This month's winner:

By: Danny S.

There are three reasons people come to Las Vegas:  the finest entertainment, the chance to have sex with a complete stranger (or two), and of course:  the World Series of Poker!  God as my witness I showed up this summer for the third reason.

I bought into a 1,000 dollar World Series tournament, and I was amazed at all the professional poker players who were playing there.  The most impressive of them all, however, was not the brooding Phil Hellmuth, nor the stoic Chris Ferguson.  Rather, the most towering presence in the room, despite his 5 feet 1 inch stature, was none other than Men “The Master” Nguyen.  As soon as the tournament started, he shouted for all to hear, “You losers go down!”

I sat down at a table of what appeared to be eight other amateurs, and just my luck—the master himself!  For the first couple hours of play Men and I seemed to alternate taking pots down from the other players at our table.  He and I were the only two playing aggressively; everyone else just seemed to fold when we showed any sign of strength.

Then came the hand I would love to have erased from my memory forever!  It started off with an omen:  the dealer accidentally dealt a 3 of spades face up.  He announced that it would be the burn card.  I quickly forgot about it, when much to my delight, I looked down to see that I had been dealt pocket K hearts, K diamonds.  Awesome!  I thought to myself.

I was on the button, so I decided to put in a healthy raise for 250 chips (the blinds were 25 and 50).  Perhaps everyone else had an ominous feeling about the hand, because they all folded until only Men and I, the two big stacks, were left to battle it out.  The flop came:  K Clubs, 3 hearts, 7 clubs.  I couldn’t believe my fortune.  I had just flopped trip kings against Men the Master.  I put in a small raise, and Men quickly called.  “You in big trouble!” he taunted.

The turn card came out:  9 of clubs.  I instantly worried.  Could he have the flush?  I asked myself.  It was a definite possibility.  But I’ve watched those deodorant promos they show for men who take risks, and I decided it was either double up time or bedtime for me.  I pushed my chips all-in.

Men thought about it for a long, long time.  I heard him mutter to himself, “Stupid guy done caught a stupid guy flush.”  I relaxed a little when I heard him say these words, because I knew there was no hand he could have at that moment that could beat mine.  After much painful deliberation, Men sighed and said, “I call you stupid guy.  Where your two pair?”

I couldn’t believe my luck!  I joyfully threw down my trip kings.  Men looked disgusted.  He was astonished that he had made the wrong read.  He stood up and put on his coat.

Then, I simply had to ask, “Hey Men.  What’d you have?”

He replied, “A set of 3’s.  I guess I the stupid guy now.”  He threw his cards haphazardly and began to walk away.  Somehow, his cards landed face up right on the table in front of where he was sitting.

Then, the unthinkable happened.  The river card came:  4 of clubs.  The dealer showed me the bad news.  One of Men’s pocket 3’s was the 3 of clubs.  There were four clubs on the board.  Men “The Master” Nguyen had just beaten my set of kings with a club flush.  The worst part?  He didn’t even know it until someone yelled the news to him across the room where he was standing.

Men came running back to the table, giddy as a schoolgirl.  “Thank you stupid guy!  You lose very nicely to Men the Master!”

I was so shocked I couldn’t even move.  I was left with only 50 chips.  On the next hand I was blinded out, losing with a 7-2 off-suit.

As I replay the horror in my mind, I can’t help but realize something:  next time I’m in Vegas, I think I’ll spend my thousand dollars on two things I find far more rewarding than getting outdrawn by Men “The Master” Nguyen.  And let’s just say they’ll both be strangers.

By: Brian D.

I was playing in a tournament hosted by one of my former bosses (let’s call him “Mark”).  Also in this tournament was my most recent former boss (let’s call him “John”).  So I’ve got a professional work history with several players in this tourney, and we all still work for the same company.

A while in, I get dealt AK suited on the button.  There were three callers in front of me, so I raised to six times the big blind (the blinds were about 100 and 200 at this point of the tourney, and everyone started with 5000 in chips).  The small blind folds, the big blind (”John”) calls, everyone else folds.  The flop comes A 7 10 all clubs.  I don’t have a club in my hand.  The big blind checks, and sensing I had the best hand (and wanting to scare off a flush draw), I bet about 10 times the big blind, nearly the size of the pot.

“John” calls.  Turn comes an offsuit 2.  “John” checks again.

I figured the two couldn’t help him, so I went all in for about 20 times the big blind (I barely had him covered).  “John” thinks about it for a minute and then calls.  I turn over my AK, he turns over… 6 8 offsuit, no clubs.  So he called a bet for all his chips, on just a gutshot straight draw.  No flush possibilities, and not even a pair.  He couldn’t possibly think he had the best hand, could he?  Everyone at the table let’s out a collective “huh?” and “Mark”, my other former boss, even goes so far as to say “What the hell are you doing?

Well, in case you couldn’t figure it out, the river brings him his nine to complete a gutshot straight, 6 7 8 9 10.  John doubles up, and I’m crippled and gone five minutes later.  So instead of being one of the chip leaders, I’m whamboozled by a guy who called a significant preflop raise with 6 8 offsuit, then chased it all the way to the river, calling off all his chips in the process, then hits his miracle.

