Oh yes, ATE has many, many TRUE stories, from my 18 years of playing!! And, they are Gooooood one!


Here is the first, for your reading pleasure


"Came off a Seven Four" Bycicle Club, Bell Gardens California, May 6, 1992

Ok, many of my readers are unfamiliar with the game of lowball draw. No wonder!! the game has not been popular, since the introduction of hold em, back in 1987. Yeah, there are still a FEW games around, for us lowball FREAKS, but few and far between.

The game is played with a 53 card deck, including a joker. The joker is NOT wild, but serves as the lowest card not already in your hand. This is important, only in the rare case that A 2 3 4 5 and A 2 3 4 Joker are together, you cannot say that the joker is a six, and get a bad beat jackpot.

Anyway, you get five cards, and have the option to keep all, or discard one or more cards, and try to make something better.

Ok, So here is our hero, playing 3-6 lowball, at the "Bike" in the Weeeeee morning hours.

I was so tired, I wanted to leave, BADLY. At that time, I was living at a Ramada Hotel, near the club. If you checked in at 7 am, you could keep it until 3pm, the NEXT day. So, I played the "stagger check in" game. Play all night, check in, sleep late, Play, sleep check out. Saved 45 bucks, every other day. Now, here it was, 5 am, and the Ramada would not budge and let me check in (unless I checked out THAT day) I was about 200 ahead, for various games. ATE never, NEVER stays in the same game, very long. So, tired as I was, I was forced to stay another two hours, or cough up an extra .45 smackers, for the early check in.

Well, Play on I guess.

What pops up, but a PAT 7 4 3 A Joker, the 7th best hand. This is roughly the equivelent for you hold em people, as a medium full house. Can be beaten, but not very often.

Now, in this game, you had the option of callng the big blind of 3, or making it six. (Some lowball games, you MUST raise, but not this one)

Well, no sense in driving everyone out, so I just called. It folded around to the button, who made it 6. The big blind calls, and now I go to 9. Button makes it 12. The poor big blind calls, and I promply make it 15. The button 18's it!! I make it 21, the button 24. Now, the player in the blind, having put in six bets, looks sheepishly at the dealer and says "There's no limit to the raises!!??) Ooooops, pays to know the rules of the game. You see, my dear readers, (at that time) there was NOOOOOOO limit to the raises in any draw or lowball draw game!! Of course, this KINDA made it Grrrrrrrreat for cheating partner players. He looks at my stack, about 100. He looks at the button's stack, also about 100. THERE WAS NO END IT SIGHT, TO THE RAISES. Now, normally, with a Seven four, you'd go about 3 raises, and figure that the hand is beaten. But wait, ATE turns his FAT neck around, and sees that the jackpot (usually only about 1100) was a whopping (for that game) 2265! Maybe I need to throw away this #^@%^@#$^@#$#$^@#%^@#%^#$% seven, and go for it. But, I can't just throw it away, I gotta MAKE HIM, MAKE ME throw it away!!! ATE makes it 27, button 30. ATE 33, Button 36. Ok, Ok, no waaaaay he don't have a wheel (A2 3 4 5, or a SIX FOUR), so I gotta BREAK (throw away seven, and hope to catch)

Now, the exciting-after-the-fact things, is that in the heat of battle, ATE forgot that I could not count the joker as a six, had I caught a deuce. So, only the six, makes me the BIG money. Catch a 2, and we tie, and I only win 9 bucks, instead of the Jackpot!!

While pondering what to do, the button says "I can make somebody rich" Wait!! hold the phone!! That is the SACRED Bike signal, for pat wheel. No regualar player, would EVER lie, about the santity of "I can make somebody rich" (Ed note: Please, don't anyone say that ATE cheated, I did not say it, and I consider it a valid form of skill, to increase your chances of hitting the jackpot. anyway)

Well, I was ALREADY going to throw the seven, but now I had to study the player.
Did he look like a "solid citizen"? (regular jackpot player) Was this the type of player who would lie about the "I can make somebody rich" just to get me to BREAK, and throw the winner away? No, no one at this level of play, would have the GUTS to put in 12, count 'em TWELVE raises, without a wheel.

So, Ok . . . . . . GIMME ONE! I said, while discarding the seven

GASP!!! GASP!!! Went the crowd. (By this time, with all the raises, everyone thought that it was ALREADY a jackpot, so they gathered around to see)

YOur DRAWING!!!! and you went all those raises. Indignent, I replyed "WHADAYA think, I just threw a seven" Now of course, ATE must caution you at this time, that any comments CAN, but most likely will NOT cause you to forfeit your jackpot . . . . BUT ONLY IF the dealer NARCS. But, you may want to be careful, when holding a hand that could produce a jackpot.

. . . . . .Look down!!! YES, it's a SIX!!! JACKPOT CITY!!! Well, I had heard horror stories, about wheels throwing their hand away, if you were cheap, and didn't give them action (since they were only getting a 25% share, and I was getting 75% . . . .So I figured I'd better give the guy some action.

We went six bets. This was the only time in ATE's life, that I intentionally raised with a hand that I KNEW was hopelessly beaten.


Well, here comes the money. 1600+ for me, and about 500 something for the wheel.

I tipped 200, lost 72 in the pot, so combined with the money I was ahead for the day. I walked out with 1500. This was at a time, when I was nearly broke, before getting my buy out settlement, from Vending Machine Robert.

I got married to Hillary, on that money. Seven weeks later, she died, and with her, went whatever sanity and playing ability I had.

Now, 12 years later, I am the MENTAL CASE that I am today.

I swear to GOD, whenever she sat behind me, I NEVER, NEVER NEVER LOST!!


So, now everyone knows, why ATE is the SICK mental case that I am.




Lyrics to "Came off a Seven four, By Adam Cadle" (Sung to tune of "fishing hole"

Came off a seven four, came off a seven four!!

I ain't got the seven no more, the seven's GONE it's out the door!!

Look at, the card I've drawn!!

My fear, and doubts are gone.

YOu KNOW THE SCORE!!

I caught the six, guy had the BIKE . . . .

Need, we saaaaaaaying anymoooooooorrrrrrreee!

Came off, a SEVen four, came off, a seven four

I just got around to reading it and I enjoyed it. Not familiar with the game or that it actually was a game at one point. Is the only way to win the jackpot is to have the wheel against the A,2,3,4,6?

I enjoyed the story...haven't been looking much into anything but the limit section...too much playing at the casino lately...which is a good thing.