I believe very strongly that one of the most important things a man possesses is his honor.  There is a certain way to do things in life.  A code to live by, if you will.  It includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following:  don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal, be loyal, and have respect towards women.  I feel that if you were to follow those simple tenets, you would be considered a good, honorable man.

But alas, not everyone chooses to adhere to these guidelines.  For some reason unbeknownst to me, people constantly mortgage their own honor, usually for a very small price.  Such was the case at poker last night.

Steven (not to be confused with Stephen, Alex's friend and a good guy), is new to our poker game.  This isn't unusual; each week we see one or two new faces, and I try my best to welcome anyone who wants to play with us.  So when Bobby asked me two weeks ago if his friend Steven could play, I said sure, as long as we had enough spots left for him.  Lo and behold, we did, so he played last Tuesday.  I wasn't at his table, but from what I heard he had a very abrupt and uneventful night.  He was one of the first casualties of the evening, and was gone by time I checked in on the other table.

Steven IMed me the next day, asking if it would be OK if he came again next week.  Not a problem, I said, as basically anyone who plays with us once has a lifetime invitation to return.  Last night came, and among the 17 players was Steven.  Once again he got seated at a different table than I did, so I still didn't know very much about him or his game.  I was in the lounge, at a very strong table composed of myself, Aaron, Pascale, Andy, Alex, Pete, and the two weaker links, Dave's Discount and Ferris. 

Play started off very tight, with only one hand reaching the river in the first hour and fifteen minutes of play, a hand in which I flopped the nut straight with 7 9 from the button and extracted what I think was the maximum amount of chips out of Ferris, who held ace ten for top pair, top kicker off the flop.  Other than that, it was a very quiet game, because there were very few, if any, fish to pick on at the table.  After what I guess was about two hours, Roy came into the lounge, and he told me that he had been busted out.  He went on to say that he believed Steven was cheating when he dealt.  More specifically, he noticed Steven peeking at the board cards (the cards to come) while he was still in the hand.  By flicking the corner of the deck with his thumb, Steven was able to get a quick look at the flop, and possibly beyond, so he basically knew when he would hit a big hand and when he wouldn't.  The gravity of this can't be overstated enough.  Steven was able to call huge raises with terrible cards that he knew would prevail against long odds because of the board cards that he saw.  For example, Roy detailed a hand in which he raised with ace 2, and Steven called with 9 5 offsuit from the big blind.  A very strange play to say the least, but it gets worse.  Will, a notoriously tight player, reraises all-in from the blind, and after Roy folds, Steven (the dealer) calls with his 9 5 offsuit.  This isn't just foolish- it is incomprehensible.  This play cannot be made without some kind of knowledge that one should not possess.  Much to everyone's surprise, the flop brought Steven two pair, and Will went to the river needing a 10 for a gutshot straight to survive.  Steven then burned an additional card, one more than he was supposed to, and flipped the river, which was a blank.  Luckily for Will, Godwin noticed the error and the real card was flipped... and it was a 10.  Steven then went on a rant that he does not make such mistakes and that the other players at the table were cheating against him.  I can positively say that this was not the case, even before the events that would transpire later in the night.  The majority of the table was composed of friends of mine, people whom I have never seen lie in such a situation such as this, much less colluding together to vilify one player.  Among them were Roy, Godwin, Gibby, Will, and Joe, all of whom I trust.  Seeing as Roy brought me this information, I believed it completely, as I trust Roy implicitly, seeing as he is one of my best friends at Carolina.  Roy is smart though, and he told me that rather than confronting Steven immediately, that I wait and see for myself, so that instead of getting into a "he said she said," I could have definitive proof and kick Steven out for good.

The poker, which was secondary on this night, went along well enough.  I endured a short stack to build myself back up to an average chip stack by time we reached the final table.  Steven was also there, and he had taken a huge pot off of Joe when Joe flopped trips, Steven (on the button, once again) pushed with a gutshot straight draw, and miraculously caught.  Joe later told me that he knew something was fishy when he saw the look on Steven's face, which was rather calm considering he was all-in with only four outs to save his life.  Steven also knocked out Gibby when they each had trips (once again on Steven's deal), but Steven had a slightly better kicker.  (He also played the hand very strangely, from what I heard, lending more credence to the reports of foul play.)

