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.