[EL Burro Loco]

Thanks for the post Johnny. I am one of those idealists... when i first moved to Seattle in 04 a friend of mine taught me to play poker and we have been playing together ever since. He is a pretty good player when remotely sober, but he constantly suspects everyone else at the table is cheating. I am an honest guy who never cheated at anything so i never could understand why i thought my friend always thought everyone else was. I watched carefully at casinos and private games for colluding players, card watchers, guys marking cards etc. Only at a couple home games have i ever noticed some shady angle shots happening.

Then one day i am playing in a game with my friend... its a 2/4 400NL game and everyone else at the table is an arrogant poker know it all. It was a nitty, but totally beatable game straight up. During this game i caught my friend cheating no less than 4 times. I saw him peeking at cards as he dealt them, i caught him peeking at neighbors cards, i caught him shorting pots while making change, etc etc (i kept my mouth shut until after). It then dawned on me, that poker has this in common with relationships. Cheaters, always assume everyone else is cheating. In my 3 short years playing poker i have seen only a couple guys cheating... the vast majority of younger / newer players play the game fairly. I am pretty paranoid and i pay close attention, even when i am drinking, even when i am tired.

The best advice i can give is if you suspect anything shady going down get up and leave. End of story. When i play in new games i keep my bankroll hidden and bring two buy ins in with me so that if i go to leave and there is some sort of objection or someones threatens me i can just give up the money and walk away. There are plenty of honest games in the world.

Also, i made this saying up, but it has held true since i started playing poker (no offense intended)... "at a poker table be wary of any man wearing cowboy boots."