A Cold Deck...

…Followed by some cold water (the river, that is).

Last night we had a nice, juicy game with, well, The Juice! I’m not quite sure how he got the nickname – I assume it’s because he’s so easy to squeeze money out of (I kid because I care, Dave…). At any rate, we’re five-handed to start with, and we haven’t been playing long before Dave doubles me up over the course of 2-3 NLHE hands, giving me around $800 or so (thanks buddy!). The rush continues as I look down to find Q-Q on the button. John M. is UTG and raises the $5 BB to $20. Although he has turned into an almost hyper-aggressive player, I’m pretty sure he has some kind of hand, and will almost certainly call a large raise, so I raise to $75, a little more than I normally would. John thinks for a minute and announces he’s all-in for around $250-300 more (I never did ask for an exact count).

Yikes – did I really run into A-A or K-K? In many situations against certain players, it’s not too tough of a lay-down. In a tournament it’s an easy lay-down. In a loose cash game against an aggressive player, running well with the larger stack and getting 1.5:1 on my money – that’s just not a lay-down I’ll make very often. Hell, worst-case scenario is I’m behind, at which point I can execute Plan B (the suckout). I make the call, and John turns over K-K.

Dang - time for Plan B. That plan doesn’t seem to be working too well either, as I get no help on the flop or the turn. In the immortal words of David Byrne, “Take me to the river…” The inevitable pain comes for John in the form of the case Q (turns out Dave folded the other one). As usual, my trap worked just the way I drew it up. :-) Remember John, when you hit your card on the river, you can’t get sucked out on. I love it when a plan comes together!

See ya at the tables…
Rick