This is from poker player,Daniel Negreanu's BLOG. It's a little long, but I thought funny.
For Easter dinner, Lori and I met with Cece, Hayden, Barbara, Jenn, Marco, Patrick, Maya, as well as Jennifer and Marco's two boys. We ended up at a beautiful restaurant where we could sit outside on a beautiful night.
Obviously, with the group at hand, poker was the main topic of conversation for most of the evening. Patrick told me about how unlucky he's been, I told him some horror stories as well, and finally, Cece told us about how her quads were no match versus a royal flush in a recent Bellagio tournament.
After dinner we all headed over to Jenn and Marco's place. Not only was it us humans, but we also had Jenn's dogs, Cece's dogs, and our dogs. In total, it was, Mushu, Marley, Brittany, Peter, Dexter, Guaglione, Stolie, Squirtolino, and oh, I can't forget Todd Brunson (who was also there with his lovely wife).
Here is where things go a little haywire. At dinner, Patrick and I talked a little bit about pool and I was certain that he was much better than me. No question about it. Nonetheless, we decided to gamble a bit on a pool match, but I negotiated a little spot for myself in 9-ball. We agreed to play a race to 4, but with me starting out with a 1-0 lead which seemed fair. Last time we did this I crushed him, so I figured I could beat him for a big number.
I won the first game but ended up losing the first set. We played another seven sets, playing for double or nothing each and every time. First I was down $10,000, then $30,000, then $100,000, and before I knew it I was stuck close to $1.8 million.
I never won one stinkin' match. Of course, losing that badly, I had no choice but to tell Patrick to buzz off, and that I wasn't paying him one cent. It's true, that the last time we played I beat him for $300,000 and he paid me the next day, but after this debacle I wasn't even willing to give him his $300,000 back since the match was clearly unfair.
He argued that if I didn't want to pay him, or thought he was hustling, that I should have quit playing a long time ago. Bleh, whatever man. I was just trying to get even. If I got even I wouldn't have said anything and just not played with him anymore. Since I lost the way I did, though, I had no plans of paying him anyway.
Patrick tried to make some other ridiculous points that I found laughable:
He said, "I didn't even make the match." That's true, I came up with what I thought was a fair match, but in the end, I realized that the match wasn't fair at all which I think justifies me not paying.
He then said, "Why did you keep kicking it up if you thought it wasn't fair?" That is so silly! I didn't realize that it was an unfair match until I lost every single time and played very poorly! I was kicking it up because, duh, that was the best way for me to get even!
He then said, "Did I put a gun to your head and force you to keep playing? How can you beat me for $300,000, then when I win, you don't want to pay me?" Duh Patrick, it's called covering your butt dude? Seriously, if I got even I just would have forgotten about the whole thing, but when you beat me for that kind of money I'm going to just have to come up with some excuse not to pay.
The whole thing got rather heated, so I told him we needed to just talk about this whole thing face to face, mano e mano. He just wouldn't see my side of the story, so I told him we'd just need to get an arbitrator to settle it. He had no idea what an arbitrator was, but after I explained it to him he said, "What is there to settle? You made a match with me and I agreed. You kicked it up repeatedly, kept playing over and over and lost. When you beat me for $300,000 I didn't hear you complain one bit? What is there to settle?'
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Ok, so that's not exactly how it all happened. Patrick and I actually played two sets at Jenn's house, he won the first and I won the second. We broke dead even.
Now, the above story, as outlandish and unbelievable as it may sound, actually happened to a very good friend of mine recently. Much of it has been talked about in various poker forums. My buddy, would represent Patrick in the above story. Mar Wasvani and Clark Badmin represent me in the above story.
Now, to be fair, I've only heard one side of the story, but it seems like the evidence is overwhelmingly compelling in favor of my friend. As Doyle Brunson put it, "-------, did you put a gun to their head and force them to keep playing?"
Of course not. What happened here is a couple of "hustlers" lost more than they felt comfortable with, continued to press, and press, and press, their bets hoping to get even. Then when they failed to get even, they cried fowl, claiming, "This wasn't a fair match." Are you freakin' serious?
You played for days, and days, and days, continued to raise the stake unprovoked, set the rules for the game, etc., then after losing, are trying to get out of paying? I seriously can't even comprehend this.
I lost a lot of money on the golf course last year. Most of the matches I had were not in my favor. Yet, knowing that I was "the sucker," never for a second did I consider not paying it off. Not for a second. I took my lumps like a man, paid the money I owed, and learned a lesson or two along the way.
My buddy still hasn't received a penny of his winnings. What's really just mind boggling and ridiculous, is that my buddy hasn't even been paid the money he lost to these guys! I'm not making this up! Not only is he out the money he won on the golf course, but he's also out the money he paid them when he lost!
So while this situation is extremely ugly, the situation between Patrick and I was rather tame. He took me to dinner, wined and dined me, gave me his coat when I was cold, and complemented me on my attire. He was a gentleman and extremely well behaved, which is good, because I'm not that kind of guy anyway
As for my buddy versus Wasvani and Badmin, their situation remains unsettled. I'd love to hear their side of the story, but my goodness, I can't imagine what justification they could come up with for not paying the money they lost. I mean, at least paying the money they happily won! It really is the craziest gambling story I've heard in a long time. It’s clearly a case of biting off more than you can chew, snagging a “fish” that comes back to bite you in the butt, and now trying to weasel your way out of a debt you know well and good that you owe.
For Easter dinner, Lori and I met with Cece, Hayden, Barbara, Jenn, Marco, Patrick, Maya, as well as Jennifer and Marco's two boys. We ended up at a beautiful restaurant where we could sit outside on a beautiful night.
