. That's why I raised to $200. I'm just trying to take your $40, then I'm getting up to go home when you fold. So stop playing around like you're going to call and let the other people play while I get up with this money." What happened next was exactly what I wanted. I had completely ruled out Todd having A-A, because he wouldn't be talking to me if he did. He would have just immediately pushed all in, knowing that I would be calling after reraising to $200.

"You think I'm just gonna call, boy? You're wrong. I know what you got. You ready for a coin flip?" I was dancing inside. I had no reason to believe that Todd was being dishonest. After all, he was on drugs. I don't think deceptiveness comes so easy when you're coked up, but then I wouldn't know.

"What do I got, Todd? You think you know? Before you fold, tell me what you think I've got."
"I ain't foldin'. I'm all in, kid. Show me your A-K."

Without speaking, I smiled at him while I pushed all of my $600-plus chips into the middle of the felt. I wanted to see his face when he saw my cards. We had a pot of slightly more than $1,200, easily the largest of the night. A few people from my table stood up in anticipation.

He flipped over J-J with satisfaction. I slow-rolled him a little bit. I wanted to savor this moment, get Todd back for all the underhanded comments he made to me and the entire table the whole night. I had a pained look on my face when he showed me the J-J, and he was like, "Ha! Ha Ha! I got you! I was right!"

"Shit, Todd, looks like it's a two-outer."

"What, you got tens? You ain't no good, boy."

I smiled. "Nah, dude, I got kings. Good luck, man!"

Todd was furious. A chorus of "Ooooooh" went around the table, and I caught the entire left side of the table smiling. One guy gave me a thumbs-up. We were in New York City. It's the city of bad etiquette and tactlessness. And I'm a New Yorker.

The kings held up. And Todd pulled out his wallet

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