Mr. 18 Racks is Back!

Last week I had the pleasure of sitting on the left of a man who had the most chips I have ever seen on a poker table (and the most money I've ever seen on a 20/40 table). When he colored up to 500 dollar chips, he had about $6600 (13+ racks). At his peak he had the 12 purples, plus about $3000 more, for a total of around $9000, or 18 racks. I texted this information to my friends who demanded pictures of the 18 racks....I didn't take any, because as I said, he colored 12 of them up. Anyway, this guy was awfully bad, at least preflop. Post flop he was somewhat logical, but tended to call down too much and show aggression when he was obviously beat. Today, while working out at Oracle, I got a text from Hank informing me that "Mr 18 Racks is Back. Of course I have him on my right".

It should be noted that in general I assume that anyone who is sitting at a table with more than about 6 racks has either been playing too long, plays way too many hands, or both. It's pretty reliable.

I arrived at Bay 101 today around 11:30 and sure enough, there was Hank, iso-raising the bejesus out of Mr. 18 racks, who, as previously, was looking mighty sleepy. Rumor has it last time he played for 3 days straight. Today, it looked as if he'd at least been going all night. I bided my time patiently in a different (and also excellent) 20/40 game, but as I soon as I saw Hank walking over for racks I put in for a table change. By 3:15 I had the Jesus seat myself, immediately to the left of this mega-fish. And boy did it pay out....Some hands:

I see a free flop in the big blind with 98o. 6 of us see the beautiful board of:

567 with two hearts

18 racks bets, I raise, two players call, 18 racks 3 bets, I cap it, and the two other players call. I pray silently for a black deuce.

2 of spades

18 racks checks, I bet, and the two heart draws both call. 18 racks now check/raises and I visibly lick my chops while 3-betting. The two heart draws call again, one actually declaring "Give me a heart one time dealer!" while putting 80 more dollars into this redonkulous pot. This time I actually call out for "Black paint please dealer"

K of clubs

My hand is still the nuts, and Mr. 18 racks pays me off with his pocket 7s. Admittedly he played this hand pretty well, as he had 10 outs at the nuts so check/raising the turn 4 ways, even if I show him my hand, was basically neutral EV.

A while later I see a flop with 87 of clubs for two bets about 6 ways (kicking ass/flopping like god in 6 handed pots really is how you make money sometimes). The board comes down:

Tc 6h 4c

I raise/cap the thing against Mr. 18 racks (I've got a double gutter and a club draw....any 9 or 5 gives me the nuts, and all the clubs make me happy, too). The turn is a gorgeous red 9, giving me the stone cold nuts. He does the weirdo check/raise thing again (which works really well for me when I have the nuts, as he's basically check/raising the entire table for me), and again a few people call. The board pairs the 6 on the river, but I am safe as he and another opponent both show T9 for top two pair (the other probably had my club draw dominated....nothing like good clean living to help you win a $1000 pot).

Finally, towards the end of the day, I limp in with 86 of diamonds and a raise happens once more. The flop is:

Ad 5d 2s

Just one bet goes in (Mr 18 racks doing the betting), and one of my opponents tells the dealer to put out the 4 of diamonds. I look at him, quizzically.

3d

Mr. 18 racks bets (Ac 4s...ah yes, Ace Four off suit just made a straight) and I raise. The aforementioned opponent looks perplexed, hems and haws, and declares that he is folding 53, for two pair. The preflop raiser calls again (he probably has like red kings), and Mr. 18 racks somehow calls again. The river...

5c

The opponent who just folded is pretty upset, and I can't really blame him. Mr. 18 racks pays me off and I drag yet another monster because he absolutely cannot read hands to save his life and continues to bet when he's obviously crushed.

Playing with this guy was amazing. He was literally falling asleep, at the table, almost every hand. Someone (usually the dealer, but often me) had to wake him up when he got cards, either by saying "Sir, your action" or "Aces, Wake Up!" or simply pounding the table in front of him. I actually got him a cup of coffee around 5pm without prompting, for which I was thanked profusely. More than once he gave new meaning to the phrase "wake up with a real hand", as he'd try to fold his big blind, only to be stopped by the dealer, and proceed to flop trip 3s with his T3 off suit.

I closed the day with a $1700 win. I've already won twice as much this month as all of January :)