BOOM – An Epic All In from an Epic Guy

So here we are, four standard college “students” with our entire lives ahead of us. Well, sort of. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you up front that we truly do live the life. Bred from many years of poker grinding and degenerate gambling we’ve developed something truly special. Nick, the self proclaimed nastiest 50nl heads up player in the world, will be returning to NC State for his junior year. Jon, or Rash as we call him, is the team’s official nit. Zack, the 6th year senior, is our grandpa in the poker world.

And then there’s me, Mazin. I’m not the slightest bit embarrassed to say that I’m by far the most busto member on the squad. I’ve been on the sickest downswing of my life for the last month and as I learned in church last Sunday, my “brook” is simply dry. My bank account has a laughable sum of money in it and I owe Dad (Zack) boatloads. I guess its no surprise that every poker player goes on a sick downswing, this just happens to be a terrible time in my life for this swing. I have a tiny tiny bankroll; and when I say tiny, I mean negative. It’s starting to get frustrating for the whole team. Anytime we chop any type of live poker, I immediately bust. I don’t even consider winning a pot. I am simply dealt some type of sick cooler or some epic suck out takes place. It’s getting old, but hey, its part of the game after all.

Last night we went to the home poker game that started it all for me, The Estate. I’ve been playing at this house for almost a year now and everyone else has been playing their even longer. It’s a tiny .50/1 on Tuesday and .25/.50 on Wednesday game that has become more of a social activity than a grind. I go there to have fun and typically, donate to the table. Last night, in my current state of busto, losing was simply not an option. I went there with grind on my mind and said, “Tonight, I’m going to play my A game.”

I picked up kings in early position and shot it up to $3.50. Rash went into the tank and made a good sized 3bet. It was hard to keep from busting my nut all over everyone’s legs under the table. It was the dream setup. I had a huge hand, I had been 3bet, and I was going to get an opportunity to stack Rash. I put on the Hollywood of my life and tanked for a minute or so before shoving my entire stack in. “Call” Jon said calmly before my chips hit the felt and turned over AA. I smiled. I told him the only way he ever wins is to cooler people. I berated our dealer, Mike, for some time about how he always coolers me at his place and then asked him for my usual “100 more.”

The grind was on again, I wasn’t going to let one sick cooler ruin the night. I ran a ludicrous bluff against a ludicrous player that somehow worked and then started to chip up a little again. I made two pair against the table’ maniac and let him somehow get there. I was card dead for the next 2 hours and my chip stack was once again laughable. I had $75 or so at the table and someone who was ready to go had opened all in for $27 the last few hands. A limp in early position and then his $27 all in took place again. It folded around and I looked down at the dreaded JJ in the big. I grabbed my small stack raised it high above the table, raised my hands above my head, released it from my hands onto the felt and yelled “BOOM!” as the chips fell everywhere. I was pumped to have picked up a reasonable hand. Once again, very calmly, the limper asked me if I was all in. I smiled and said “Yes” knowing that my bottom was about to be drilled. “I call” he said and flipped over KK. I later found out he limped UTG after only looking at one king, and he of course woke up with the 2nd one after all of my chips were in the middle. At this point, all I could do was laugh. At least I had gone out with a bang.