What's the most ridiculous thing you've seen people betting on at the poker table?
You meet some of the most degenerate gamblers at the poker table who just want action and will bet on anything.
I was at 2/5 on Saturday and the reg beside me said he had a coin in his pocket and wanted to do coinflips for $100 each. I declined and he offered $50. I declined and offered to do a couple for $25 each (just to give him a bit of action and hopefully counter my nit image a bit) but that wasn't enough for him. He goes "I just love to gamble, and I want big action". I said "sorry, I'm not degenerate, I only play poker".
I remember another time, I was racking up to leave a 2/5 table (with maybe $1800) and a guy sitting down asks me if I want to flip for my stack. He goes "hey if you lose, you'll save yourself a trip to the cashier". As if that's a positive. I declined.
This isn't even a bad example, degens will find the weirdest shit to gamble on at the table. What are some of the craziest things you've seen?
Reddit users immediately answered the call and shared their own tales.
– Back in the day when you would get glass bottles from vending machines, my dad and his Navy buddies would bet on who would get the coke bottle that was stamped with the city where the bottle was made that was farthest away from their current location. I thought that was about the most Navy shit I've ever heard of... Until I joined.
– Saw two guys betting on the 2FA codes generated for their work emails. Best five-digit poker hand wins – no straights or flushes, so pair, two pair, three of a kind, full house, four of a kind, five of a kind, 0 up to 9 (so 99999 was the best hand). $5 per code flip. Best one was four 9's with a 5.
– I was playing a big game in Vegas recently and 4 guys had a side bet on kings: each player had a suit and whenever that king came out, the other 3 players paid $100 to that player.
– Lmao amazing post. Reminds me of a cash game probably 20 years ago. Two guys at the table betting on when the goddamn waitress was gonna come back.
– I regularly offer 10:1 on a specific card hitting the flop. No one takes it = nits. Someone takes it = fish. Everyone takes it = I’m on a PLO table.
– We had a prop bet going on how many push-ups seat 9 could do unbroken. Over/under was 20. He hit the over. We all almost got kicked out.
– 10k bet who dies first, Trump or Biden (with the stipulation that the bet is off if one gets assassinated).
– When I was in jail, we had an old head come up and try to throw his prosthetic leg into the pot 🤣
kicker is, the dude who usually won wanted to let him.. dude wanted that leg for some damn reason lmao
– Blind poker. No one looks at cards and just bets three streets anyways. Not sure how common it is.
– Saw a guy betting without hole cards. Had come back from a break, he didn't realise he hadn't been dealt in. He was a complete maniac in terms of player type.
– Home game we have a side bet game called gobble where the highest high and lowest low gobbles the bet, otherwise it's a push and you double or nothing every time there's a push. Silliest fun side action to have with your neighbor.
A2 would be the nuts. You basically just compare your high and low card vs their high and low. If you have K3 and they have Q4 you scoop (gobble) since K is higher than their high and 3 is lower than their low. K4 vs Q3 is a push so you double the bet and hope to gobble next hand.
– I was playing a cash game during the WSOP when it was still at the Rio. It was 1/2/5 PLO, and this dude wanted to make a $500 side bet for something like even money that the middle card on the flop would have a letter on it (think: J, Q, K, or A). Some dude took him up on it since obviously only 4 out of 13 cards of each suit has a letter on it and you're getting even money. Flop comes without an JQKA. The dude wants his $500, but the angler turns over the card and says, "Nope, see it says 'WSOP' on it. Those are letters. Pay me." There was an argument. The floor walked over because of the arguing and told people not to make side bets. That was pretty much the end of it. Neither side paid.
So basically, this dude got freerolled for $500.
– Was at a $50 buy-in tourney, and all night long, 2 guys were betting $20 whether the flop would be red or black.
A user made a good point, saying, "To be fair, the roulette wheel is alllllllll the way over there..."
– The first World Series of poker I attended was in 2008. I was in the cash game area late at night, and Layne Flack and Gavin Smith had racks of black chips, were really drunk and were at a table that wasn’t in use by themselves. They were flipping a coin for racks (10k per flip). The floor shooed them out into the hall, claiming that they couldn’t be gambling in an unlicensed / sanctioned game on the premises. They went into the hallway outside the cash game room, and kept flipping there. The floor kicked them out of there too and they caused a bit of a scene. They were inebriated enough that they were having trouble staying upright. Legendary degens.
Editor's note – The rejection of a healthy lifestyle has cost players who were once among the top stars of poker world. Smith died in his sleep in 2019, he was 51 years old; Layne Flack outlived his friend by 2 years, but a lethal mixture of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine was found in the blood of the 52-year-old player.
– $5 bounty on a fly that was buzzing around us.
Another user found a different way to monetize their local fly.
– What side of the table the pesky fly will land.
– A few months ago at a $1/$3 table two friends were doing $500 bets on whether or not the flop would have more red cards or black cards. They did probably 10 flops, one guy ran good and was up maybe $2000 and then they stopped.
– I’ve made it a point to never refuse if offered to “flip for stacks” when I’m leaving a table, provided I have less than a buy in or two. It’s fun, and tends to only happen at private games that I prefer to get invited back to.
Also, it’s neutral EV. Also, something might be wrong with me.