Free Money?

[Howard Burroughs]

I just finished a marathon session of hold'em. At about 14 hours into the session, I'm down a ton of money. There is one "live one" (not counting me of course :-) in the game throwing a party. He's also the biggest tipper I have ever seen. The dealers are making a small fortune off of this guy and so are most of the players at the table. He's having a lot of fun and giving away a lot of money.


A hand comes up where he puts a minor beat on me. Good for him, he should win SOME pots. Some players at the table mumble something about him going "runner-runner". He turns to me and says,"Did I do something wrong?".

I say, "You did nothing wrong, you had the best hand". His reply, "Good, I'm here to have a good time". He then picks up a stack of $5 chips and drops them on to my stack of chips. I give them back. He puts them back on to my pile.

I think about how much money I'm down in this game and I finally accept the gift (Boo!, Hiss).



**************************


Is it right to accept this money?



BTW, I don't believe there is any way I take this gift if I was winning at the time.

***************************


To add insult to injury, four hours later.............

Our "George" is at the end of is rope. After taking a short break, he comes back into the game with several racks and proceeds to go through them faster then a Tampa Bay pass rush gets to the quarterback.


I have pocket kings heads-up against him with a seemingly safe flop. Lots of action, as he likes to put chips into the middle of the table with any two cards. When a king comes on the river, I know the pot is going to be mine (I think my kings were good before the river card to be honest, as just said he goes off for a lot of bets while holding nothing all the time)



Here's the dilemma:


On the river, he is down to one big bet in front of him. His last few chips. He's also down well over 100 big bets in this game. His spirits are down. He is a shell of his former "happy go lucky" self of a few hours ago.

Do you take his last few chips or do you show a little mercy & respect, and check behind him on the river?



I bet and took his last few chips. After all, If I did not do it, someone else would have taken them on the very next hand. I was pushed the pot and he walked away from the table with a look of dejection and despair.



In retrospect, I wonder if I should have shown a little more class. Did the right thing. But what exactly is the "right thing" when you are playing a game for money?



All comments and opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance.


Best of Luck


H.B.

[Clarkmeister]

Howard,

1. I would accept the gift chips. When I play at Commerce, players toss chips back and forth to each other all the time and I think its harmless. I recently was playing in town with a Commerce player at the table. I was the only one being nice to the guy so we started tossing each other a few bucks each time one of us won a pot. The room wouldn't allow it so we passed them under the table. Good social interaction and no one is hurt. Its a cultural difference between Los Angeles poker and Vegas poker.

Funny epilogue to that one......I was getting the better of the deal since he played far more hands, though that wasn't something I had thought about beforehand. I'd estimate about $20 to $6 at one point. Finally, I went all in on the flop on one hand with a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. His $20 all went in on the flop getting 5 callers. I turned a straight flush and obviously won the pot. So his $20 got me about a $100 return. My straight flush also won a high hand for like $400 and I tossed him 5 redbirds under the table.


Part 2. Yes, you must bet. Like you said, someone else is going to take it, it may as well be you.

[Al Schoonmaker]

A century or so ago I played in Oceanside, CA. Lots of people "potted." You gave a buck to the other(s) when you won.

One extremely loose player always potted with an extremely tight one. I think she never realized how much she was giving away.

He had similar deals with lots of other loose players, but not with the tight ones.

I'm sure he made thousands of dollars a year from these arrangements.

Now if I could just make a few deals like that.

Oh, well.

Al

[Bob T.]

You have to bet.

I missed a bet against an opponent last week, and failed to put him all in. He was left with less than $10. He went all in on the next hand and won. Now he had $30. The next hand he went All in against my Aces and won. He busted out two hands later. Missing that one bet, cost me $40 because his money came back to haunt me.

Good luck,
play well,

Bob T.

[AmericanAirlines]

Umm... you could've bet... then given him back the stacks he gave you, explaining that *this* was why you didn't want to accept in the first place.

Sincerely,
AA

[John Ho]

If it were against most players I would never play easy and always bet it.

That being said, against a player like this who is not only a joy to be around but also throws off a lot of chips it might be in your best interest to check it. Your opponent may appreciate it, decide he IS having fun, and buy in again when he busts rather than leave.

Unfortunately, these types of opponents are rare. If you're sure he is going to leave anyways, though, bet and take the money.

[Gamblor07]

I think you need to take into consideration why you are at the table. Are you there to make money or are you there to make friends?

[Noo Yawk]

Hi Howard.
The line that struck me had nothing to do with the gist of the post: "14 hours into the session and I'm down a ton of money".
Sounds like it was time to leave a while ago [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Anyway, bet the hand. And if you feel bad give him back the stack he gave you earlier. Nothing wrong with taking it the first time, but your reciprocating would have probably left you feeling a bit better. Anyway, besides playing 14 hours in a game where your stuck big, you did nothing wrong here.

[The _Grifter]

Howard,

....I know where you're coming from. There are times ( although rare ) when you feel bad about beating an opponent. You offered to give him his chips back and played the way you should have. You did the right thing ( 14 hr session's another issue ). [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Howard Burroughs]

Thanks for the post Clark,



BTW, I loved your sea shell analogy from another post!



Best of Luck


Howard