My friend wants me to cash him out

I have never played a tournament at the WSOP because I don't play tournaments. And despite reports of juicy cash games, I have resisted the temptation to play any at the Rio. I have always felt that the Wild West atmosphere where thousands of unknowns, with a good sprinkling of vagabonds and ne'er-do-wells among them, are wandering around would not be a safe place to leave my chips unattended during a break. No casino is responsible for chips left on the table, but a regular at the Venetian or Bellagio would be better protected by the dealer, his fellow players, and the superior security and surveillance than that afforded by the transient crowd and staff, and carnival atmosphere at the WSOP.

So it came as no surprise when I read about the case of some guy making off with $20,000 in unattended chips from a cash game table at the Rio on Monday (25th June). "My friend wants me to cash him out," he claimed as he started racking up the chips.

They took reports from everyone but said that ultimately the player was responsible for his own money.

Playing to the crowd

A situation which I'm always looking out for is when a player is approached by a friend who will inquire as to how he is doing. After being updated, the friend will typically hang around for a few hands, standing behind the player who lets him peek at his hole cards.

When this occurs, I have noticed that this particular player may be prone to making some bold multi-barreling bluffs just to impress his friend. I have doubled up on several occasions in this type of scenario.

Liquidity provider

Facebook keeps on falling and is now 26.81. Luckily I didn't average down when I was tempted to. However, the shit has hit the fan, judging by this email from my broker :

Dear XXXXXXX,

Your account is $2,470 in arrears. The check that you forwarded has been returned unpaid.

Please make arrangements for payment of $2,470.

Sincerely,

YYYYYYY

If I sell now, I'll owe the broker about $600. I might as well hang on and owe him 4 times as much.

So, here is my emailed response :

Dear YYYYYYY,

This is highly embarrassing and I apologize for the misunderstanding. I cannot for the life of me imagine why my bank didn't honor the check.

I shall resolve this matter with the urgency it deserves.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXX

Hopefully that should hold them off for a few weeks. From a longer term perspective, I would be grateful if someone could stake me in one of the juicy cash games that are now being held all over town. It's either that or providing $5 handjobs behind the old bus station.