I had a front row seat for much of the Oedipal drama that unfolded last night. First table I was seated at had Nancy, whom the Fates were unkind to, as she lost to runner runner 99 two hands in a row. Were those nines or the Fates speaking in oracular German, nein, nein, mein Frau Taylor?
Next stop in this three act play was a seat next to young Matthew Taylor. Matthew was down to a below average stack when he started running good, as only a member of the NCPT Lucky Sperm Club can. When I pointed out to him that he was not old enough to take advantage of first prize, he retorted without hesitation that he would give the prize to his mother, as his father had done nothing with his chances at the WSOP. At this moment, the gods on Mt. Olympus put down their goblets of mead and ceased their fornicating to watch as Act III, The Final Table, began to unfold.
Taylor fils was seated to Taylor père’s left, and I to his right. Having previously claimed my bounty for knocking out Howie Rubin, a moment I took as a good omen, as a similar feat had marked my passage through the fire to victory in the Intrepid tournament back in 2010. However, that was just a red herring the gods threw in to heighten the drama. I rose to the empyrean chip lead, only to see my hubris rewarded with my full house, queens full of 4s, busted by a guy with the unlikely nickname of Sheik’s quad queens. Would that I had sacrificed a fatted calf and burned incense upon the altar and splash the smooth retsina upon the stones so that I may have pleased the gods more! I was not dead, just suffering from mortal wounds. Mark quickly dispatched Sheik with quad kings, and it was down to the Taylor’s and me. Rapidly escalating blinds and card death were the end of me. Taylor only had to close my eyes and put two coins on the lids. Then the Oedipal battle began in earnest, only to be cut short by the gods last cruel joke, blinds rapidly escalating to 25k and 50 k, then in short order, 50 and 100. As Mark put it, it became a game of War. The gods smiled upon Taylor, which is probably just as well for Matthew, as we all know that young Oedipus did not fare well after killing his father.
I am curious as to the epilogue that will be playing out chez Taylor, but leave you with Nancy’s words that echoed throughout Trump as the doors closed behind me. “Isn’t your father so annoying? Now you know why I make him sleep in the shed for 3 nights after poker!
Your faithful servant,
Sophocles
from Begs:
Mr Perlmutter
Try as you might the poker gods were so indebted to Mr Taylor that your appeals had no chance. The guy took a 5 hour morning flight (after a 5 am est wake up) from NY to Vegas last year to play in the WSOP at noon, gets dealt KK, flops top set, gets all in vs AA and then watches an ace hit the river IN LEVEL 1!!! The man was due.
Now he has won the chance to once again fly out to Vegas (guilt free) and get his soul crushed all over again.
Good thing one of our best players won the WSOP seat and will no doubt play and hopefully bring himself and all us some glory. If Levine had won we’d all be listening to how he’d prefer to play in 33 $300 buy-in tourneys at Trump Plaza on Tuesday’s rather than play in the Main Event. Maybe the poker gods do know how to dispense justice after all.
Congrats Mark. If you get the room I’ll take care of the All American Dave’s.