Them Old Men

Like most gamblers I began to look for the pot of gold that might be waiting for me. All I might need to do is to get into one of those big poker tournaments and let my perceived skill manifest itself. If I won I would have enough bankroll to fund my poker appetite forever. I had just placed 1st or 2nd, over the Internet, in nine tiny single table tournaments IN A ROW. That couldn't be all luck. This success enabled my initial $200 buy-in to the Internet to grow up to $1,500.

The Internet is where I have been forced to do my poker for the last year now. This gave me great confidence and a thirst to get back to a "real" casino, to hold "real" cards, and chat with "real" people. The World Poker Tour was making a two week stop in Tunica Mississippi only a ten hour drive. My request for 10 days off from work was granted. My $2,000 bankroll appeared to be plenty to cover all my expenses and gambling investments because I was sure to win much more - In my mind I had become a highly skilled player.

The tournament schedule listed about 25 tournaments to be played in Tunica. The buy-ins were mostly from $440 to $770. Knowing that most tournaments only pay the top 10% of the entrants, my entry fee was a long shot, 10-1, and I had to consider it as an expense. Therefore, I located the lowest entry fee I could find - $340 for seniors. Why, I am over 50 now I could play in that tournament and I can stand to "lose" $340.

How was I going to fit in with these seniors, with only persons over 50? To me all the old men are heroes of World War II. In my mind I could hear the words to a song by Johnny Cash,

" . . To me he's one of the heroes of our nation. So why's he dressed up like THEM OLD MEN, drink'n beer and play'n Moon and Forty Two, like desperados waiting for a train. . . "

My only concern is that a few times I've had an old man continually take too long to act. Would the action be painfully slow waiting for each old person to act in turn? Regardless, I knew it would be an honor to associate with this older generation.

Arriving in Tunica at 4:30 AM Tuesday morning, I proceeded directly to the Grand Casino, the central hosting site for most of the action for the World Poker Tour. The scheduled tournament action ceased around midnight. Yet, even in the wee hours of the early morning the "side games" were still going full swing with 10 tables to choose from. I chose to play in the No Limit Hold-Em Poker for $1 and 3 blinds with a $300 maximum buy-in. At 6:00 AM I had lost about $100.

A fresh start appealed to me so I drove to Sam's Town Hotel Casino where only one table remained in action. It was for lower stakes at $4/8 LIMIT. Even though this was a cheaper game than I wanted, I played anyhow because it was one of the few Casinos with poker action at this hour of the morning. One of my first hands I flopped a straight and only checked and called each bet all the way to the river, when I checked again and then raised it to $16. The guy I beat was a cool guy from Memphis sitting next to me who was really awakened by my nifty check-raise move. So this cool guy from Memphis avoided any further action against me in the game. Soon he quit playing but continued to set in the chair next to me only watching the game. At the end of the table was a WISE GUY kid less than age 30 dressed like the flamboyant players on TV with necklace, etc. Someone asked the WISE GUY kid what type of work he did, he answered, "I've just been playing poker now for five years". I couldn't believe my ears. There's not enough money to be made in this $4/8 LIMIT game to support anyone. Why would a real good player be here? He's apparently like most braggers - full of it. Being full of confidence, myself, my ego felt a silent challenge to "put this WISE GUY down" in front of everyone. So I just continued playing and waiting for an opportunity to "get him good". There was a lone fish loosing freely to the remainder of us. Soon the WISE GUY lost a big pot to the fish and made some irritated remarks.

I whispered to the cool guy from Memphis sitting next to me, "A pro that's been playing for 5 years wouldn't get upset over losing one pot. What a dork."

The guy from Memphis whispered back to me, "Then expose him for what he is."

Later when the loose player busted out of the game, the entire table broke up. I'd bought in for $100 and now had $150.

I said, "Come on yall, I'm jest gett'n started. Everybody can't get sleepy at the same time."

The WISE GUY kid commented, "There's not enough money here for me to stay." (Now I had him)

I suggested, "We could play Heads Up no limit"

He answered, "You don't know what you're getting into."

I added, "I got about $150 and you got about the same. If you'll agree to no more buy-ins, then I'll play ya till one player gets it all."

This appealed to his greed and his over-inflated ego. He was drooling at the opportunity to be the only action in the Card Room with everyone watching. He said, "Deal".

