The Happiest I Have Been With A Loosing Hand

This Sunday I had a strange hand at Winstar. It was at the end of my day and I was up to about $800. Sitting at my table was a kid who said it was only his second time playing casino poker. He wasn't a complete novice, but he did have a tendancy to call till the end with only 2nd pair. His cousin, who was a little more experienced, was also playing at the table. After some hands he would ask his cousin for some advice. He was really friendly and I was talking with him quite a bit.

After a few hours he had built up a stack to about $400. This hand came when I was in the big blind. He opened for a raise to $10 and I called with K-10. There were also 2 more callers behind me. The flop came K-10-10. I checked, the other two players checked, and the kid bet something like $20. I smoothed called and hoped the other two players would stay in too, but they folded. The turn was a 7 and I checked. The kid bet about $40. I figured the kid was going to call anything if he had A-K so I raised $80 more. Sure enough he called. The river was another 7. Now I'm thinking if the kid has a 10 he will be sunk for sure. But I didn't want to bet too much and scare him off. I settled on $100. He thought for a few seconds and then called. I turned over my K-10 and said full house. He turned over poket Kings.

Several people started talking at once asking him why he didn't raise me. He said he was afraid that I had Quad Tens. I looked at his cousin and he had his hands covering his face shaking his head. One person was pretty brutal berating the kid over and over. He kept saying that I would have called any amount he raised (which was true). I told everyone to leave him alone but of course the table kept talking about it for the new few hands.

The strangest things is that I was excited at the end of the hand. Even though I lost about $200 I felt like I was ahead because I didn't loose $400.

It sort of reminded me of this hand with Jennifer Tilly on Poker After Dark. Except in my situation the table was not nearly as silent when the cards were shown.

My Second Royal Flush

I got my second Royal Flush last Saturday at Winstar. I was playing at a very friendly 1-2 NL table and had built my stack up to around $700. I was in the small blind and there were about 4 or 5 limpers before it got to me. I looked down to find Q-10 of clubs. I called for a dollar and the big blind checked. I was hoping for some clubs on the flop.

I got three, the Ace, King, and Jack. I immediately saw that I had flopped a Royal Flush. I was first to act and I checked. There was only about 14 dollars in the pot. I was worried that I wasn't going to get any more with a scary flop like that. Sure enough, everyone else checked. The turn was a Jack. Now I hoped someone had a Jack. I checked and the guy two seats to the left of me bet $10. Then three people called. I was thinking that surely one of them had a Jack and would call a bet on the river. I don't even remember what the river card was. I lead out with a $20 bet. The original better started counting out a raise. Yipee! He raised to $60 and the other players folded. I figured with this re-raise that he would call anything. Maybe he had a full house. Or, even better, maybe he had pocket Jacks for 4 of a kind. Winstar has a bad beat jackpot. If he had quads, that would net me another $4k from the jackpot.

I looked at his chips and he had about $180 more so I said all-in. He immediately called and I could tell he was sure he was going to win. I said "do you have pocket Jacks" but sadly he said no. I turned over my hand and said "I got a Royal Flush". He turned over A-J for a full house. He was pretty light hearted even though he had just lost $250 on one hand. He got up, shook my hand, and walked off.

There was a lot of talking at the table and we all had to explain to one player why I was hoping he had pocket Jacks. That would have been some nice icing on the cake, but I was still extremely happy with the pot. Plus I got a nice jacket for free.

I didn't get a picture of the cards, but here is a picture of my chips after the hand.