David Vs. Goliath At The Irish Poker Open

There are some things you can’t learn from the interweb. You just have to go on the road and work it out for yourself. One such skill is how to play (and win sometimes) the “Who’s going to pay for the cab to the airport?” game. Some, me included, consider it way more skillfull than poker. Sometimes you get heads up matches where one guy, despite the apparent simplicity of the game, is practically drawing dead.

Such a contest took place the day after the Irish Open. Goliath showed up in the form of my friend Surrindar Sunar who just the previous day had lost a gruelling heads up contest for the whole lot to a young Irish internet qualifier called Niall.

Some guys who’d just picked up €290,000 for a second place finish would be thinking of taking the day off but not our man. He desperately wanted to play. You can’t blame him really because he’s hard to beat or indeed tie with at any discipline where money is involved.

He soon found David aka Mr. Jesse May and went straight to work. Many would consider that this was a bit beneath a man of Sunar’s talent but he didn’t see it that way. He’s not the kind of guy who goes fishing and throws fish back in the water after he’s caught them. Apart from the occasional bit of promise when he’s had a few, Jesse is a complete mug at any game like the taxi two step, not because he’s dumb or anything but he just so tied up in the game he forgets he’s the ball.

The contest started with two fairly standard moves from the expert. Surrindar first asked Jesse if he’d like to share a cab to the airport and after May had answered in the affirmative and they were in a cab he struck by announcing that he hoped Jesse had change as he, Sunar, had nothing smaller than a €500 bill. That was supposed to be game over, one more runaway success for the champ ,when the unbelievable occurred.

Jesse whipped out ten €50 bills and offered them to Surrindar in exchange for a 500 bill saying he was glad to be able to help. This brilliant play left May on course for a career best tie with one of the greats of the game but he wasn’t finished yet.

With his opponent stunned from the unexpected haymaker of a punch, Jesse moved in for a most unlikely knock out. As they arrived at the airport he announced “You’d better get this. I’ve only got a 500!”