While the dealer got approval, a small crowd gathered around us made up of the former players, off duty dealers, and the brush man. Playing Heads Up is a challenge in itself, one major error and it's over. With all the on-lookers, my pride was at stake too, which made me more determined to "stay cool, be patient, yet aggressive" and keep my concentration on every action. We both implemented wise techniques for Heads-Up, e.g. usually raising on the button and only occasionally folding to pre-flop raises. I got out to a small lead. Then he caught me with a good win and got solidly ahead of me. Then the cards favored me as I took back the lead.

After about 15 minutes, I called for a restroom break. When I got back to the table before the WISE GUY returned, the cool guy from Memphis said, "I have a side bet on you for $50."

I replied, "You don't know me."

He explained, "After you beat me that first pot, I knew you were special."

Then the dealer spoke softly to me, "Good luck. We'd love to see somebody put this WISE GUY in his place."

I grinned, "That's why I challenged him."

The WISE GUY returned and the game continued. First hand, I peeped at my hole cards - Ace Ace. The dealer had just wished me good luck and immediately he dealt me two Aces. Was this a coincidence? I didn't even blink, but proceeded nonchalantly. I was first to act by putting in our customary raise as we had been doing whenever we had the button. He reraised me. I surely didn't want to divulge any hint that my hand was strong, so I paused five seconds then just called him. The flop contained a pair of eights and a queen. He continued his betting as I continued by "only calling" him until he had all his chips in the pot. The final card was another Ace. While I was racking my $300 he stood up silently and slowly, picked up his expensive coat, and left the room. I was swamped by the observers and dealers asking about which tournament I was going to be playing in. They said they'd never seen such a cool show! That kind of attention can be habit forming.

I recalled the words of Elvis, "Fame and Fortune, they're only fleeting things"

By noon Tuesday I figured how much the 8 hours of play should have cost me. The cost for waitress' tips was approximately $10, dealer tips were $35 for the 35 pots which I'd won, and the house had raked $100 from the 35 pots I'd won. The total expenses or my 8 hours of playing poker was $145. If I'd been performing at the normal win/loss ratio I would be down $145, but my performance was better than normal because my winnings were enough to cover the expected loss of $145 leaving me with winnings of $150 in my pocket. My winnings were approximately $18 per hour - very good.

The big tournament I planned to enter was scheduled for Thursday noon which gave me 48 hours to continue sharpening my poker skills and to have fun. After enjoying an extravagant complimentary buffet at the Grand casino, I got into one of the "side games". The player to my left in a black leather jacket made some sly comments to a young frail kid in an athletic jersey, who was doing a lot of talking. I didn't care much for either of them. After the man in the leather jacket got beat in a big pot by the frail kid, he began to call the kid "butterfly ass".

The frail kid responded, "What is that supposed to mean?" We all new he was being called gay.

The man continued to needle the kid even more and said, "You're not even a man."

The frail kid had to say something to save face. He replied, "I can hold my own against anyone."

The man in the leather jacket was in his fifties, very fit, about 180 pounds, and had a flat stomach. The bully in him began to show itself as he stood up and said, "Come on lets go outside. You Challenged me."

We all knew that the frail kid could do no such thing. I was just holding back the "giant killer" that lives inside of me to stay out of it and not to walk over and stand next to the humiliated frail kid. The floorman inquired as to what was the problem at our table, eventually the bully sat down but continued to insult the frail kid. The kid continued to beat us all with his reckless play.

To offer support to the kid, I said to the bully, who was sitting at my elbow, "Drop it."

The bully replied, "Excuse me for making such a disturbance, but "his kind" just makes me sick."

I answered, "I understand. But your insults are making us all sick."

But that was no help. The bully continued his needling, "I want him gone from this table. The way he plays he's going to break us all before his dumb luck runs out."

Finally the kid got up and talked to his other slightly built friend. I took the opportunity to find a better table and left that Casino. I felt a bit like Pontius Pilot who washed his hands, but knew he should have acted with more integrity.

The final night before the tournament I counted my money = about $400 profit - good trip so far.

Now it was Thursday noon. My tournament was about to start. It was restricted to seniors, age 50 and up. Most of my life I was at a younger age, therefore, I perceived myself to be younger and was sure that I looked and acted much younger than THEM OLDER MEN. But I loved being associated with them. They were made with different VALUES than the young men of today. They were polite, hard working, patriotic, and loved what the USA stood for. While in line to register, we talked about the other tournaments and other Casinos in which they had played. Many of them were now retired and attempting to live their dreams, like me. One of them told me that when he'd gone to Biloxi, the hotels were over priced so he slept in a rest area. Not because he needed the money, but just for the principle of over pricing. They were not pretentious or boisterous, but were struggling poker players like myself. They commented as to how this tournament was going to have more players than any of the tournaments held since the World Poker Tour had arrived in Tunica a week earlier. It was LARGE. There were about 394 entrants. We all paid the $340 entrance fee. This made the prize pool about $115,000.00. The winner would get about $35,000, 2nd place about $17,000, . . . 35th place would get $460. We all knew that 359 of us would fail to win anything so our goal was to get at least 35th place.

