By day he herded cows...by afternoon he practiced his draw and aim, and got deadly with either hand, left or right...by night, he'd ride into the nearest town and pick fights with local cowboys. He was very aggressive, liking to get in it with any two...either two of his sixshooters that is. Once the scene was set, he used bluffs all the time. (young player liked to limp in or call any bet 3x or less with any two cards, hoping to outplay opponents on the flop...very effective...or win a huge pot with unlikely hands. MOST times your opponent won't hit the flop, about 2/3 of the time, and a nice size bet will run them off)
A local deputy thought he was fair with a gun and told the Kid to leave town. The Kid squared off, hand posed over his gun. The deputy wisely backed off and swallowed his pride. (young player had J8o...called the 3x bet...and immediately fired a pot size bet...his opponent folded his AJo as he'd missed the flop)
One cowboy he challenged was pretty good, so he stood up to the Kid...the Kid said he'd draw left handed against the cowboys right hand...cowboy went for his gun, the Kid's gun was out and a 44 piece of lead was on the way before the cowboy could clear leather.
(young player had AK this time, his opponent had seen him playing it loose and calling most flops, and decided to go all in on the 10 8 3 flop with his AJs...young player called and his AK held up)
The Kid started gaining a reputation, as he had 14 notches on his Colt handles...they started calling him the BootHill Kid...he was sending many cowboys to the graveyard.
But the Kid was developing a habit...he was getting cocky...too cocky...he was losing his humbleness and his habit of practicing and learning more...he'd gotten such a reputation that it was going to his head. Along with this cockiness, he started giving the other gunslingers an edge...letting them draw first, letting them have their hand on their gun, letting them be too close...sort of giving himself a handicap, hoping to win an even bigger rep. (young player stopped learning....in tournaments, altho he probably had the better hand, he started NOT betting so much or checking it, when there were 2 cards of the same suit on the board, or 2 to a high straight on the board...his top pair or set he figured would win him a bigger pot, letting the draws draw...sure, they usually didn't hit and he did win slightly bigger pots...but this is NL...tournament...he'd forgotton about survival and one of the BIGGEST sins in a NL tournament...)
The Boothill Kid was in Dodge...he'd left his job and started gunslinging full time, ( he dropped out of college) figuring he could make a living at this full time now...there was the local retired gunslinger, in his 50's now, just running a few cows, ranching...and he was in town today picking up hardtack, coffee and beans...had just loaded it all in his wagon and getting ready to go home...the Kid saw him and knew who he was...and his reputation...
The Kid challenged the now rancher to draw...(playing his J10s for the flop) The retired gunslinger wasn't in any mood for this nonsense and told the boy to go home. This egged the Kid on, and increased his confidence, and told the rancher he'd better draw on count of three. Rancher squared off, already had the loop off his trigger..."go home boy!" (the 50 something player had 89h) The Kid thinking he was sensing weakness, and blinded by his hubris, told the rancher at 3 they both draw...(flop came J, 10 , 3s, ... 2 hearts, no bet by either)
Kid yelled "ONE".... rancher said " go home boy" (turn came an A of clubs, no bet by either)
Kid "TWO" ....rancher stopped talking, not blinking (river came a 7 hearts, the Kid then went all in...as he had a huge stack of chips and was the chip leader...he lost 1/2 his chips on this hand.
...next hand he slowplayed a set of 10's, on an A, J, 10 flop...his opponent caught a Q with his KQ hand on the turn...the 24 year old player went all in with his set and the board didn't pair on the river...lost all his chips in 2 hands)
As the Kid was pursing his lips to say three, the rancher drew ...
... he still had it...
Cockiness had gotten the better of the Kid...(he had been playing in the WSOP as chip leader...2 hands and he was out on the bubble...could have not only made the money by paying his blinds, but could have made it into the good money, final table by just paying blinds...he never played poker again...today he's making $8.65 an hour painting cars with no prospects, no degree, no future prospects...it looks bleak)
Next day they inscribed on his tombstone....
"The BootHill Kid ... Never give your opponent a free card....1882, Dodge City"Statistics: Posted by WildBillHickok — Tue Apr 26, 2005 6:39 pm
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