Double It Up
Feb. 7th, 2006 08:23 amAn interesting entry from ex-Pokerstars employee Terrence Chan (terrencechan.livejournal.com/) on a roller-coaster ride against a strange opponent.
Basically this guy, who is apparently a poor heads-up player, sits down with $1,000, and promptly loses it. Nothing unusual there. But what is interesting is that, if he wins, he wants to move up to a higher level. Terrence has been happily accommodating this request, eventually busting him every time, 19 times on the spin.
Except that the last time, the guy's run of fortune (which can last some time at heads-up) kept continuing. And he kept asking to double up, until he got to saying that he wanted to play $500-$1,000. Terrence, stuck for some $21,000, was understandably hesitant to risk playing at stakes he was not comfortable with.
But, and here's the beautiful catch, as soon as Terrence refused to move up, the guy left!
What a dilemma, huh? "I'll give you a chance to win your money back, but only at higher stakes"
"But those stakes are too high!"
"Tough, who said life was fair?"
It all had a happy ending. Terrence swallowed hard, moved up in stakes, and busted the guy, by about 6am.
But you have to admire the maniac. He gets a lot of value for his $1,000 a week, and he can probably afford it. And, one day, he'll double-up (through sheer good fortune) in a way that will bust even the best heads-up player in the world. That, or the heads-up opponent will have to swallow his pride and accept his loss thus far. But players willing to move up to those high stakes wouldprobably prefer to risk being totally busted than to refuse the chance to play at higher stakes at positive EV.
A Fascinating Tale
Basically this guy, who is apparently a poor heads-up player, sits down with $1,000, and promptly loses it. Nothing unusual there. But what is interesting is that, if he wins, he wants to move up to a higher level. Terrence has been happily accommodating this request, eventually busting him every time, 19 times on the spin.
Except that the last time, the guy's run of fortune (which can last some time at heads-up) kept continuing. And he kept asking to double up, until he got to saying that he wanted to play $500-$1,000. Terrence, stuck for some $21,000, was understandably hesitant to risk playing at stakes he was not comfortable with.
But, and here's the beautiful catch, as soon as Terrence refused to move up, the guy left!
What a dilemma, huh? "I'll give you a chance to win your money back, but only at higher stakes"
"But those stakes are too high!"
"Tough, who said life was fair?"
It all had a happy ending. Terrence swallowed hard, moved up in stakes, and busted the guy, by about 6am.
But you have to admire the maniac. He gets a lot of value for his $1,000 a week, and he can probably afford it. And, one day, he'll double-up (through sheer good fortune) in a way that will bust even the best heads-up player in the world. That, or the heads-up opponent will have to swallow his pride and accept his loss thus far. But players willing to move up to those high stakes wouldprobably prefer to risk being totally busted than to refuse the chance to play at higher stakes at positive EV.
A Fascinating Tale