The room was like you see on TV. I was on table #93. As we all proceeded to our tables I felt like I was in the Air Force again. We were hundreds of men all proceeding with a common goal. I can imagine how the soldiers in World War II felt as 12 million Americans marched together and liberated Europe and the Far East. Before play began, the announcer asked us all to stand. Then he asked for those under age 60 to sit. Most men sat down there. I was still standing with all THEM OLD MEN. Then he asked that all those under age 70 to sit. We did. There were only a few dozen standing. Then those under 75 sat down leaving only a handful. Then he said under 76, then under 77 - this left one man standing. He introduced that man as Jim Spain and stated he was 80 years old. YAHOO !! As I thought about his age I was sadden knowing that all the WWII veterans had all died or become too old to bless us with their presence. The men here today lived in the days of the military draft and were Korean War, Vietnam War, and Cold War Veterans.

In this serious tournament situation almost all players refrained from drinking. At my table one man was younger than I - age 52, drinking Scotch & Water. We had one woman at our table. We were each given 10,000 in chips. The two mandatory blind bets were 25 and 50. For the first hour nobody went "all-in" and no one from our table was eliminated. After one hour, I was so relieved to know we could now get up for a break. But the other players, tournament veterans, informed me and a couple of other rookies that break time came after 2 hours, not 1 hour. So I gritted it out, until 2 hours has passed. I was down to 7,000 in chips at break time. Then I thought of my girlfriend, as I went down the escalator and headed straight out the door over the Mississippi river and got fresh air. I hoped that she was rooting for me and I smiled because I sensed what I perceived to be her "ESP". Oh how I wish I could have had her there to walk outside with me and to listen to my experiences of the first two hours.

The behavior around the room was highly commendable, with no one jumping up and yelling and no arguing, like they do on TV. I only observed one incident. Six tables away, when I saw a cocktail waitress "stumble" and heard some loud voices. The trouble maker in the black leather jacket, who I'd encountered the previous day, was in this tournament and threw a tip to a cocktail waitress across the table. She had one arm filled with drinks and tipped some booze off her tray as she tried to catch the flying tip. The players cleaned up the liquid and he was told he would be barred if any other incident occurred. They should have kicked him out right then. He'd already showed his colors - the dork. Why didn't I clean his clock and put him in the hospital yesterday? I didn't, because I'm not that crazy. I would have been the one barred from the tournament.

I finally hit some decent hands and was up to 35,000 with more chips than most players at my table. There were only 4 original players still at our table, with the other seats being filled from winners from other tables. Then I had two TENS in the pocket. I raised pre-flop and got one caller. So I figured he had two high cards. The flop came King rag rag. He bet. I called. The next card was a Jack. My opponent made a bet. This would have taken most of my chips to call the bet. The other player had more chips than me so he could conceivably force me to use all my chips after the NEXT card. Two cards on the board were higher than my two TENS. Since he continued to bet I figured that he had high cards likely giving him a pair or Kings or a pair of Jacks, so I folded the BIG pot, leaving me with about 21,000. The blinds had escalated up to about 600 and 1200 with 100 antes. This meant the pot size was 2800 before the cards were dealt. With the stakes so high, players were falling left and right. But my 21,000 was not in trouble yet. I bluffed and stole one more pot. Now I was up to near 25,000 when I got pocket JACKS. I raised the pot by 6,000. One player to my right called my 6,000 and raised it 6,000 more. If I called him I would have 12,000 of my chips in the pot. The pot would be 26,800. I would have only about 13,000 left in front of me (which is about one bet). I would find it hard to fold in that situation with 25,000 in pot waiting to be won and with me holding JJ. I figured that I could fold now giving away the 20,600 pot or I could call his 6,000 bet, and then inevitably I'd have to invest my remaining 13,000 to say in after the flop. With pocket Jacks there are only 3 hands in the deck better than mine. That is 3 out of 220 hands. Even if he had better than me I could improve to a straight or a flush or get another Jack and beat him anyway. How could I fold? Calling seemed like committing all my chips anyway. So guess what I did? Come on, guess?

