Posted by Dr Fro 1:48 PM
Whatcha got?

This is the first part in a series of some stories of mine. There is a lesson to be learned in each of them. This one is one of Boyd’s favorites:

I am in a Holdem tournament at the International Casino in Aberdeen. It is the final table and there must be about 6 or so of us left. Blinds are high and it is one of those situations where every decision may make or break you.

I am dealt a pretty good hand. There is a limper and a raiser. I re-raise the raiser and make everyone else fold. He sits there and contemplates what he wants to do. We both have stacks in excess of the bet. As the time passes, I end up in a daze. He then says, “OK, whatcha got?” I show him my hand at which he laughs and says, “No, I meant how much money you got…I wanna re-reraise you.”

You see, his body language and the setting down of his hand indicated a fold, but technically the hand was still live as it had not touched the muck. To this day, I don’t know if he intentionally played an angle on me or if it was an accident. I thought he was folding and was just curious as to what he folded to. Either way, I learned my lesson to never show your hand if you don’t have to.

(By the way, although he had me dominated pre-flop, I caught up to him and won the hand, as well as some of the prize money.)

Collusion

I was playing in a home tournament in Aberdeen. It ended up just 3 of us. The top two prizes paid out, so you did not want to get eliminated at this point. The blinds were low, so we had a lot of time to play, at least an hour before the blinds were a threat. In that entire hour, I don’t think Ewan or Ian ever bet post flop if they were heads up. You see, they were best friends and they didn’t want to knock each other out. I won’t go into the math, but the strategy provides a massive advantage to them. (on the other hand, in a cash game, I would be indifferent as to what happens in hands I am not involved in.) This was bad enough, but then I noticed that when one of their stacks got low, the other guy would raise big, and then later fold, thereby shifting chips to the player in need. They were ganging up on me.

Lesson learned: you should be very careful about playing poker with people you hardly know, especially tournaments, where a single decision can cost you thousands.

Rags

I was playing at the FSC once and was playing 2-4 from the big blind. I never hit anything but was representing a good hand (that is, betting). On the river, I bet and got a raise from the only other player, Curtis. I folded. He showed me 2-3 and took the pot.

Lesson: In limit poker, it is almost never wrong to call on the end if you are last to act.

Eights

I was playing $4-$8 limit Holdem at the now defunct Ace Kickers Club in Houston (where JG and I met Steve of the Top Hat). I was dealt pocket 8’s on the button. I flopped 8-8-2. I can only lose if someone makes a runner-runner straight flush or quads higher than 8’s. It is as close to a cinch as you can get. It checks around to me and I bet on the button. This was very very stupid for many reasons. The only way to play this hand is to call the early rounds and put in a raise on the river. You must let them catch up to you. The only call you could get is from pocket 2’s.

Lesson learned: don’t bet when you flop quads

Todd-Dog

Glaze and I were playing 5-10-20 Omaha 8 at RT’s in 1999. A couple cops played there, including one HPD named Lou (named changed). Todd busted out and left to go to the ATM. While he was gone, Lou showed up and parked his marked vehicle right out front of the place. Evidently Todd came back and shit in his pants when he saw cop car and took off. We watched him out the window drive by slowly and then take off many times. Once we had Lou open the front door (in uniform) and Todd went flying off. After we all got a good laugh, we called his cell phone and told him to come on in.

Lesson learned: Todd is fun to mess with.

OK, one of these days, I’ll tell you the Pinochle story…

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