Squid Game

In this post I talk about a notable pot I played against Jamie Gold and getting burned at home games.

My heater at the home game was short-lived. Playing high-stakes live poker was a completely foreign environment for me and I lacked the soft skills needed to succeed. 

High-stakes live poker was unique to me in that instead of playing multiple tables of buy-ins ranging between $200 to $1k online, I was one-tabling a buy-in that could be ten times more than the one that I had online. Deep stack poker is a very sophisticated and nuanced game and sharp decision making is a necessity if you want to beat the competition.

It became apparent that I didn’t have what it took. I was unstudied at this format of poker and despite having a few initial big scores, I quickly shipped it back. 

My first big loss at the home game came to none other than Jamie Gold, the winner of the 2006 World Series of Poker main event. I didn’t know much about Jamie, only that he was well-known in the poker world and involved in an infamous high-stakes pot which racked up hundreds of thousands of views online. 

When I arrived at the home-game, there just so happened to be an empty seat to the left of Jamie Gold. This was the first time I’ve ever seen him at the home game and I was awestruck. It was surreal that I was playing with a poker celebrity. 

The game that day was $5/$10/$25. I had 8♥️8♣️ under the gun. I opened to $100 and both the big blind and straddle, Jamie, called. The flop came:

2♦️4♦️6♥️

The action checked to me and I bet $200, about half the size of the pot. The big blind folded and Jamie quickly raised to $600. As I still had an overpair and Jamie could be on numerous sorts of draws, I had to continue my hand through a call. The pot was now $1500.

The turn came the 8♦️, bringing in the obvious front door flush draw but also giving me top set. Jamie continued betting $700. I continued through a call. I couldn’t fold this strong of a hand, but raising would be an overplay. 

The river came an K♥️, a total brick. Jamie led out again, however this time very small, only $500 into a pot of $3k. 

I took one chip out and contemplated calling. Theoretically, calling would never be a mistake here, I had a very strong hand and was only facing a less than quarter pot-sized bet.

However, after replaying the action in my head, it made no sense to me that Jamie would bet a flush like this. A flush was usually the nuts on this board and most villains would size much larger to try and get value.

I concluded that Jamie wouldn’t have bet this small with a flush and my hand was likely best. With this in mind, I tossed two yellow chips into the middle, making a thin-value raise to $2k and leaving myself with $2k behind.

As I initially only took one chip out to contemplate a call, Jamie didn’t realize that I decided to raise. He almost flipped his cards over before he realized that there was still action.

“Oh! You decided to raise.” He exclaimed.

Then, Jamie went into a long tank. After what seemed like eternity, he muttered:

“It’s not possible for me to lose. It might be flush over flush but my hand is too strong not to jam. Sorry kid.”

Jamie then 3-bet shoved all-in on the river against me.

I was flustered. 3-bet shoving the river is a very rare occurrence and it is almost always the nuts. However, I only had to put in another $2k to win a pot of $10k. Getting this great of a price, I had to be sure that Jamie was almost never bluffing here to make the fold. I was confident in my read and showed Jamie top set and excruciatingly folded.

While Jamie was dragging in the pot, he slid his cards to me and said:

“If you want to see it, you can see it.”

I turned his cards over and revealed 8♠️6♠️ for two pair, an unorthodox bluff. The whole table erupted in chatter. I was stunned, slowly comprehending that I had just gotten totally owned.

Jamie’s play in that hand was a defining moment for me. I realized that not all of poker is about sizings and range construction, there is a very real human element to the game.

I later learned that Jamie was infamous for his table talk and was able to talk his way into winning the 2006 main event for $12 million dollars. He also told me that his table talk saved himself 6-figures on the river in the nose-bleed pot he played against Sammy Farha. 

I lost $10k that day, the first big losing session I had at the home game. I didn’t sleep well that night, constantly replaying the hand I played against Jamie in my head and being upset and irritated at myself for making the wrong fold. 

The next few sessions at the home game didn’t go well for me either. There was a new side game that was becoming popular, Squid Game, inspired by the famous South Korean survival drama television series. The rules of the game were simple.

1. All players start without a squid game chip.

2. Once you win a pot, you obtain a squid game chip and you are safe.

3. The last player without a chip owes everyone a predetermined amount.

The first squid game we played there was a bounty of $100 per player, which means at a 9-handed table the loser would owe a total of $800. The nature of the game is that it encourages a lot more action. You need to fight for each pot until you obtain a chip and are safe from paying out the bounty.

As I played a pretty tight strategy, I didn’t adjust well to the new game. It seemed like every hand I opened someone would intentionally 3-bet me until I was the last person without a chip and had to pay everyone the bounty. After the first squid game, I was stuck a bit, but I shrugged it off. Somedays are just not your day. 

Once the game was about to break, a player suggested we play one more round of squid game, this time upping the bounty to $300 a head. 

High-stakes squid game.

I was determined not to lose this one. However, there is only so much you can do when card distribution isn’t on your side. I couldn’t seem to pick up any opening hands and before I knew it I was heads up with the lawyer, battling for the last squid game chip.

I was under the gun and picked up 4♥️5♠️, a garbage hand. In most instances, this hand would be a trivial fold. However, I couldn’t give the lawyer a chance to secure the last chip and opened up the action to $75 at blinds of $10/$25. It folded to the lawyer on the button and he 3-bet me to $300.

After playing many hours against this specific player, it was clear he played very tight. He had a family back home to take care of and would only put his whole stack in with the nuts. He would never risk his stack on a gamble.

As the squid game was on, it was unlikely that he would have a premium holding here. Since we were both the last players fighting for the chip, he could very well 3-bet a wide variety of holdings here to try and steal the pot from me.

I decided that the best option to save myself from losing another round of squid game would be to shove all-in, maximizing fold equity. I shoved another $5k on top of his 3-bet and he thought for a few seconds before calling.

I gulped. It never feels good when you ship it in with the five-high and get called. I knew I had ran into it. 

“Do you have aces?” he asked before flipping over kings. I rolled my eyes, knowing that I was way behind.

We ran the boards out twice and he held on both. Not only had I just lost my whole stack, but I didn’t even have any more chips to pay the bounty out to the other players.

My face was bright red and there was literal steam piping out my ears. I had lost another $10k and was on complete monkey tilt. 

One of the other players that day, noticing me whale off my stack, invited me to a new home game that he co-hosted. 

It was clear why he invited me. Game-runners are always on the look-out for players who are action and who wouldn’t want a young asian kid to dump thousands of dollars at their game?

The new game was located in one of the many luxurious apartments in Long Island City (LIC), located in the western tip of the Queens borough. LIC is a recently gentrified neighborhood and is known for its gleaming high-rises which rival the ones in Manhattan. 

If you ever walk around the streets of LIC, you will notice a dense demographic of international students. It makes logical sense, LIC is among one of the most expensive neighborhoods to live in New York and only the wealthiest of families can afford to send their kids abroad.

Walking into the game, I was welcomed by a younger crowd. However, this wasn’t the same crowd as those Brooklyn games. The game was almost exclusively filled with international Chinese students who all had what I wanted so desperately - money. Poker was just a game they played to pass time. 

There was a guy who drove around in a custom McLaren and flaunted a Richard Mille watch. A girl whose family put away $30 million to spend for her wedding alone. Luxury brands and designer clothes were the norm. 

Life must be so easy for these kids, I thought to myself.

But was it?