Originally posted on 07/03/2012:

I used to shoot alot of dice as a kid, so I had a lucky quarter...
As a young man I had a pair of lucky underware .... for obvious reasons.
Later on I had a lucky hat that I would always take with me to play poker in Atlantic City.

This is when I discovered the power of the Pre-Tip. I dont claim to have made this up but I had seen it used several times in ring games but didn't really understand the purpose. The concept is simple. You tip the dealer for the hand you are about to win that he or she is about to give you....

I will explain, Its T-Day weekend, I make the trip to A.C. with a few friends for a 3 night stay. The plan is to play a bit of cash and hit the WSOP circuit event on the following day.... Upon the start of my first session at the Taj I quickly start to run bad. After a few hours my friends want to head out and rest up for the tourney. Im down a few buyins and decide to head to another poker room and turn things around.
The borgata is packed and the games are loose and passive but for me somehow things only get worse... Set over set, AA vs KK and it dosent matter which one i'm holding I just cant win. I leave late in the morning still wired on jack and cokes ive been drinking since my arival.
As a young poker player I have zero quit and to make it worse I'm basically traveling with my whole bankroll. Its not a ton of cash but at the time it was really all I had to fall back on.

The beats continue and it kills me because i'm playing well, reading my opponents and making nice laydowns! I skip the circuit event and stay casino hopping for the next 2 days, no sleep, I dont bother with the hotel and somehow I end up back at the Taj... I'm down to my last few hundred I think and two russians across the table are just running everyone over,I get pissed cause they refuse to speak any english at all...

Then it happens, new dealer comes in... An asain lady who dosent seem to understand why but when I start tossong her a hand full of chips she just smiles and laughs... I quickly tell her why!

Next hand I double through one of the russians with QQ... a few of us laugh and the dealer smiles again as I throw her a few more chips.
Right after I flop a flush and felt the other Russian guy who isnt to happy but I have no idea what he is saying. He rebuys and I continue to pre-tip the dealer. At this point its a little funny but what happens next just takes the cake.

I look down at AA and see Russian #1 jamming his usual insane overbet, I figure he is just tilted but after i reraise he is reaching for more... I realize he has KK and decide to min raise back hoping for a shove. He does. I end up flopping a set and still sweating a flush and straight draw on the river but I hold on to win one of my biggest pots as a very young player. I will never forget the dealer getting up and hugging me like I had won a jackpot.

Was I just overdue after a long weekend of getting my nuts kicked in? Im not so sure. I leave later that day with a small profit for the weekend. Really I was just happy to have survived one of the worst runs of my life with out going broke.

Funny thing is I don't remember ever giving a pre-tip after this but hey if you are ever really running bad and want to turn things around... It might be worth a shot!