Cowboys Poker: Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Rock didn’t know it at the time, but he had just become a core component to the Fantastic Four, a quiet poker group Matt had very selectively put together.  The name wasn’t overly imaginative or necessarily accurrate but both words did start with the same letter.

Matt explained to Rock in the hotel late that night that Justin and Dalworth, the two Texans, were also in the group.  The premise of Matt’s plan was for the four players to pour their assets into one pile of cash and to parlay that pile of cash into even more money on the A.M. poker tables at Vegas.  Of course every secret plan has some sort of wrinkle or else there would be no reason to keep it secret.

Matt’s wrinkles were 1) the players would use their cohesiveness and numbers to gain an advantage at tables, 2) the players would play around the clock, non-stop for 5 days to maximize profit and offset costs, 3) he already had an aquaintance in Vegas personally scouting the tables for the easiest plays and times.

Each player chosen had a good all around game but also had a particular individual strength none of the others had.  Dalworth had a great play mix in his game that made him virtually unreadable.  Within his game, Dalworth also had the uncanny ability to turn over the top hand when called down but rarely get caught bluffing.  Many players would think they had Dalworth all figured out only to dump 100s to him in cash games.  He was definitely one of the top 5 players in the 50 or so that made the rounds.

Justin was a very underestimated player.  Some even called him a bad player and the best compliment you’d ever hear anyone say was he was “ok”.  This was because Justin looked like he was about 17.  His actual age was 24, but his youthful looks yielded him little to no respect at the poker table.  Its true that at times he had made costly slip-ups, but Matt watched the lanky college grad closely and he really was a lot better than people gave him credit for.

He had a very quiet presence and choose his spots very carefully.  When he played, he never spoke any more than he had to so nobody heard a boisterous pat on the back or trash talk when he won.  And because he never really befriended anyone, no one talked him up much either.  Things just got swept aside when he was in a pot.  Idle side chat would ensue about previous hands or sports instead.  However, Matt never lost track of Justin while playing.  He calculated Justin actually took home more than he came with 80% of the time.  50% of the time, he doubled up his money or more.  Very few at the poker table noticed, but Justin was a silent assassin.  He came, won in an efficient manner, and left quickly.  Justin was also a top regular.

Rock wasn’t on the same level as Justin or Dalworth, but Matt felt strongly that he was the missing piece to his formula.

Chapter 6 will continue next blog entry.