Everyone that came to the final table from my table was aware of the situation, so they all kept their eyes open for anything suspicious.  On Steven's first deal, he folded, and it seemed like he hadn't looked at the cards beforehand, but I was in a terrible position to see him, being two to his left, with Pascale between us.  On his second deal, he played the hand but folded to a bet on the flop, I believe.  On other hands that he did play, he would never announce his bet preflop, and instead just put his money in.  This is a very amateurish play, something that should never be done by anyone who play poker regularly.  How can anyone know what to call?  Every time he did it, I asked him for a number to his raise.  A couple times he conveniently had less in the pot than he should have, which he blamed on "counting mistakes."  On his third deal, it got folded to him and he doubled the big blind.  Dan called from the small blind, as did I from the big blind with 9 10 of diamonds.  The flop came king 9 3, with two diamonds, a monster for me, as I was a favorite against anything except two pair or a set.  Dan checked, as did I, and Steven bet 2000.  Dan folded, and I reraised all-in for another 8500.  Steven called and flipped over... king 9 offsuit, for top two pair.  Now for anyone that doesn't play poker or know strategy that reads this, this is not a play that any card player worth his salt would make.  If a player doubles the blind from the button, you can expect him to have either a monster hand (aces or kings, etc.) or something tricky, like 4 6 suited.  King 9 cannot hope to be beating anything that calls his raise, yet his raise isn't big enough to steal the blinds.  The play could really only be done by someone who knew what was coming, or someone who is just a terrible poker player (which Steven obviously was, what with going all-in early in a tournament with a gutshot straight draw, as well as calling huge raises with 9 5 offsuit.  Later on he claimed to play six times a week, meaning he must at least have a rudimentary understanding of the game, so the only option left is that he cheated. 

Right when the cards were turned over I realized what a foolish mistake I had made.  I had been warned about Steven cheating on his deal, yet I pushed with a good hand anyway, not even thinking about being trapped.  Of course, a diamond failed to materialize, and I was out in 7th, one spot out of the points which I so desperately needed to retain and extend my lead in the Player of the Year standings.

After I went out, I stayed around, moving to a different seat to get a better vantage point on Steven's deal.  I sat next to Godwin, and I would usually be talking to him when he was out of a hand.  Not the most intelligent thing for me to be doing, as it detracted from my reconnaissance of Steven.  After Steven dealt one hand, Dan asked me, "Hey Terrence, could you show me where Alex's room is?"  Now, Dan and Alex are good friends, and I should have known that Dan knew where Alex's room was, but me, being the oblivious fool, replied "He's the last door on the left."  Dan then got up, and as he went out, he tapped me on the shoulder with a subtle motion to follow him.  I immediately understood, and when we reached the hallway, Dan told me that he had seen Steven looking at the cards during his deal. 

We came back, knowing that it was only a matter of time until things got ugly.  Well it started with that hand.  Despite knowing what was coming, Steven's hand was still no good, and he lost a sizeable pot.  He then went on tilt, blowing chips away like he had a train to catch, obviously disgruntled that despite cheating, he still could not beat the best Stacy had to offer.  A hand came up soon after which proved to be the spark that the burgeoning powder keg had been waiting for.  Steven raised from middle position, and Jesse called from the small blind.  Jesse didn't have a ton of chips left, and it was very likely that a big decision would be required on the flop.  When the flop came out, Steven immediately announced, "Ill put you all-in."  Being the stickler Tournament Director that I am, I told him, "It's not your turn to act."  Jesse then thought and thought about what to do.  He was put in a very difficult position because he knew that Steven planned to put him all-in.  Finally, Jesse said, "OK, I'll go all-in.  Steven called immediately and flipped over pocket 2s, and underpair to the jack 8 3 flop.  Jesse had pocket kings, and they held up.  Steven had Jesse covered by a long shot, but after counting out what he owed, he shoved the rest of his chips toward Jesse and said, "Here, take them all; I'm done."  Now this is highly illegal, because in tournament poker, each chip you have must be earned- one player can't just decide to give another player his chips, because it distorts the competitive balance between the other players.  I told him, not so kindly I might add, that this was tournament poker, and he couldn't give Jesse his chips.  If he didn't want to play, I could take them out of play, or he could be quiet and play it out.  Then he snapped.

