Dan · Joined: Jan 01, 1970 Posts: 448 Location: USA

Back in the 1960s and 70s I made my living in public poker rooms in Washington State, California, and Las Vegas. I worked for short intervals a few times when I got busted. The shortest, a week in Vegas, to a few months in Oakland. Maybe two years total. With the GI bill and my winnings I put myself through college. The result a degree in economics from the UW in 1980.

In 1967 an old friend named Steve and I went to Vegas and we went broke within two weeks. We got jobs dealing Poker at the Mint and shared an apartment with another man named John.

The first Friday after starting work, John borrowed $5 each from Steve and I. He needed the $10 to have the minimum $20 buy-in for a No Limit 5 Stud game at Binyon's Horseshoe Club. That game started every Friday at about 6 PM.

We were working graveyard, so after work and breakfast we went by the Horseshoe and there was John with $21,000 in black chips in front of him. An impressive sight in 1967.

Within a hand or two this pot developed. John had wired Aces. His only opponent had wired Kings. Two sixes went down in the muck. The antes were $5 now. John opened the action for a couple hundred and the wired Kings raised. John just called. He was setting the trap. The dealer dealt them both a six. Now they both had a stone dead six. Another bigger bet and raise. John just called.

For their third up card, the dealer dealt John an Ace, his opponent a King. Three aces against three Kings. All the money went into the middle of the pot. John's opponent had about $20 more than John. The pot was now almost exactly $42,000

They turned their cards over. The three Kings realized he had only one out, the case King. Most likely he had sat down like John with $20, and so he said, "I will insure the pot for $1000". That meant he relinquished the pot, giving John a guaranteed $41,000. It was not even the right price, that was about $1100. John's opponent could run home to his old lady and say, "Look honey, I won a $1000 last night!". One happy old lady.

John did not hesitate, he said, "F--- You!". I suspect some animosity had built up between them during the night.

The dealer dealt. Off came the case King. Now there was one really happy old lady.

John staggered over to Steve and I and said, "I'm broke.". "You mean you did not rat hole a couple black chips."; John replied, "But that's against the rules.", "Can I borrow $10?.

Do I have to tell you what our two word reply was.

The moral of the story is this: When you have your whole bankroll in the middle of the pot and someone offers you insurance at any reasonable approximation of the right price, TAKE THE INSURANCE!

What do you think God will do to a planet that has been well warned about a very real conservation debt made of Anti-Matter that will wipe out our whole bankroll = Earth. A planet whose citizens decide not to Take The Insurance? In short, telling God, F--- You! I bet most of you can guess what God's answer will be. Bzzzzt, you are vaporized and good riddance to idiots. Times awasting.

Dan Alter
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