Obviously, with the group at hand, poker was the main topic of conversation for most of the evening. Patrick told me about how unlucky he's been, I told him some horror stories as well, and finally, Cece told us about how her quads were no match versus a royal flush in a recent Bellagio tournament.
After dinner we all headed over to Jenn and Marco's place. Not only was it us humans, but we also had Jenn's dogs, Cece's dogs, and our dogs. In total, it was, Mushu, Marley, Brittany, Peter, Dexter, Guaglione, Stolie, Squirtolino, and oh, I can't forget Todd Brunson (who was also there with his lovely wife).
Here is where things go a little haywire. At dinner, Patrick and I talked a little bit about pool and I was certain that he was much better than me. No question about it. Nonetheless, we decided to gamble a bit on a pool match, but I negotiated a little spot for myself in 9-ball. We agreed to play a race to 4, but with me starting out with a 1-0 lead which seemed fair. Last time we did this I crushed him, so I figured I could beat him for a big number.
I won the first game but ended up losing the first set. We played another seven sets, playing for double or nothing each and every time. First I was down $10,000, then $30,000, then $100,000, and before I knew it I was stuck close to $1.8 million.
I never won one stinkin' match. Of course, losing that badly, I had no choice but to tell Patrick to buzz off, and that I wasn't paying him one cent. It's true, that the last time we played I beat him for $300,000 and he paid me the next day, but after this debacle I wasn't even willing to give him his $300,000 back since the match was clearly unfair.
He argued that if I didn't want to pay him, or thought he was hustling, that I should have quit playing a long time ago. Bleh, whatever man. I was just trying to get even. If I got even I wouldn't have said anything and just not played with him anymore. Since I lost the way I did, though, I had no plans of paying him anyway.
Patrick tried to make some other ridiculous points that I found laughable:
He said, "I didn't even make the match." That's true, I came up with what I thought was a fair match, but in the end, I realized that the match wasn't fair at all which I think justifies me not paying.
He then said, "Why did you keep kicking it up if you thought it wasn't fair?" That is so silly! I didn't realize that it was an unfair match until I lost every single time and played very poorly! I was kicking it up because, duh, that was the best way for me to get even!
He then said, "Did I put a gun to your head and force you to keep playing? How can you beat me for $300,000, then when I win, you don't want to pay me?" Duh Patrick, it's called covering your butt dude? Seriously, if I got even I just would have forgotten about the whole thing, but when you beat me for that kind of money I'm going to just have to come up with some excuse not to pay.
The whole thing got rather heated, so I told him we needed to just talk about this whole thing face to face, mano e mano. He just wouldn't see my side of the story, so I told him we'd just need to get an arbitrator to settle it. He had no idea what an arbitrator was, but after I explained it to him he said, "What is there to settle? You made a match with me and I agreed. You kicked it up repeatedly, kept playing over and over and lost. When you beat me for $300,000 I didn't hear you complain one bit? What is there to settle?'
***************************************************************
Ok, so that's not exactly how it all happened. Patrick and I actually played two sets at Jenn's house, he won the first and I won the second. We broke dead even.
Now, the above story, as outlandish and unbelievable as it may sound, actually happened to a very good friend of mine recently. Much of it has been talked about in various poker forums. My buddy, would represent Patrick in the above story. Mar Wasvani and Clark Badmin represent me in the above story.
Now, to be fair, I've only heard one side of the story, but it seems like the evidence is overwhelmingly compelling in favor of my friend. As Doyle Brunson put it, "-------, did you put a gun to their head and force them to keep playing?"
Of course not. What happened here is a couple of "hustlers" lost more than they felt comfortable with, continued to press, and press, and press, their bets hoping to get even. Then when they failed to get even, they cried fowl, claiming, "This wasn't a fair match." Are you freakin' serious?
You played for days, and days, and days, continued to raise the stake unprovoked, set the rules for the game, etc., then after losing, are trying to get out of paying? I seriously can't even comprehend this.
I lost a lot of money on the golf course last year. Most of the matches I had were not in my favor. Yet, knowing that I was "the sucker," never for a second did I consider not paying it off. Not for a second. I took my lumps like a man, paid the money I owed, and learned a lesson or two along the way.
My buddy still hasn't received a penny of his winnings. What's really just mind boggling and ridiculous, is that my buddy hasn't even been paid the money he lost to these guys! I'm not making this up! Not only is he out the money he won on the golf course, but he's also out the money he paid them when he lost!
So while this situation is extremely ugly, the situation between Patrick and I was rather tame. He took me to dinner, wined and dined me, gave me his coat when I was cold, and complemented me on my attire. He was a gentleman and extremely well behaved, which is good, because I'm not that kind of guy anyway
As for my buddy versus Wasvani and Badmin, their situation remains unsettled. I'd love to hear their side of the story, but my goodness, I can't imagine what justification they could come up with for not paying the money they lost. I mean, at least paying the money they happily won! It really is the craziest gambling story I've heard in a long time. It’s clearly a case of biting off more than you can chew, snagging a “fish” that comes back to bite you in the butt, and now trying to weasel your way out of a debt you know well and good that you owe.
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It happens all the time in pool. How many times have you seen 2 guys that play even and one of them is getting the 7 ball? Then the other guy has to outrun the nuts. I've seen it plenty. I think Phil pulled a move on him, Ram bit, and Phil ended up with the dough. But I would be frustrated as well knowing that I played for a few days straight and didn't get paid. I think it hurts Ram's rep more than Phils. 
