Posted by Johnnymac 10:44 PM
Al Strikes Again!

I don't normally tell bad beat stories, but this story is pretty straightforward and it's about probably one of the worst beats I have had in the past year or so. I need to get it out of my system, so bear with me and don't read below if you're not interested. You've been warned (it's fairly short, however)

The story naturally begins in my weekly 5-10 experience at the Friendship tonight. I sat through about a relatively expensive 2 hours of the same stuff that's been going on for a couple weeks now - decent to good hands dealt to me but very few made hands. I was bouncing between -$100 and -$200 most of the time but I was playing well and was even able to take a few hands off of my "buddy" Al that I spoke about in my last post.

In the hand of the night, the Kill is on and I'm in the small blind. A gentleman at the other end of the table, "Kevin", raises to make the bet $20. As is my practice, I wait for the action to come to me before I look at my cards. I look and see A3c. I think a bit and decide to call his raise. He has been playing very aggressively against the Kill all night and will raise with just about any medium-strength or better hand, regardless of position or the number of callers (As I have said before, I actually think this is a good strategy in this particular game, but once it's recognized the proper response is to loosen up a bit and call). I decide to see the flop and fold if it's no help. There's one other caller in the hand too, my buddy Al.

The flop comes Jc-4c-6c. Almost the best flop I could possibly hope for, but maybe a little too scary for my opponents. I decide to slowplay and I check and call. All three of us see the turn. At this point I figure there are a few hands that Al and Kevin could have: Kevin likely has overcards and may have even flopped a set of Jacks and Al likely has the Kc and perhaps another small club. I also notice that there are the begginings of a straight flush on the board, so perhaps one of them might instead be playing another little club (2, 5, 7, or 8) and hoping to get really really lucky.

The turn comes 5c, giving me a straight flush draw to my made nut flush, and I decide to turn up the heat and get paid. I check in hopes of raising and Al steps right into it. Keven calls his bet, I raise, and they both call. At this point, I am fairly sure that one has either the Kc or Qc and the other has either the 7c or 8c. I am a big favorite against the face card, but I'm nervous about the miracle card coming and making a straight flush. (There is also the outside chance that someone has two-pair or a set and is looking to fill up, but I don't give that possibility much of a chance) The odds are very much in my favor, but I'm nervous and pray for a blank.

It ain't blank. It's the 7c.

I have my straight flush, but I'm pretty sure that I'm now- once again - in second place. I check and call on the off chance that I'm wrong, but I'm not. Al turns over 82c and Kevin turns over KTc. We all made flushes on the flop and, knowing those guys, they weren't going anywhere once they did. Any other card on 5th Street and I'm a HUGE winner and ready to roll. Instead, I'm down $270 for the night and very close to going on tilt, so I decide to call it a night and head out.

The whole FSC was buzzing at the end of the hand, mainly razzing Al for calling all those raises and then catching his miracle card.

Al turns to me and asks, "Why didn't you raise me with a made straight flush?"

I know that by now it likely seems to him that he's entitled to my money whenever we play, and I REALLY want to tell him to kiss my ass, but instead I nicely tell him that I knew he or Kevin likely had the 8c and thus any raise would probably be reraised and would just cost me more money. (a bluff would have been pointless and he would have picked it off immediately).

Anyway, Al wins another one.

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