Two deals from Saturday night

I wasn't able to play in the Tuckfard Open last night. Had errands to run after work, and 6 p.m. central time comes early. Too bad, the folks in that game are always fun to play with.

I did play some 1/2 NL HE at the Goldstrike Saturday night that I haven't blogged about. There were two hands that I thought were interesting.

The first one was a $500 pot, which gets my attention right away, even though I wasn't involved in the deal. I don't remember the betting preflop, but there were three players and around $20. The flop was ♣J ♣5 ♦2. The first better led out for $15 and the other two called.

The turn was the ♣6. Now there are three clubs on the board, and a straight draw, perhaps even a stright flush draw. The first guy led out for $30 and both called.

The river was ♥7. The first guy bet $40, the next guy raised all-in for $160. The third guy thought for a little, then called. The first guy only had $60 left. "I know I'm beat," he said, "but how can I fold a $500 pot for sixty more?" He now flashed his cards (I was on his right, one player between us) and I saw ♣K ♣Q -- the second nuts. Finally, even though he knew he was beat, he put his money out there, and the guy who had moved all-in showed his hand: ♣A ♣10 for the nuts.

The third guy mucked his hand, but I couldn't help thinking "What could he possibly have?" I'd seen all the clubs down through the 10, so, at best, he had a 9-high flush (I guessed then he had a straight he hoped was good, what do you think?). I have sympathy for the first guy -- he only had $60 left and had second nuts -- but the last guy had an iffy hand (at best) and it cost him another $160. What could he possibly be thinking? I know what I'm thinking. Please let me get a good hand with him in a pot -- he'll call anything.

Then another deal. I had an aggro-donkey on my right. You know the type. Young, wins big at his home game, so thinks he's hot stuff. Bluffs a lot, is agressive and not afraid to put his chips in. Talks about the hands after they are over to show how smart he is (but in the process he just gives away information about how he plays). I had moved to this seat to get position on him, but (unfortunately) I wasn't involved in the deal I'm about to describe.

There were some limps around to the cutoff who raised to $6. The button (aggro-donk described above) raised to $18. I was in the BB and folded some junk, and only the cutoff called. The flop was: ♣A ♣5 ♠2.

Cutoff checked, and button bet out $35. CO thought for a while and called. The turn was ♥9 and both players checked.

The river was the ♦10. CO checked and button tried one more time. He fired out $40 and CO called.

Now, an interesting thing happened. Neither player wanted to show their hand! Finally, the button (Mr. Aggro-donk) was the one who had been called, so he had to show. He turned over ♥8 ♥7! The other guy was happy to show his cards now: ♠A ♣6!

Two words: Hee haw

Does anyone wonder why I love to play live poker? These guys would go broke playing on the Internet.