rumpelstilzchen wrote:The boy has nothing.
Many years ago I was at a large party with lots of people, noise, distractions, etc. In one corner a group of people had set up an impromptu poker game and were having a good, loud time. At some point I noticed that the people at the table were getting more animated, more vocal, and seemingly upset by one player who was a newcomer at the table. He was loud, proud and not a bit modest in claiming that he was the best poker player present. He was also not adverse to putting down the other players in terms of their apparent skill and the current hand they were holding. He had gone at great lengths about how great his hand was and how the rest of the table had no chance at beating this hand. This had the rest of the field stirred up and the conversation, such as it was, had pretty much gone astray in terms of the game in favor of more personal insults being exchanged.
Finally, one of the non-players watching all of this finally noted during a brief lull, that the hand that had been dealt was 20 minutes old and that nothing had occurred in getting the game moving. A few more observations were made in that the play seemed have to stopped once the raise had moved to our braggart and that he had failed to raise, call or drop out. Another person pointed out that the ante seemed to be short by one person. and the general recollection by most was that this self-proclaimed poker champ had somehow forgotten to ante up when the cards were dealt. Others realized that this was also the first hand he had been dealt and that it wasn't a coincidence that his posturing had derailed the game at that point. The players at the table at that point confronted him and of course he blustered, pointed fingers at other people, made many excuses and refused to abide by the rules of the game. So the players at that point ignored his hand, bypassed him on the betting and refused to acknowledge his hand at the end of the play. This went on for a few more rounds, and he finally got up and left, realizing that he was no longer fooling anyone - everyone realized that since he wasn't putting up money to back his bragging, he wasn't really playing. And that he had nothing.