The game of Poker has a number of spin-offs such as strip poker and cowboy poker as players are always looking for ways to bring in more excitement. Austin Bottcher, a 24 year old daredevil has been fascinated with cowboy poker, also known as bull poker. The game involves sitting at a poker table in the middle of a bull ring and being able to hold your seat while a bull charges the table.
The person who has the last seat left is declared the winner and awarded whatever prize has been agreed to. Bottcher and his girlfriend Kaycee Read watched a number of YouTube videos of cowboy poker and were fascinated with the adrenalin rush.
Bottcher decided to visit the Linn County Fairgrounds in Albany and signup for a game of cowboy poker to celebrate the New Year. His girlfriend did not try to talk him out of this idea as she was used to him pulling of a number of dangerous and crazy stunts. Bottcher did well at the event and agreed to push his luck further when he decided to charge the bull and remove a joker card that was tied to one of the horns of the bull.
This move proved to be disastrous for Bottcher as the bull charged him, knocked him down and then charged him again. The crowd who were earlier cheering for Bottcher started to scream in terror as Bottcher was fighting for his life. Wranglers managed to divert the bull’s attention and pull Bottcher out of the ring. He was immediately taken to the hospital and surgery was performed to rejoin his femur to his hip.
Speaking about the incident from his hospital bed, Bottcher said
I was just focused on that bull. It was a pretty interesting sight to tell you the truth — to be face-to-face with a bull coming at you, you know. See, I’d never broke a bone before in my life. So, I was instantly trying to move myself, and I was trying to push myself from the ground, and I wasn’t getting nowhere
Bottcher now has a minimum of 2 months of physiotherapy before him and a large medical bill to pay. His winnings from the cowboy poker event are not sufficient to cover his medical expenses and as a result, Bottcher’s friends have set up a GoFundMe account to request for donations online to help Bottcher with his treatment.
