Hobby and I had been playing poker at Hollywood Park. I couldn't get any traction. Lousy cards, and when I tried a time or two to make a play, they fizzled. I decided to cash in my remaining chips and see what Hobby wanted to do. He was at a nearby table.
"I've had it, Hobby. Are you going to play for a while?"
"Nope. I've had enough. You hungry?"
"Yeah. How about Chinese?"
"Sounds good. Let's do it."
I was doing the driving. Hobby was looking at a copy of Poker Player he had picked up at the casino. "Hey, Joe. Here's something right up your alley. It says here that a major tournament is looking for a mystery poker game for a special event next year. They're asking for proposals. Right up your alley, Joe."
"I don't think so, Hobby."
"It could be interesting. They're going to invite 100 top professionals to play in the mystery game and here's the best part-the designer gets a free $5,000 seat. That would be cool and don't you think you'd have an advantage if you invented the game?"
"I don't know, Hobby, but anyway I'm not interested."
"Okay, if you say so, Joe," Hobby said as he gave me a cockeyed look.
After dinner we decided to call it a night. At my condo, I looked at the copy of Poker Player Hobby had been reading. I didn't want Hobby to know I might be interested in the mystery poker game-it was intriguing.
I read the story carefully and learned more of the details, such as: the game must be decided on the basis of five cards using the usual order of winners; the game must be unknown and challenging to experienced players; it must be suitable for tournament play.
Hmm...I consider myself a creative guy, maybe I could come up with something. It was a week later when I told Hobby that I had an idea for a game.
"I knew you couldn't resist. Tell me about it, Joe."
"I'm sure there's never been anything like it, but the problem is, I don't know how well it will play. I've tried with dummy hands, but I can't decide how players would react."
"Just tell me what you've got, Joe."
"Alright. It's simple enough to describe. I call it Topsy-Turvy Hold 'Em. Each player gets a deck of cards. The dealer has his own deck. The game begins with the dealer putting down the flop, then each player selects two hole cards from his deck and the betting begins. After the betting is complete, the turn card is shown by the dealer, betting again, then the river and final betting."
Hobby was silent for a minute and then said, "Is that it, Joe? It sounds kind of stupid."
"Well, thanks for your encouragement, Hobby." "Ah, come on, Joe. I'm just pulling your chain. Tell me more about it."
I took a deep breath and said, "Okay. Here are some of the subtleties. For each hand, the player must give up two cards from his deck, knowing that every other player is looking at the same flop. If he does the obvious it's likely that other players will select the same hole cards. Splitting a pot two or three ways wouldn't be very profitable.
Also a player may wish to conserve his better cards for later in the game when blinds go up and pots get bigger."
"Is it winner take all?"
"It depends on how the tournament director wants to run the game. For a single deck of cards there will be 26 hands. Depending on how rapidly the blinds go up, a field of ten players could be small before they get through a deck."
"Why don't you try it out with me, Joe?"
"Wouldn't work. More players are needed to test it. I spoke to a friend of mine at UCLA about a computer simulation. Turns out it would take too much time."
"Well, how about my poker club?"
"I was about to suggest it, Hobby."
We started with two tables of nine players each. After I explained the game, Hobby and I took on the dealing. The players were confused with the concept at first, but quickly caught on. As I expected there were many split pots to begin with. Straights, flushes, and even four-of-a-kind turned up more frequently, which was to be expected as players selected hole cards to suit to flop. By the time players were half way through their decks of cards many were falling by the wayside. Also, the higher blinds were taking a toll on short stacks. At my table a three-way all-in quickly reduced our active players to three. We had to wait on Hobby's table.
"What happens if we use up the decks before we get down to three player?" Hobby asked.
"We'll give them full decks," I answered. Fortunately, the field was narrowed to three before their decks expired.
Once there were three players on each table, they were combined and given full decks. Hobby took on the job of dealing while I observed. I was pleased with the inaugural trial, and the players seemed to be enjoying the game. We wound up with an exciting heads-up match.
After refining my submission, I sent Topsy-Turvy Hold 'Em to the selection committee. There was hardly a day that went by but Hobby would ask if I heard about my game. A week later I got a letter saying I was one of the finalists. "I knew you'd win, Joe."
"Not yet, Hobby."
The day came when I received another letter from the committee. I took it with me unopened when I met Hobby for lunch.
"Here it is, Hobby. I'll celebrate or cry in my beer. You open it."
Hobby read the letter without showing a tell, but when the waiter came by he said, "Bring us a pitcher of beer and keep 'em coming."
