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Online Poker Wars

One of the glories of the internet for me was the introduction of online poker.  It had become my second source of income and a way for me to relax after my day job.  On one particular evening, as I played my usual round of sit and go tournaments, I decided to jump in on a short-handed hold ‘em cash game.  It is very normal to see all kinds of outrageous betting online and to see large amounts of money being moved around the table.  On this night though, I had run into an absolute maniac, raising pre-flop with a J-2 off suit, raising with a 4-5 off suit on a flop that he completely missed and calling with hands he had no business being in.   

I finally had gotten him heads up while holding AA. I had let him take the lead on the betting, then raising and re-raising him on a rainbow flop.  I continued to do the same on the turn and river.  When the river card came I realized he had sucked out on me and made a straight.  I was pretty steamed, but then this online maniac decided to use the chat function and typed “You suck, loser.”   

I thought to myself, this guy has some nerve.  I pegged him as a newbie as a lot of the guys that have been playing poker any amount of time online (and offline for that matter) have a lot more class.  I would have been fine, but he kept going, typing all sorts of things and doing all sorts of name calling.  Well I finally had it and gave in, which I knew I should not have done.  I started going right back at him and realized that I was not even really playing any more.  I had stooped to this newbie’s level and had lost a ton of money in the process.   

After going back and forth, I finally told him to shove it where the moon does not shine.  After which he sent his last message: He said he was a 13-year old kid using his Dad’s account to play online poker.  I, a grown man, had just been arguing with a kid and I was in fact the loser.  After realizing that there was an archive function for the chat box, I forwarded the dialog to the site administrator and subsequently had the account turned off.  I promised I would never stoop to that level again and say that kind of stuff.  Just once last time though – Who’s the loser now?