Yep, I raised him 13,000 more by putting all 19,000 of my remaining chips into the pot as I boisterously announcing "All In". He called. He had pocket Aces and beat me. I was out of the tournament in 100th place. I'd finished very good, but had not finished in 35th place which would have given me at least $460 or first place which would have given me $35,000. End of big tournament story.

I immediately bought into one of the smallest tournaments there. A single table 10 player tournament with $120 from each player. It was winner take all = $1,000. Even though I'd lost in the big tournament, I was still going to try for $1,000 in a small tournament. We had 1,500 chips each. First hand I got 89 I had late position so I limped in for 50 chips. Four of us called to see the flop. The flop came 678 different suits with no flush worries. The first guy to act bet all his 1,500. The 2nd guy called with all his 1,500. Now it was my turn to act with one guy remaining to act after me. I had a very good hand - top pair. I could improve to the top straight with a little luck. I figured one of the guys had two pair; the other had either three of a kind or a straight already. Both players probably had better than me. But with a 5 or a 10 I would have the better straight and beat them both. Or with a 9 my top two pair might win. Mainly, the pot was huge, whoever won would have a great chance to be the final player at the table and get the $1,000. I was getting 2 to 1 on my money. The opportunity was difficult to pass up, therefore, I put all my chips in and called also.

So there I was - playing the first hand of a winner takes all Tournament with all my chips in the pot. Now it was time for the last player to act. He too put all his chips in and called the bet. Of all my poker experience I have only once in my life been in a pot with four players with all of their chips in. We began to show our cards in turn. The first guy had a 4 and a 5 for the low end of the straight. The 2nd guy had 6 7 for two pair. I had figured those two players correctly. Then I showed my cards with the 8 9 top pair and an open ended straight draw for the top end of the straight. But there was a 4th guy in the pot who finally showed his cards; he had a 9 and a 10, this gave him the top end of the straight - 6 7 8 9 10 presently the nuts. Now I needed a 10 to turn up allowing me to split the pot with him. All 4 of us stood up knowing that whoever won would have 40% of all the chips on the table and likely win the $1000 prize money. Two meaningless cards turned. Three of us lost to the guy with the 9 and the 10.

There I was; I'd gone from $400 ahead three hours earlier to $60 down now. That hurts !! I lost about $100 on Baccarat and Black Jack then left the casino. I went to Sam's Town again and played Hold Em, losing $200 there. From there I drove to the Horse Shoe and met Jade. She was among the slot machines near the shack area. I caught her eye and we smiled. My line was, "How ya doing?" She replied, "I'm great". Man, was she great, standing 5'9" about 130 lbs wearing belly jeans, hair the color of dark wine, and shaped well. We began with small talk. She was alone and I suppose she needed a friendly soul to talk with. We spent an hour together. She loved playing the slot machines and I do not. But I had lost so much already that day that spending a few dollars with her came natural. She was younger than my daughter and didn't see me as a senior. She saw the same person who I thought I was. She really appreciated the lady which I saw in her. I am no spring chicken, but Jade was, which did wonders for my self esteem. Finally I got home and counted my bankroll. I'd lost $600 plus spent $400 on travel, hotel, out of pocket expenses, and spring chicken money.

Friday morning housekeeping woke me up because I'd over slept by an hour past check out time. They were cool with no penalty after my 3 nights stay. I went to the ATM to get my remaining gambling money. I found that my card had expired in November. I must have thrown the replacement card away thinking it was just another "new credit card offer" which I get in the mail all the time. Again I avoided getting angry at my fate. With a low bankroll, I drove to the Tunica Resorts, which is a neatly designed clean casino with the lowest limit roulette in Tunica = $2 minimum bet and live band in the center of the Casino. I lost $20 enjoyably on roulette. Then at Black Jack I was betting $5 to $10 per hand with a very enjoyable dealer. I'd built my $100 buy-in up to $150. I decided "Time to make my move" and increased my betting up to $50/hand. For some weird reason I lost 3 hands in a row. Net loss $100 of my money. I didn't want to look like a loser so I got up without sniveling, gave the dealer a small cash tip, and thanked them for the action. Boy, was I proud to still be a gentleman.

In the sunset with a bad day ending I continued to pursue my goal of turning this trip into a win and drove to the nearby Hollywood Casino. It is fabulously decorated. It features all the big movie hits - Star Wars. Cleopatra, Gone With The Wind, Pearl Harbor, and Titanic featuring a tilted ship sinking into the Mississippi river. There are tall stone columns, bridges, airplanes, hanging from the ceiling, all themes from hit movies. All along the walls were display areas for all the top Movie Stars. My favorites were Forrest Gump, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe. I knew I was getting way-down in my bankroll and had only been out for 4 days, so I needed to keep my hopes up and treated myself to a $25 steak dinner in their caf� surrounded by pictures of movie stars.

