BigDMcGee 3,352 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I'm re posting this post I just made on Rec. Poker. I meant to tell this story long ago, when it happened, but I had some stuff come up, with my dad having a heart attack and me moving from Oly, Wa, and I just sort of forgot about it. this story is how I met Russ G..... Hi,I don't post on RPG at all, but I do go by the handle of BigDMcGee on FCP and some other forums, so I'm not some random stranger. I've lurked on RPG For a long time, and always was fascinated by Russ. I would lurk periodically to see his various outlandish stories, and interesting strat advice ( such as it was). One time, he talked about how he had been playing alot live recently, and was playing a particular game that had a specific structure ( IE that it was 5-500 spread limit, with 2-5 blinds, 10 to be the first hand to call, you could buy in 200-500 the first time ,but if you busted you could buy in your original buy in, plus up to 500). This is a very unusual structure, that was also the exact structure of the Little creek casino, near shelton and Olympia Washionton, up the 101 at the start of the olympic penisula. Well, I thought that russ HAD to play in this game. I mostly play limit, but I was familar with the game, so I shot Russ an Email, asking if he was playing in the Little Creek Game. He was very vague in answering, but in general gave and affirmative. So I described my appearance to him ( which is rather specific, as I have quite a large head, I'm very tall and broad shouldered, and I like to wear garish print shirts when I play). So, I went to the game that weekend, bought in, got some coffee, and Russ G., in the flesh, walked up to me, and introduced himself. He was known at the casino as "Jack" and if you played at Little Creek, you'd have known him by that name. Over the course of the day, and a couple other sessions, I had the chance to get to know him a little, and he was an extremely strange man. He told me all kinds of outrageous stories about poker cheating, was hugely megalomaniacal, (a couple moon landings, I know) and pretty confrontational at the table with people, often critizing people's play. He was very tight, but very aggressive... and he was able to get action from players in very strange ways, by a weird sort of needling that I'd never quite seen before. I don't know how to describe it, other than he got people to just hate him, and they gave him way more action than they should of ( also, there were some not so great players in the game). So what ever his faults, he knew how to play and new how to get action He was extremely nice to me, because I think he is just the type of guy who has a story to tell, and wants someone to tell it, He's what I call "open a can of worms" guy, you know, the type of person that you might causually say "hello" to, and then say " what's going on?" and you've opened that can of worms, and an hour later they are still telling you about their sister's dead beat boyfriend. That was Russ. If you opened the can of worms with him, you better be prepared to listen. I was endlessly amused by him, and enjoyed talking to him quite a bit. I ended up moving aabout a month later, due to an illness in my family, but I exchanged a few emails with him (and he gave me a free membership to poker mafia, which I barely used)I had a couple friend,s that I still talk to, who were in that game. He would bring his books to the casino to sell to people, and I guess became more public about who he was at that casino. A friend of mine said that Russ Told him that he needed a bypass surgery, but refused to get it because there was a 25 percent chance he'd die on the table, and then who would take care of his cats? For a man who made his living at poker, it strikes me as strange that he'd go for those kind of pot odds. From what I know, everyone at Little creek believes he is dead, and there is probably an obituary some where. I don't know where he lived, precisely, but it was within an hour or so of little creek, in the general puget sound area. Over all, I have absolutely no idea how to handicap how much of the outlandish stories Russ would tell me were true or not, he was crazy, I know that for sure, and I believe him to be a pathological liar, and someone with a clinically dysfunctional overblown sense of importance. But I also think one of the fundamental principals of the logic of Russ's cheating aligations. Where there is an opportunity to make money, there will be people willing to bend and break the rules to make more of it. We can see this greed in sorts of industries, why would the poker world, which is so full of gambling addicts, drug addicts and general degenerates, be any different than Wall Street or Professional sports?. So, I have no idea how much if his cheating aligations are true, but I think there are more kernals of truth to them than any of us want to admit. Me personally, I think Russ is dead. I hope it's a hoax, because the world is more entertaining with him a live, but I doubt it is. RIP RussBigDMcGee Link to post Share on other sites
