Remember that "homeless" guy on the WSOP?

[DVO]

The one who put McManus on tilt?

Today I'm at the Bicycle Club in L.A., with two of my buddies. We had just signed up for the $100 NL tourney, and were waiting at our tables as they filled, about 15 minutes before the tourney starts.

And that guy ( I forget his name) is walking around, flashing three twenty dollar bills and asking for money to grub his way up to the buy-in.

It was weird. My buddies looked at each other as if to say, " Man, that's that guy, isn't it?" But there was no doubt. Dreadlocks and all.

First time I have ever seen someone panhandling at a poker event!

I guess he spent his $40K already. I'm not sure if it's funny or sad.

Half an hour later, I go to the deli, and the counter girl is all steamed at that same guy ( who I see walking out of the deli) for some reason. I have no idea what.

But he clearly got under her skin.

Guess he has a knack for that.

[nolanfan34]

I'll vote for sad. The guy probably needs some psychiatric help.

The image of a deli worker being put on tilt is pretty funny though.

[Michael Davis]

I thought I had seen this guy around.

Let me know next time he's there, I'd stake him just to watch him in action.

-Michael

[DVO]

I have also seen him at Hawaiian Gardens recently.

Sad case I think. 15 minutes of fame and all.

There but for the grace of God go all of us??

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
The guy probably needs some psychiatric help.


[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sorry for this, but I absolutely hate this sort of thinking.

One does not need to be crazy to be shiftless, lazy, or otherwise useless to himself and everyone else he's ever met.

One just needs to be selfish, childish, inconsiderate, and utterly without any idea of how to get along in the world.

If he chooses to be this way, that's fine. Just don't give him a Get-Out-Of-Hell-Free Card by letting him be "insane," and don't give him any money, for God's sake.

[27offsuit]

[ QUOTE ]


There but for the grace of God go all of us??

[/ QUOTE ]

Um........no. I, for one, look nothing like Predator.


At least we now know he's not "local color". He's just a dick. $1500 in pennies, my ass.

[slavic]

As I was watching the WSOP it struck me that this man has a bad gambling problem. His style of play was pure action junkie. My father was sitting by my hospital bed at the time and I explained to him why this guy was doomed in this game and in life. Unfortunatly there isn't much that any of us can do to help him out and the 40K certainly didn't help him much more than to feed the need.

[lowroller]

I thought that was him!!

I was there last night too...

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
I thought that was him!!

I was there last night too...

[/ QUOTE ]

He was hanging around the no limit section later and he might have played a little. He has been nice to me and before the TV taping I got to play with him a bit - obviously he is big action.

BTW, I worked the Bike's no limit section last night, you guys should introduce yourselves once in a while. Else wise, I might have to start posting incognito /images/graemlins/grin.gif.

~ Rick

[miajag81]

[ QUOTE ]


I'm sorry for this, but I absolutely hate this sort of thinking.

One does not need to be crazy to be shiftless, lazy, or otherwise useless to himself and everyone else he's ever met.

One just needs to be selfish, childish, inconsiderate, and utterly without any idea of how to get along in the world.

If he chooses to be this way, that's fine. Just don't give him a Get-Out-Of-Hell-Free Card by letting him be "insane," and don't give him any money, for God's sake.

[/ QUOTE ]

Very well said. Our society too frequently labels as "insane" people who are just inconsiderate a-holes.

[lowroller]

Sorry Rick, but the only action I was checking out near the top section last night was the Asian lady with the hooters!!

[J.A.Sucker]

I've been hit up for cash by a well-known tourney pro, and I didn't give him 300 bucks. You'd be surprised how many people playing relatively high limits are waiting for this person to give them their 300 bucks back. It's comical, really.

[Sponger15SB]

Why not tell us who it is then? These scummy people deserve to be shown out in the light.

[J.A.Sucker]

He doesn't owe me any money. I don't care to expose him. Maybe someone who is bitter will.

[Legend27]

"One just needs to be selfish, childish, inconsiderate, and utterly without any idea of how to get along in the world."

Wouldn't that qualify you for psychiatric help?

