Twelve--Losing Streak

The losing had come to be too much.  No matter the game he played--NL, limit, PLO, seven stud hi-lo, badugi--he walked away a loser.  Online or live, he felt doomed.  He felt himself spiraling, the losses inevitable, the river suckout card an inevitability.

He logged onto Pokerstars.  His balance read $66,412.

He logged onto Full Tilt Poker.  His balance read $115,097.

He checked Absolute. $46,041.

His Wells Fargo checking account, which had been inflated this month due to his withdrawal from Victory Poker, held $182,050.86.

Quincy had to accept his reality.  He was sixteen years old and completely broke.

Busto.

So this is how it felt to hit rock bottom.

A bowl of congealed, rubbery mac and cheese in his lap, a few noodles having overflowed onto his silk pajamas, a muted South Park marathon on his 3D flat screen, Bloodhound Gang blaring from his living room, he wept.