Do you believe in karma? I sort of do, I say sort of because I'm not so sure about the Buddhism and Hinduism beliefs of a person's fate being predestined in his next life or state of existence in accordance to how he lives in the present. However, I believe in bad creating bad and good enhancing good, so if that is a form of believing in karma then count me in.
I recently heard two stories so diverse in the distance between good and bad that I thought if the karma theory is true, to whatever degree, one is going to have to pay big time and the other should be rewarded royally. So, do you want the good first or the bad first? Let's start with the bad karma such that when you come to the end of these stories, you won't be angry about the bad. You'll be rooting for the good guy, like I did.
The first story took place on the day before the World Series Ladies event. LIPS (Ladies International Poker Series) held a "warm-up" tournament for gals from across the country. Some were in town to play the ladies event at the WSOP, but many came just for the LIPS competition. Many were newbies. It was a fun tournament and the Gamingclub.com sponsored it putting up $5,000 for the prize money. It was held at Binion's, there were about 150 gals present and the mood was festive. A good time was had by all, well, most all. Any female could play and a few pros turned up, but the majority of the field were new and inexperienced players. One purpose of LIPS is to introduce ladies to the world of poker in nonintimidating environments. Anytime you get a large group, I don't care if it's in church, there is going to be one stinker.
A friend of mine who is a relatively new player has had some live action experience but this was her first tournament experience. A few days later she told me a story that made me sad and angry. Bottom line, the player to her immediate left was stealing chips. She made change incorrectly a few times and when she was caught she politely apologized and corrected her "mistake" and then did it again. Most of the players at the table were too inexperienced to notice. She used small denominations chips to call a bet and shortened the amount. When the dealer caught her once, she apologized and laughed it off at not being able to count. The capper was when she accidentally knocked over my friend's chips and then helped her straighten them up. My friend ended up short three green chips and one black one. She tried to call attention to the crime but the next hand was in progress and she was so aggravated at what she was seeing she just wanted to leave. Was this culprit so hard up that she needed to try to steal in order to win a few bucks in this amateur tourney? I don't know what her excuse would be but if karma is for real and she has been doing such shenanigans for years, well, let's just say she has not had an easy life. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Now for the good one! I wish I knew the dealer's name so I could praise him in person but the story came from a reliable source. It happened in Tunica at a major poker tournament. Let's call our hero, Joe. Joe was going on break and stumbled on to a black fanny pack. In it, he found, chap stick, a wallet, and a poker player's money clip (a rubber band) encircling a very large wad of cash... $85,000 to be exact. Rather than turn it in, Joe decided to contact the player directly. No offense to any floor people or security personal, but that is a huge amount of money - enough to temp many. Joe made arrangements to meet the player in the poker arena. The pro player was so grateful that he tipped Joe $5,000! He left and came back a short time later to ask Joe if he had considered that money a tip and if he had to share it? Joe had already put it in the tip pool. The gracious player took Joe's address and email for future correspondence. Five days later, Joe received a check made out to him in the amount of $5,000 and a note of thanks.
Told you that was a good one!
