Some say rules are made to be broken. My opinion? Breaking is wasteful. I prefer tying the rules into nooses and wrapping them around the necks of my opponents.
A hand isn't over until the next one starts. Even though it seemed hopeless, Joey racked his brain for a solution. This hand reminded him of their previous tournament together, when Joey slid in a stack by accident, and the dealer ruled it a call despite Joey intending to fold. He wasn't sure why he recalled that. The current situation was the opposite. He needed sunglasses to fold, but there was no obvious way to make that happen. Wasn't it impossible?
Sunglasses' chips were already in the pot. His call ended the action. Joey had no moves available. As he stared at the stack sunglasses slid out, he had a hunch he was missing something, but what?
"What the hell are you doing? Show your cards. I call," sunglasses interrupted Joey's thought process.
Deja vu struck Joey like lightning! Instead of becoming more anxious, he relaxed, not because of what sunglasses said, but because those words reminded him of something. As he gazed at sunglasses' stack…he found the way out! The needle in the chip-stack! Joey smiled.
"What are you smiling at? Let's go. I call."
"No, you don't…" Joey refuted him.
Sunglasses didn't understand. 'What does he mean by no?' He called. He already put the chip stack in the pot.
Joey finished his sentence. "That's a raise, you twerp."
Out of nowhere, sunglasses had a horrible feeling in his stomach, but he didn't know why. Still, he stood his ground. "What are you talking about? I just said 'I call,'" he clarified.
Out of nowhere, the dealer pointed at his hand. "The chips. You put in too many chips. If you don't declare your intention, and put in half or more of the minimum raise, then it's considered a raise."
Sunglasses looked at the chip stack he slid into the pot. He didn't bother to count it, but now saw it held most of his largest chips, comprising about 40% of his total chips. The minimum raise in no-limit hold 'em is double the bet. Since Joey's bet was 20% of sunglasses' chips, that meant putting in over 30% of them without announcing a call...made it a raise! A rule error forced sunglasses to raise!
If Joey said nothing, the dealer probably wouldn't have noticed it. Even if he did, he wouldn't enforce the rule, because it's a mistake players make once in a while. Most of the time, they let it slide. Still, a rule was a rule. So once an opponent mentioned it, the dealer had to enforce it.
It was the same with the rule Joey broke in their last encounter. Since sunglasses didn't let it slide when Joey broke it, Joey definitely wouldn't let it slide! In fact, he'd pour super glue on it!
For sunglasses, the raise was awful, but it wasn't the most terrible part. The most terrible part was...Joey could now reraise! Sunglasses felt like someone gave him the news that his dog died, but that wasn't the bad news. The bad news was that before he died, he ate his cat!
"I'm all-in," Joey declared. He doubled down! He bluffed again! Even though sunglasses called him on all streets 3 times in a row, Joey bluffed for the 4th time! He risked even more! He risked it all!
Sunglasses began to sweat. He made the last call on a whim because it only risked 20% of his stack. If he called now and lost, 80% of his chips would disappear! It would reduce him to a short-stack! "F*ck!" he cursed out loud. He wanted to see Joey's cards, but not for most of his stack!
Something else bothered sunglasses. 'Doesn't this situation seem familiar?' The words Joey said were echoing in his mind. 'No, you don't. That's a raise you twerp…No, you don't. That's a raise you twerp…No, you don't. That's a raise you twerp.' When he remembered it…his jaw dropped.
Sunglasses stood up, pointed to Joey, and screamed, "You're using my words!" The entire poker room watched sunglasses become hysterical! It was because Joey said the exact line that sunglasses used last tournament! No! Not only the line, the entire scene was the same!
In the last tournament sunglasses played with Joey, he forced Joey to make a call based on a rule error. That phrase Joey said to him…was the exact phrase he used back then! It felt like he was slapped by his own hand! Sunglasses' face alternated between shades of angry red and horrified pale!
One of the worst things you could do to someone was make them eat their own regurgitated words! It was like eating vomit!
Sunglasses shook! He remembered that hand against Joey. He had a monster then. 'So this is payback? He's trying to take my entire stack with his monster!' He started panting. A few seconds later, he screamed, "F*CKKKKKK!"
The tournament was on pause as even the staff stared at him, wondering if they had to call security...or a mental institution.
Before the straitjacket arrived, sunglasses crumpled up his cards and threw them on the floor! He folded! Then he stormed into the bathroom! Even though he was still in the tournament, he needed to step away before he had a stroke!
Joey's play worked! This wasn't out of the box thinking, it was out of the game thinking! After losing due to a rule technicality last time, Joey studied the rules of this tournament hall. This was the pay off! He found a loophole to change the situation from hopeless to victorious! What's more is he got an epic karmic face-slap out of it! Two for the price of one!
Poor sunglasses...he wasn't even knocked out yet...The anesthetic didn't work, so the suffering wasn't over.