"You know what?"  he said.  "This whole game... is skeevy."  Anyone that knows me can attest that if there is one thing you do not do, it is insult me to my face, and this being my poker game, I took this as a tremendous slap in the face.  "Excuse me???" I said.  Everyone else at the table replied in kind.  "Last week I ran into quads three times.  This week I got cheated at the first table (the extra burn card episode, in which he was dead wrong, and he knew it).  This whole place is skeevy."  "Listen," I said, "we've had this game all year without any complaints.  Most guys that play are regulars.  You are the new guy.  You don't come in here and start throwing around accusations after I was kind enough to allow you to play in the first place."  I was especially angry because most, if not all, of the guys that regularly play are all good, upstanding guys, people that I'm also friends with outside of poker.  Do not insult me and my friends.  I went on, "I've had three different people come up to me tonight that reported seeing you cheat when you dealt, peeking at cards and calling raises with nonsense hands that always seemed to miraculously hit.  You also shortchanged the pot numerous times, and you acted out of turn on purpose to try to bluff Jesse out of the pot.  These are all people that I trust, and I believe them."  By now, there was a clamor at the table, as everyone else was chiming in with similar statements.  Steven got flustered and started to leave.  I told him he wasn't welcome back, and Dan also said something, although I don't remember what it was.  It wasn't anything vulgar or inflammatory, though.  Steven then turned around, looked at Dan, and said "Fuck you."

Now we were close to having a real situation.  Remember that this is at about 3 a.m. in the first floor ping pong room in Stacy.  I said to Steven, "Watch your mouth,"  and Aaron said something to the effect of "There's six of us and one of you, you had better shut up."  Steven then left, and some of the guys continuted to hurl verbal stones at him, every one he deserved.  He came back into the room once again, and it all started up again.  I tried to quiet everyone down, as I would rather not have a riot break out, because it could result in serious consequences for myself and others down the line.  Finally, everyone quieted down, and I told Steven to leave, and not to come back.  "It's over," I said.  He left, and exited the building.  Aaron, who was fuming at this point, then got up and started after him, with that "I'm going to beat this boy's ass" look in his eye.  We were able to talk him out of it, though, and the game resumed.

I found Bobby later on (he had asked if Steven could play) and told him what happened.  He apologized, and said that Steven was just a friend of a friend.  A suggestion to everyone out there: if you can't personally vouch for the character of someone that you are trying to impose on others, don't ask for a favor.  Just don't do it, because if things backfire you can look pretty silly.  No hard feelings at all, Bobby, it's not your fault, but just keep that in mind.

The end results of the debacle were thus: Joe got knocked out much earlier than he should have, hurting his chances at making the top six and the Tournament of Champions; I got knocked out on the points bubble, damaging my chances of winning Player of the Year.  Alex lost a big pot, and Gibby got knocked out by Steven, also taking away valuable points from them.  Because of this, I've decided to make the Tournament of Champions an eight person event, rather than the original six that we planned on.  This way, there are no players that get left out that could have made it if not for Steven's dishonesty.  It doesn't really hurt anyone, but will hopefully quell any negative feelings that might linger after last night.

Some people value honor more than others.  These honorable people are those that often end up being trusted, and more often than not, they justify that trust.  If you don't value honor, and you abuse the implicit trust that is given to you by others, you'll make enemies, destroy your reputation, and more often than not, get some lumps along the way.

To cheat at poker is about as low as an individual can stoop.  Poker is an honorable game, a game where certain rules of etiquette apply.  The game we play has a small buy-in, not that it is any more justifiable if more money is involved.  It is characterized by all that play in it as a friendly, albeit very competitive game.  It's nice to win money playing poker, but unless you do it professionally, that's not the only reason to do it.  Poker is entertaining, it's highly social, and it can fill those competitive urges that often go unrealized when UNC is blowing up all the tennis and basketball courts on campus.  Our poker game is a place where good guys get together to have a good time.  I play poker because I enjoy it.  I believe that the other players in my game play for the same reason.  If you play so you can try to cheat other players out of their money, rather than win it fair and square, then I cannot see the satisfaction you gain in that.  At the end of the day, you can't feel good about yourself; you just know that you're a lowlife who is willing to trade his honor for a few dollars.  That has to be a lousy way to live.

To anyone that plays in the Stacy game, I'm sorry for the way things went down last night, and I'll try to keep similar things from happening in the future.  If there's any problem, come see me.

Quote of the day: "Baby Ace Muck Face"- the catchy new nickname given to Josh by Dan and Aaron.

Terrence's bankroll: $994+$20(HORSE tournament win over the weekend)-$5(Omaha/Omaha hi-lo second place finish)-$10(Stacy game)+$1(Heads up match with Alex to try to get my bankroll to $1000 even)=$1000