We’d like to give a big, well-deserved “Attaboy!” to Regular Jim Traber!
Over the weekend, the local sports radio host – who nearly died at a poker table a few years ago – made a gallant run for a coveted World Series of Poker bracelet during the $1,000 buy-in Seniors No-Limit Hold'em Championship in Las Vegas.
Regular Jim’s attempt to bring home some jewelry was closely monitored by The Sports Animal’s Sam Humphreys, one of the metro’s foremost nepo-babies, on X. He documented the drama online with the same precision his dad might use for an old Masters update.
Although Regular Jim was the big stack with only 100 players left, he took a really bad beat not too long after Sam’s update. Apparently, he flopped a set with his pocket Jacks but was rivered by a guy holding K-Q, taking a huge bite out of his chip stack.
Regular Jim, however, would recover and surge back towards the top like Tiger Woods climbing the leaderboard of the 2019 Masters.
Ultimately, pocket hooks would prove to be Regular Jim’s kryptonite.
While close to being blinded out of the tournament, he went all in with a pair of Jacks and was quickly called by a guy with A-Q. Regular Jim lost the coin flip and finished in 22nd place out of a field of over 7,000.
Overall, Regular Jim took home over $28,000 in winnings, which I’m pretty sure is the same amount he made in his entire minor-league baseball career. It's also the coolest run Regular Jim’s made at a sporting event since he chased that Japanese pitcher around the park in the early 90s.
Although I’m sure Regular Jim’s near-miss will lead to some pretty insufferable sports radio this week – outside of people telling you about their dreams or fantasy football team, is there anything worse than hearing about a poker bad beat? That’s fine because…
A) I rarely listen to sports radio anymore, so it won’t affect me! About a month ago, I flipped on The Sports Animal for the first time in months to hear what local sports discussion was taking place. I was immediately greeted by Regular Jim talking about how Covid vaccines are killing people. I then promptly changed the dial back to satellite radio, making a mental note not to listen to sports radio again until the day before OU’s home opener.
B) I’m kind of happy for Regular Jim! Nobody excels at giving him a hard time more than me, but as a former poker junkie who’s made it pretty deep into some big online tournaments – and also owns a bracelet from winning a famed local holiday tournament in 2016 – I’m happy Regular Jim did well. In fact, I may use it as motivation to finally fly out to Vegas and compete in the regular $1,000 event. If Regular Jim can do it, why not me?
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised.