[Lazymeatball]

http://www.pokerpages.com/tournament/result8740.htm
and
http://www.thepokerforum.com/wog0412.htm

"He called me with Jack High!"

[Sponger15SB]

[ QUOTE ]
The win moved Powers into second place in the best all around points race. Should he end up second, he’ll win a brand new car he can sleep in.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is hilarious

[daryn]

JACK HIGH!

[nolanfan34]

[ QUOTE ]
One does not need to be crazy to be shiftless, lazy, or otherwise useless to himself and everyone else he's ever met.

[/ QUOTE ]

You're right about this. I should have been more clear and said merely professional help. Clearly whether it's a gambling problem or something else, there are probably people out there who could help this guy. Of course he's free to do whatever he wants, like I'm free to not give him or any other homeless person a penny if I so choose. It's still a sad case if he's really homeless.

[Rushmore]

[ QUOTE ]
"One just needs to be selfish, childish, inconsiderate, and utterly without any idea of how to get along in the world."

Wouldn't that qualify you for psychiatric help?

[/ QUOTE ]

I was unclear. I should have said:

...and utterly without any idea of how to want to get along in the world.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
flashing three twenty dollar bills and asking for money to grub his way up to the buy-in.

[/ QUOTE ]


I don't play B&M very much but I would think that begging like this would be cause to get tossed from the poker-room.

I would consider notifying the manager that you don't think this person is conducting themselves appropriately.

If the poker-room did actually decide to take action and toss him out he would obviously put up a big fuss, but I don't think a casino needs the business of obnoxious homeless beggars to survive. Especially when they are just playing with money that was probably going to be played by someone else anyway.

[Mike Gallo]

He's just a dick. $1500 in pennies, my ass.


Thats a pretty expensive ass. /images/graemlins/smirk.gif

I do agree with your point. I laughed out loud when I heard hom say in the interview.

[Michael Davis]

Bob,

This stuff happens all the time at B&M rooms. There are some people who will scope out who is winning.

One night, up a few racks, I was cashing out and some guy comes up and starts talking to me about this and that. He finally mentions that today is his daughter's birthday and that he just lost all his money gambling, could I spare a few bucks?

I really hope he was lying, because my reaction was pretty violent.

-Michael

[Boopotts]

What a great read! I know I couldn't pick all that up after watching him play poker on ESPN, and reading the original post, but I guess I'm just not as in tune with human behavior as you are.

The fact is this: The guy may need psychiatric help, and he may not. If he does, we should probably feel for him. If he doesn't, then he's just another stroke-off. In either case, neither you nor I know enough about him to say one way or another.

And while I don't know if he 'needs' psychiatric help, I'd lay book that he would probably greatly benefit from it. Most people don't end up homeless simply because they're lazy.

[MMMMMM]

He doesn't owe me anything or even know me, but he tried to get a friend of mine to "put him in", and some years ago he split a tourney and someone I knew had to be right there when he won it AND be super-on-top-of-it to get his money. It's really pretty incredible.

[3rdEye]

That guy is a dick, and I hope no one gave him any money.

[27offsuit]

[ QUOTE ]
Bob,

This stuff happens all the time at B&M rooms. There are some people who will scope out who is winning.

One night, up a few racks, I was cashing out and some guy comes up and starts talking to me about this and that. He finally mentions that today is his daughter's birthday and that he just lost all his money gambling, could I spare a few bucks?

I really hope he was lying, because my reaction was pretty violent.

-Michael

[/ QUOTE ]


Did you slap him in the titty?

[riverboatking]

hey rick i've been playing the 5-10 NL lately at the bike.

do you "work" as in play...or are you actually employed by the casino?

ps. i'm the young kid that keeps taking all the chips off the table... /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
hey rick i've been playing the 5-10 NL lately at the bike.

do you "work" as in play...or are you actually employed by the casino?