Chet Chetterson 0 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 RIP Link to post Share on other sites
FCP Bob 1,312 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 He sure had posting stamina on rgp. He could post all day and night it seemed and in quatity and his posts were never short.I used to enjoy his posts and got a lot of entertainment out of them. Would be really fun to know what was true and what was fantasy from him since there was some truth for sure. Link to post Share on other sites
BigDMcGee 3,352 Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 He sure had posting stamina on rgp. He could post all day and night it seemed and in quatity and his posts were never short.I used to enjoy his posts and got a lot of entertainment out of them. Would be really fun to know what was true and what was fantasy from him since there was some truth for sure.Impossible to say, it truly is. He was like any great pathological liar, spectacular in the details, length and breath of his tales. Link to post Share on other sites
FARGOpokerND 22 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Am I sad for really not knowing who Russ G is? Link to post Share on other sites
BigDMcGee 3,352 Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Am I sad for really not knowing who Russ G is?Not really. He was big on rec.poker.gambling, but newsgroups were pretty much dead by the time FCP rolled around, and are super dead now. It was 2+2 before 2+2, but because it's completely unmoderated, it got filled with a shit ton of spam, and most people started gravitating else where. Russ G made a big splash, right before the Moneymaker boom, by going forward with a couple others to Mike Caro, and attempted to blow the whistle on how corrupt and rife poker was with cheating. Russ admited to cheating for decades, sometimes solo, sometimes with crews, sometimes with the colaboration of floormen and dealers. He accused pretty much all the high stakes players at the time, including Brunson and Reese of cheating for decades. He made a lot of claims, and told a lot of stories. He's generally considered to be a crack pot, and his pot certainly has some flaws in it, but I think there's more truth to his stories than most people do. Link to post Share on other sites
FARGOpokerND 22 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 Sounds like a good read.Speculation is always fun. Link to post Share on other sites
coug2828 8 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 on a side note, i heard shelton,wa is the meth capital of the state Link to post Share on other sites
BigDMcGee 3,352 Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 on a side note, i heard shelton,wa is the meth capital of the stateI would put that honor in the suburbs between Tacoma and Seattle, not shelton. Link to post Share on other sites
coug2828 8 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I would put that honor in the suburbs between Tacoma and Seattle, not shelton.dupont or lakewood are certainly good candidates for the award. the one time i went to the little creek casino a black jack dealer there gave the nod to shelton(and seemed proud of it too)did Russ G play at any other places in the area that you know of? sounds like quite a character Link to post Share on other sites
BigDMcGee 3,352 Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 dupont or lakewood are certainly good candidates for the award. the one time i went to the little creek casino a black jack dealer there gave the nod to shelton(and seemed proud of it too)did Russ G play at any other places in the area that you know of? sounds like quite a charactereveryone thinks that their white trash town is the meth capital of what ever. I'm sure people from the 3 cities or spokane would tell you the same thing. Um, to my knowledge, not at more, but who knows. I certainly wasn't a russ G confidant. Link to post Share on other sites
El Guapo 8 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 everyone thinks that their white trash town is the meth capital of what ever. I'm sure people from the 3 cities or spokane would tell you the same thing.Tacoma sucks, but the Meth Capital of the US is right in heart of the California Central Valley. Link to post Share on other sites
GWCGWC 83 Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I hope his cats are being fed. Link to post Share on other sites
BigDMcGee 3,352 Posted June 25, 2009 Author Share Posted June 25, 2009 Sent Doyle brunson a tweet that said " did you hear russ Georgiev died today? Did you send flowers"Today, I saw this on his twitter...QUOTETexDolly i heard he passed away. i certainly disliked the guy, but i didn't wish that he would go so youngLOL Link to post Share on other sites
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