Those words will appear on a t-shirt that JT Eberhard will be wearing at Skepticon in November, the result of having lost to me in the charity poker tournament to benefit the Foundation Beyond Belief. In fact, he lost to me not once, but twice. How? I’ll explain.
I had no idea this was going to be a rebuy tournament — I really hate rebuy tournaments — but with a far lower turnout than expected, I think they decided they needed to do so to get the take up for the charity. Can’t really blame them. But they announced up front that rebuys would only be available for the first two levels. During that time, I was pretty much card dead and JT was fairly hot, building up one of the bigger stacks at the table (JT, Jesse Galef and I were at one table; Dave Silverman and Sean Faircloth were at the other table, along with many other people at each of course).
But during the third level, things started to change. I went all in against JT and doubled up, crippling his stack. A short time after that, someone else knocked him out. There, I win our bet. Right? Well, kinda. He went off to drink away his sorrows and a short time after that the tournament went on break. At the end of the break, as we’re all sitting back down, Dale McGowan, who had busted out very early, was sitting back down with chips. But the rebuy period was over after the second level, so how could that be? Well, they apparently decided to change the rules on the fly. So JT got to buy back in.
Now, usually when you have a last longer bet in a rebuy tournament, the rebuys don’t count; if you bust out first, the other guys wins the last longer bet even if you make a big comeback and he busts out the first time before you bust out the second time. I explained that to JT and so did the guy who was running the tournament, but he seemed skeptical — for obvious reasons. Turns out it didn’t matter because, fairly early on after the break, I busted him out when I flopped a set on him (I was ahead anyway, it wasn’t a suckout).
So now, he has to go to Skepticon in November wearing a t-shirt that says, “Ed is a poker god.” And I get bragging rights for pretty much the rest of our lives — or until we can sit down and play some cash poker against one another. The reality is that, as much as we’d been talking shit about this, it was pretty much a crapshoot. He actually played well, he just lost every coin flip he was in after the first level. There’s nothing you can do at that point.
And more importantly, we had a lot of fun. It was great to see JT, Jesse, Dave and Dale again. Now we just have to get a real poker game going. Maybe at Skepticon? I’d love to take some of JT’s money while he’s wearing that shirt.
12 comments
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Gregory in Seattle
August 2, 2012 at 11:15 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You rightly object to gods, then you undergo apotheosis.
Feh.
troll
August 2, 2012 at 12:23 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Holy crap! Ed’s speaking in tongues!
typecaster
August 2, 2012 at 12:26 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Yes, but he demands no sacrifice beyond your ante, and the subsequent raises offered as proof of your folly. Quite benign for a god, really.
Gregory in Seattle
August 2, 2012 at 12:31 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@typecaster #3 – So…. he wants your money, willingly given as part of a ritual, all for a “good cause.” And he doesn’t like rebuys: you have one chance at the Brass Ring, and if you miss it, you’re out.
Feh, I say.
fastlane
August 2, 2012 at 12:47 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
JT’s been strangely silent on this issue….. ;-)
Ed Brayton
August 2, 2012 at 1:06 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
JT is probably on the plane on the way home now. I know they had a fairly early flight this morning.
Doug Little
August 2, 2012 at 2:41 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Who won the tournament?
Ed Brayton
August 2, 2012 at 2:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Some local guy, not connected with atheism at all, ended up winning. He’s the one who knocked me out. He was a friend of the guy who ran the tournament, a local music promoter named Xavier. Jessica (don’t remember her last name) from SSA finished second. She clearly knew very little about poker but was getting very lucky. She was a blast to play with though and was having a ball. And she got to donate money to both SSA and Camp Quest by being the highest finishing activist/celebrity, which is very cool.
birgerjohansson
August 3, 2012 at 4:36 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
For people living outside the poker-playing part of the world, this might be misunderstood.
Maybe Ed is the god of waking up in time/god of insomnia, poking people in their sleep.
Or maybe Ed is the enforcer El relies on to deliver punishment to the world, whacking it with a poker over the head.
Anyway, I read the first “Discworld” novel, and when the gods sat down to play (Offler the Crocodile God, Lady Luck and the rest) Ed was nowhere to be seen!
dalemcgowan
August 3, 2012 at 7:44 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m such a dim boy. Entirely clueless about the problem a late rebuy would cause. I was just bored and looking to lose more money. And hey, mission accomplished!
dingojack
August 3, 2012 at 9:39 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ah yes Ed, but can you transform poker chips into Oreos?*
If not – meh – a mere lesser god.
Dingo
—–
* and would they be ‘holy Oreos’?
If so:
‘I never knew you could yodel!’ :) [/ 'Batman' dialogue]
jkmiami89
August 3, 2012 at 10:12 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks for saying I was a blast to play with! I had the BEST time, I have played very little poker, but got some decent hands and LUCKY draws. It was really really fun! I really enjoyed hanging out and meeting many of my fellow celebrities, who I had no business being included with. As a newcomer to the movement (I have been working for the SSA for about 5 mos) It was really valuable getting to put faces with names of people that I have admired. And the SSA and Camp Quest are both phenomenal organizations!
~Jessica Kirsner
Development Associate
Secular Student Alliance