[jj_frap]

This is more of a dumb-bullshit situation than a scary one:

One of my friends -- who owns a bar where we play poker -- went to another nearby bar to play a tournament there because the players at that bar are extremely bad and he figured he had a good chance.

Sure enough, a few blind levels into the tournament, he had a commanding chip lead and went out to smoke.

Now what he didn't know (and neither did I actually, as the one time I had played there, I never got up from my seat because I don't smoke at all and I don't drink when I play poker) is that the guy who runs the tournament at that bar has a rule in which you are not allowed to leave your seat outside of a scheduled break. The consequences? Uf you miss a hand that you're supposed to deal, all your chips go in the middle and the winner of the next pot takes them.

As he was coming back, they were putting his chips in the middle, and when he was told what was going on, he lost it and threw his chips all over the bar.

He then stormed out and went back to his bar, where me and some of my buddies were: He bitched to us, and then we all played some poker.

The story has a happy ending though: My friend's bar is one of the most successful in our city, attracting the barely-legals and the middle-aged alike with everything from poker tournaments, to karaoke nights, to dance parties, to live shows, while the nearby bar is always on the verge of closing down, as it's just a few old rednecks and gamblers singing country music and playing really bad poker.

Personally though, I think that's just because my friend has extensive experience as a lifeguard and as an entertainment coordinator.