I guess.... I hope... all poker players go through a period like this... I went in today 4 different times with monster hands and got sucked out on every time! I'll just tell you the last one since it is very fresh in my mind!
I believe that we're 7 handed and blinds have just gone up to 500/1000. Rick is on my left and playing the button. There's one limper in early position, Carl folds, Ed folds and I look at my first card and it is an black Ace, the second is the other black Ace.... I think for a moment about limping and then decide since I am one of the short stacks that if I make a move, everyone is going to put me on an Ace of some sort and I've only got 5,500 so I push all-in. Rick immediately calls and the limper calls. Now there's 18,000 in the pot and I'm not happy about playing my Aces against 2 players but its sort of out of my hands. I think that Rick has a big pair of some sort.... the flop is 3 rags... 9, 8 and 3 or something like it. The limper checks and Rick makes a bet and the limper folded. I turn over my Aces and say that that couldn't have worked out any better..... Rick shows his Jacks and says "Nice hand" and then Ed throws the turn, a Jack!
I was pissed, but not at Rick.... he stepped right where I wanted him to step! He not only called my all-in with 2 outs, but then bet out a guy that could have been on a straight draw or a flush draw. Nope, not mad at Rick. Just can't believe my luck! You set the trap and get someone right where you want them drawing so thin that if it were ice, you couldn't walk on it! And then..... BANG! Now, I'm looking at worst outs than he had because I'm sure the limper had some kind of Ace.... the river is a brick and I'm out!
Maybe I should take some sort of hiatus! Maybe I should try to hook-up with Anonymous' sister with no left foot!
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Definitely a bad beat, but I'm always fascinated by how two players often have completely perspectives of the same hand. Here's the hand through my eyes:
We're short-handed, and I'm in late position with one of the big stacks. A player on my immediate right pushes in with only 5.5 x the BB, and I look down at J-J. The question is not whether or not to play the hand, as it'll be the best hand 90-95% of the time in this situation. The only question is whether or not to raise and try to isolate. Since three players are left to act, I decide to just call for two reasons. First, this gives me the option of laying the hand down if another big stack behind me pushes in. Second, with the blinds quickly increasing, this could be a good opportunity to gather more chips, even if it means taking a bit of a chance. Sure enough, the big blind (who has plenty of chips as well) completes the bet.
The BB checks to me, and I push in to protect my overpair. Correct tournament strategy dictates checking down weaker hands if someone is already all-in, in hopes that one of you will improve enough to knock the other player out. Clearly this is not the case here. Betting into a dry side pot simply tells the other guy "Do what you want, but I have a strong hand." The BB folds, and Charles turns up his aces.
I wasn't upset at all that I was on the other end of this cold deck; I'm on both sides of it several times every week. As cliché as it is, that's poker. And of course, since it's PKR poker, the jack on the turn should come as no surprise to anyone that's ever set foot inside the place. I'm just shocked that an ace didn't come on the river for the double-suckout.
To me there was no elaborate set-up or trap; Charles didn't have enough chips for that. Both of us made what I would consider to be standard moves with our hands, his hand just happened to be better. If the roles were reversed, we end up with the same result. Anyone who says they lay down jacks there is either delusional, or has an ass so tight they have crap coming out of their ears. It was a bad beat - nothing more, nothing less.
Lenny returned the favor later when we get all the chips in pre-flop. I have Ah-Ad, and he has Ac-Jc. Total domination, of course, so I already know there's about to be a parade of jacks marching through the middle of the table. Luckily for me, I still had a chance to win half the pot by the time the 5c came on the turn, as the flop came 2c-3x-4x. Somehow I avoided a club, and was lucky to get my money back.
Then I was knocked out by The Donkey King himself (Ed), when we get all the chips in pre-flop and his 10c-4c (hey, they're suited...) outdraw my 8-8. At PKR, the person who has the best hand always feels like they're the one who has to get lucky. And you know what, they're right...
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