Have you ever just had one of those momentary lapses?
Last night I was playing at a little monthly cash game I play in with some buddies and I�m holding AXs. Flop comes T87 with no real flush draw for me but I’m heads up so I decide to stay with it and see if I can’t hit my ace. Turn brings a 9 and now there’s a straight possible on the board. I get a weak bet from my opponent so I call. I’m thinking he’s got a low pair (7’s or 8’s) and wants to see where he’s at. River brings a J so the board is a Jack high straight. Again, I don’t put him on a Q so when he bets I assume he’s trying to bluff me out and I call. He flips his cards and shows JX. I start reaching for the pot and announce that we’re splitting the pot. As I’m stacking the chips, he asks “How do you figure?” “Jack high straight on the board,” I respond. I look up at him and there’s just this look like he doesn’t get it so I go to show him the straight and I notice that the river wasn’t a J, it was a K. Duh!
That was actually the second time in the last couple of months that I had my hands on someone’s Eggo. In January we were playing a tourney and the river hits and gives me a flush, ace high. I’m heads up and there’s no pair on the board so I figure he knows I made my hand and I bet out expecting him to fold. He raises me! I re-raise him back and he re-raises me back. Now I’m trying to figure out what hand he thinks he has. Maybe a K high flush? So I re-raise and he comes right back at me with a re-raise. At that point I’m sort of stunned so I just call. I flip up my A high flush and start grabbing the chips. I don’t even wait for him to show his cards. Why should I? No pair on the board so he doesn’t have the boat. I have the nuts, right? So have you figured out what his hand was? Straight flush. Very beautifully hidden with some one gappers on each side.
So about a week later I find myself down at Hollywood Park and I make an Ace high straight (AK). No pairs on the board and no flush potential. Again, heads-up on the showdown and I bet, he raises, I re-raise, he re-raises, I re-raise, he re-raises. Now, I’m looking at the board and I’m looking for that damn hand that might have me beat. I don’t see it but that straight flush movie starts playing in my head and I just call. He had the lower straight. I could have probably taken him for 3 or 4 more BB but I was still spooked from the bad tourney beat. A couple of the players at the table started giving me hell for not taking all of his money but how can you explain seeing monsters under the bed? 🙂