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I was playing 5/10 NL at The Bicycle Casino in Bell Garden, CA about two months ago. The table was pretty competent. It was what I would expect at a 5/10 NL table. The buy-in at this game is uncapped. I had about $2,800 in chips in front of me when this hand came up.

UTG straddles before the cards are dealt. The UTG player is a decent player. He is aggressive, but folds when he thinks he is beat.

Everybody folds to the cutoff, who looks at his hand and announces “all-in”. Now, the player in the Cutoff position has been doing this all evening. He has been making $1,000 raises into a $70 pot. I knew it was just a matter of time before he got caught. At this moment in time, Mr. Cutoff had $3,400 in chips in front of him. Why somebody would bet $3,400 into a $40 pot it beyond me, but hey, it was his money.

The button and blinds fold. Mr. Straddler peeks down then gets a sorrowful look in his face. He says to Mr. Cutoff, “I have to call you”.

One of the players at the table shouted over to a friend who was playing 5/5 NL at another table, “Hey, we have a $3,400 all-in called. We have a $7,000 pot over here.”

Mr. Cutoff had a resigned look in his face. “You have me. “, he said. I was trying to make a move.”

He flips over

Mr. Straddler confidently shows:

By this time, the word has spread around the high stakes area about this hand. There must have been what felt like 100 people around the table watching this hand. The dealer shakes his head, grins and delivers the flop:

Immediately, the room goes silent. Everybody ponders the consequences of this flop. The T4s has a chance to crack the Aces. Mr Dealer hams up the situation. He looks around, takes his time, and enjoys the attention that he is getting. Just when it seems like the tension is going to explode, he taps the table and delivers the turn:

The room goes ballistic! People are screaming and yelling. Nobody can believe what they just saw. The T4s, against all odds, is going to suck out to win a $7,000 pot that he had no business being in. People are high-fiving each other everywhere.

I take a moment to look at Mr. Straddler. He is slumped over in his chair like somebody just stabbed him in the stomach with a knife. He really looks like he is going to be sick.

I then glance at Mr. Dealer.  He has a grin from ear to ear.

Lastly, I look at the people standing around the table.  Anybody who is in the high stakes area, and who is NOT currently in a hand, has now made their way over to the table to witness how bad these Aces are going to crash and burn.

You can literally feel the electricity in the air. It feels like the last game of the world championships (World Series / Stanley Cup / Super Bowl / World Cup, or whatever your favorite sport is) with your team down to its last possession with time running out. The people are looking for an excuse to let the pressure out. Again, the Mr. Dealer hams up the situation. After what seems like 10 minutes, he finally taps the table and delivers the river:

At the sight of this unbelievable card, everybody again goes bonkers. People were jumping up and down, people were screaming, people were giving each other High-Fives. I have never been part of anything like this. For a minute, I thought there was going to be a riot. It was SO cool.

Mr. Cutoff picked up his chair and threw it (luckily nobody was behind him). He stormed off. The $7,000 pot was property of the Pocket Aces.

Five minutes later, Mr. Cutoff came back and bought in for another $5,000. You could see the smoke coming out of his ears. He was on major tilt. I knew I could bust him if I had enough cash and could get into a hand with him. But, that my friend, is the subject of another story. . . someday.