[/ QUOTE ]

I work for the Bike as a No Limit Host three days a week. On Mondays and Tuesday days I start each of the restricted buy in NL games and get to play until the next game is ready to start then I start that game. I'll organize the start of the $500 game but don't play. Once we are stable (usually around 3:00 pm) I can usually stay and play in the game I end up in until the end of the shift. On Saturday night I don't get to play much because we are too busy and each of the no limit hosts has one day where he or she mostly works sort of like a floorman (except we can't make decisions regarding the play of the hand). During these three days I'll always wear some sort of a conservative suit. This fakes people out into believing I actually have some degree of authority /images/graemlins/grin.gif. Anyway, if I'm in the game I'll usually sell rebuy chips out of a clearly marked bank.

On Thursday evening and Friday day I'm sort of an open prop/host and usually stick to the yellow chip limit games, although I don't always come in for the full eight hours if I have some sort of special assignment.

[ QUOTE ]
ps. i'm the young kid that keeps taking all the chips off the table... /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

That won't narrow you down. For every two or three young kids that don't have a clue, there is a tough one. The 5/10 and 15/25 blind games looked fantastic during Legends of Poker, wish I had the time, money concentration and talent to play deep at that level (against others who are deep).

~ Rick

[MicroBob]

I understand that stuff like this happens. But walking around to various people and begging for money should be cause for getting tossed imo.
Especially if he doesn't even know many of these individuals as I suspect might be the case.


I don't like the 'big-winner' stalkers very much either. But I bet that Ellix's behaviour was more obvious.

You have to draw the line somewhere, and I'm stating that many casinos and poker-rooms probably don't enforce their own rules nearly enough.

And these rules are there for a reason....if I played in that tournament and had to deal with an unnecessary situation like that which the casino tolerated I would certainly be less likely to bring my business back to them in the future.
There are probably many other players who left that tournament with slightly more negative thoughts of their experience just because of that guy's behavior. Some of these individuals may be less inclined to play there as often in the future.
It could very well be costing the poker-room business.


I'm not advocating that all poker players have to behave 100% professionally at all times because obviously this is not possible. I AM saying that there has to be some line where the poker-room says 'that's enough. you need to stop doing that or we will have to ask you to leave.'

[Rushmore]

There are two very legitimate reasons I feel qualified to make the commentary I do:

1.) I have been very, very similar to that guy (thankfully without the dreadlocks), and

2.) As such, I have met dozens and dozens of guys just like him.

If a disclaimer phrase will make you feel better, just go ahead and insert it in the appropriate spots in my post. Here it is:

...the vast majority of guys who act the way that guy does...

I hope you get a lot of good use out of this phrase. It's making me feel better already.

[riverboatking]

rick....my eyebrow is pierced if that helps.
i played the 5-10 almost everynight the tourney was in town. but usually play later at night.
anyways next time i'm in i'll look you up.
take care.

[Daliman]

Sounds alot like the recently de-permed one....

[Duke]

I was wondering why he wasn't coming on here to respond to any of this, but then I realized that a lot of homeless people don't have computers.

~D

[Tyler Durden]

[ QUOTE ]
Sounds alot like the recently de-permed one....

[/ QUOTE ]

Scotty?

[Tyler Durden]

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned...can someone tell me why Ellix Powers didn't think James McManus called him w/ Queen high instead of Jack high? There wasn't a Queen on board so it's possible and it seems more likely, no?

[B Dids]

TJ.

[jwvdcw]

[ QUOTE ]

Most people don't end up homeless simply because they're lazy.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree completely.

[Rushmore]

Since I generally respect your posts, and sense that you have a decently rational mind, I'll ask you the question:

What do you think it is that causes homelessness, I mean, for "most people?"

Everyone seems to know a lot about this topic.

I guess Lifetime television for women would have us all think that the doctor daddy and the MBA mommy both just had a couple of bad breaks and the family ended up in the shelter.

I hope they bunked with the Easter Bunny and Bigfoot.

Look, the VAST majority of people you meet on the streets are either way strung out, blotto alcoholic, or just plain lazy.

Yes, there are insane people on the streets, and that's a shame, really.

But unless someone wants to get on record as saying that junkies and alcoholics are "insane," and should therefore be pitied for their handicap, I'd suggest that everyone grab a refrigerator box and grab a slice of grate before they start yammering about how knowledgeable they are about this topic.