With $400 left to gamble with, I decided to give myself the best chance at my last effort to make a comeback and took all $400 and bought into my best game $1 & $3 antes unlimited-buy-in No Limit Hold Em poker. I was catching no playable hands for over an hour. Then I got an Ace & Jack of diamonds, there was a raise and a reraise before the flop. The flop came Q, 10, 5 two diamonds. The only other remaining player raised me with all his chips - 60 more dollars. I had a great hand four towards a flush, an inside straight draw, and one over card the Ace. I figured him for better than a pair, but could beat him with any of 9 unseen diamonds, or King. That is 12 cards with two cards to come or 24 out of 47 which is a good bet. I called. The last card was a diamond. That replenished my previous losses at that table, when I had been catching no playable cards; now I was up about 50. Then I had an AQ in last position. One player with only about $60 raised me to all-in. This was still pre-flop. I figured he might have high cards like me and my AQ was likely a 50% chance to be better than his high cards. Or he might have a pair. Even so my AQ would also have a 50% chance to pair up and beat his pair. I had a few chips already in the pot so I called. He turned up a pair of eights. But, I got no help from the 5 cards in the center of the table. A small loss, but I felt it - All day long now and still no comeback - yuk.

A real old man joined our table and was playing crazy, like a fish, he was just having fun betting his chips, often before he even looked at his cards. He was getting lucky and won so much that he had more money than anyone on the table. We loved it and all waited our turns to get into a hand with this man who was playing the part of our fish. We were humoring him saying, "It's great to see someone having so much fun at this child's GAME."

I asked him, "What is a codger?"

He answered, "I don't really know. But all the codgers I know are old codgers." We laughed with him; wanting him to feel comfortable and stay with us.

Then someone beat the fish and took all of his chips, expect for 200. I knew he was torqued and on tilt, prime to lose more quickly. The very next hand he had a QJ and raised pre flop. I was last to act and had KK. I wanted everyone else out of the pot except me and him. So I re-raised him, everyone else folded, of course he called. The flop came out 10 6 3. Perfect. He only had three cards to a straight with two over cards, so like the fish he was being, he bet anyway. I knew he wouldn't fold because the pot was getting big, so I raised him back. He called. The next card was a King, he bet again, I knew that nothing could beat my three Kings at this point so I raised him again. He called now with all his chips in. The pot was about $500. I was mentally counting my money feeling like my comeback had arrived. The final card was an Ace. I showed may cards and boastingly said, "Three Kings!!!" The fish showed his straight. I almost died. He had bet all that money without a pair and had hit two perfect cards to make his straight. I was infuriated. I'd just lost $200 more. I'd been such a likable positive spirit for the table, until now. It wouldn't have hurt so bad except I'd lost a lot of money on this trip, after starting out so well. The table was silent. The other players just gasped too. No one said a word. The dealer even hated to push the chips to him, but slowly pushed him the pot. I was too hot to play any longer. I stood up and said, "I can't play anymore. I'm about to lose it !! I can't believe I lost those last 2 pots." Everyone remained silent. They'd witnessed the action and were surprised too. I picked up my remaining $200 in chips and then said, "I'm afraid if I stay here I'll get bad !! I gotta go."

I jumped into my car and located my most relaxing songs on my CDs and drove home. Fish like that man are what we look for in poker and lots of what we win comes from fish like him. I was lucky to have had him at my table. All the way home those words I'd said kept ringing in my head. I was stunned that I'd said that. I have never been so upset at a poker table before. Yet, I was proud that I didn't whine about the loss or blame anyone or really - get bad !!

The vacation was nothing like I planned it, but man was it exciting. Returning home early gave me free time to get back to my Internet poker winning ways. Today I've spent all my time writing and printing this story. But, I haven't lost any money today. This is what I needed more than winning a little bit in Tunica. This early return trip home gave me lots time to reflect on what I learned on the trip. I learned how much I act like THEM OLD MEN. I now realize that behaving respectfully toward other people was important to me, JUST LIKE THEM OLD MEN. Several times I'd encountered opportunities to act immature, but had chosen a higher road to follow. I had been acting graciously like THEM OLD MEN. I learned on this trip that I am now part of an admiral crowd - I have proudly become one of THEM honorable OLD MEN.