Crash and Burn
I was in Las Vegas this spring for a four-day conference. The conference was held at the Venetian. I was staying at the Mirage, which was right across the street. I had played poker a couple of times at the Mirage, but the room was kind of small. There were only about 25 tables, and the highest limit was 2/5 NL. I wanted some bigger games, so I looked into the poker room at the Venetian. Afterall, I had to pass the poker room every morning on my way to the conference (yes, I was tempted to blow off the conference and sit in the poker room - but I resisted the urge).
There was a 5/10 NL game going that looked somewhat tame. The minimum buy-in was $500, and the maximum buy-in was uncapped. The stacks seemed to be in the $1000 range, so I thought this should be a decent game. I was escorted to the table and did not even have to get my own chips. The Venetian had a chip runner come over and buy my chips for me. How nice! I was greeted by name and was treated very nicely. We were playing 6 handed when this hand came up:
UTG raises 3x BB to $30. I have
in UTG + 2. I make the call and the button the pops it to $90. UTG calls. I have no choice. Its $60 to call into a $210 pot.
Pot: $285
The flop comes:
Wow! What a nice flop for me. UTG checks. I, of course, check to the preflop raiser. He decides his best bet is all-in for an additional $900. UTG folds and I smile. I insta-call and show the flopped full house. I had a REALLY bad feeling when he said, “I have outs”, and turns over:
The turn was a blank and the river was:
I lose a $2100 pot to a 2-outter. After that flogging, I decided to drop down to 2/5 NL. I bought in for the maximum of $500. About 30 minutes into the session, I am UTG and I get:
I raise 4x BB to $20. It is folded to a guy in LP who raises to $60. It is folded back to me. I “know” he has pocket kings. I just had the feeling. I smooth-call his $40 raise.
Pot: $120
Flop:
There are two clubs on the board, but I feel that he has KK. I check to let him do the betting. He bets $135. I need to move here just in case he has AK of clubs. I decide to push all in for my last 500 total. He calls. I am praying for anything but a King.
Turn:
Uh-oh. Trouble in Paradise. The river is:
I show my AA and just as expected, he shows pocket kings for quads.
Two bad beats inside 30 minutes, and a loss of two pots worth over $3000. Some days it does not pay to get out of bed.