I sat there, trying to understand his thought process as he called a big preflop raise with nothing, then called a big raise on the flop with nothing, then called a big raise on the turn with nothing.  At no point in that hand did he have anything resembling a winning hand; he couldn’t have possibly thought he had me beat, and he was risking his entire tournament on a four-outer.  The worst part is I still see this guy almost every day, and every time I do I’m reminded of that hand.  But I can’t say anything to him because he’s a manager at my place of employment and he really is a nice guy, so it’s not like I can even rip into him.  I often see “Mark” as well, and he likes to remind me of that hand.  I’ll pass him in the hall, and he just shakes his head and says “6 8, wow.”  I may need to request a transfer.

By: Matt F.

I like to play a lot of online poker, and usually every 3 weeks or so me and 15 or so other buddies of mine get together to play a tourny for a 50 dollars with a 50 dollar reuy.

I almost always get first or second in these, all of my friends think I’m too good and sometimes don’t even want to come if I’m there, but usually they come anyways.

So we had one on a Friday and once again i won and took home 600 dollars, and on the way home I was thinking I truely am really good at poker. So i get the idea to play a high stakes ring game on my favorite poker site, pokerroom. I almost never play in games more than 100, actually only twice did i play in tournys for 140 online.

So i made a deposit into pokerroom for 600 and sat at one of their higher stakes ring games with 10/20 blinds and I do exceptional well in the first 20 minutes, I have 3000 dollars!.. I was so excited because i just turned 50 dollars into 3000. Soon a new player came into the game with 4000.

On the first hand he was there I was dealt QQ he makes a raise of 400. I have no idea if hes aggresive or tight, but that doesn’t matter yet because I still have a great hand so i call.

flop: A 6 Q

So now im excited figuring he has a hand like AK.

On my laptop (the computer im using) the mouse is a pad that you scroll your finger over to move and if you double click the pad then it clicks on watever the cursor is over, so im anxiously moveing the cursor around in circles waiting for my opponent to make his move and while doing this I guess i accidently double clicked the mouse pad on the fold button that they for you to decide what you will do when its your turn, so he goes all-in and i folded on accident.

I was so mad but that was forgotten as on the next hand i was dealt KK and the same guy made another bet of 400 so i call trying to trap him, because now I’m pretty sure hes aggresive so I will be able to induce a bluff.

Flop: K 10 10

He raises 1000

I call hoping he has a 10 or just an ace so I can beat him out of the pot with a full house.

Turn: K

He goes all-in.. Im jumping in joy now and obviously I call

He turns over J spades and Q spades.. now I realize that he has a royal flush draw becuase the king on the turn and one of the tens were spades, and lucky he didn’t get his royal flush..

But isn’t this a bad beat story…

River: 9 spades

Yeah, instead of his royal flush he got a straight flush to leave me with a losing hand of quads..

I was so angry I stood up and hit the wall with the palm of my hand.

So instead of winning 5500 dollars I lose 50…

Poker.. what are you gunna do.

A bunch of my neighbors and I get together for a $175 buy-in poker tournament on the first Sunday of every month. There are usually about 18 of us playing (the top five get paid) and I get along really well with everyone — well, almost everyone. There’s one player — my next-door neighbor, Mike — with whom I have an ongoing rivalry.

One Sunday, a while back, I couldn’t refrain from egging Mike on a bit. Before the tourney even started, I asked him if he’d like to make a little side bet: if I finished higher, he’d have to pay me an extra $1,000, and vice versa. Mike, who rarely turns down a challenge, agreed.

As a good neighbor, I made sure to retrieve a couple of cocktails for Mike before the tournament began (hey, it was the least I could do). Then I got off to a pretty good start myself, doubling up early and maintaining the second-highest chip stack going into the final table of six. Unfortunately, the drinks did nothing to phase Mike; in fact, he was the chip leader.

On the second hand of the final table, I picked up A-10 on the button and threw out a healthy raise. Mike, next to act in the small blind position, called, and the big blind folded. The flop came 4-4-A, giving me top two pair. Mike checked. Thinking it unlikely that Mike had a four, I tossed out a value bet, which he called. The turn brought another four, improving my hand to a fours-over-aces full house. I knew the chances of Mike holding the fourth four were basically slim to none, so I raised all-in.

With a sly grin, Mike called and flipped over pocket deuces. I quickly laid down my better full house, making Mike cringe; I was on the verge of severely crippling him and assuming the chip leader position. Considering him to be drawing dead, I began collecting the chips. Then the dealer flipped the river card: the final four. The card’s horrible significance didn’t dawn on me immediately. But then it hit me hard — we BOTH had quad fours with an ace kicker. Mike had hit runner-runner quads to split a pot that would’ve nearly knocked him out of the tournament!

As I tried to forget about the injustice that had just befallen me, I looked down to find AH-KH on the very next hand. I put out a sizable raise, which, once again, was called by Mike. The flop came 7H-9H-2H. I impressed myself by not jumping up from my seat and doing a little dance. Then I decided to slow play my ace-high flush and checked, trying to trap Mike. After thinking about it for a minute, Mike muttered the words I was dying to hear: “All-in.” Almost before he could finish the phrase, I called and euphorically flipped over my flush. “Nuts!” I happily proclaimed. With a look of despair, Mike turned over his lesser flush, 10H-JH. The turn produced a blank. Again I reached toward the middle of the table to collect my chips and again something otherworldly happened. This time, the dealer flipped over the eight of hearts, which provided Mike with an improbable — not to mention devastating — straight flush!

The impact of the beat nearly knocked me off my chair. In a complete daze, I somehow managed to write out a check for a cool $1,000 and threw it on the table. Then, without so much as a backward glance, I made my way home.