Fun and games at the Strike

I played at the Gold Strike Casino last night. There was a $110-buyin tournament with 10,000 in chips and a grillion runners. When the blinds were 200/400, I held ♣A ♣K. There was one limper to me and I and raised to 1600. The limper called. The flop was ♦8 ♥6 ♠2. The limper checked and I made a 2000 CB and the limper moved all in! I had to fold and had just lost one-third of my stack with a good hand.

When the blinds were 800/400/25, I was in the big blind with ♠K ♠7. UTG made a min-raise to 1600 and the small blind called. I'm getting 5:1 on my money (actually a little more with the antes), so calling was trivial. The flop was ♥J ♦7 ♣3. The SB and I checked and the UTG better also checked! So far, he looked like a complete fish. Fourth street brought the ♠J and the SB checked. I moved all in. My two pair might be good, and if not, the threat of three jacks might be too much.

UTG thought and thought and finally called. The SB folded and UTG turned over ♠8 ♣8. He said afterward (correctly, I might add), that he didn't believe I would bet so much with three jacks. Against a typical tourist, the all-in usually works here, but this guy figured out what to do. The river was a brick, and I was busto.

Here is the worst play I've seen in a tournament in quite some time. When the blinds were 100/200, the board showed ♣A ♥Q ♥J ♣10 ♦2. I don't remember the betting up to then, but on the river, there were two players. A lady bet 300 and the man raised her to 1000. She called. I'm trying to figure out which player had the king for Broadway straight. Not the lady, she would re-raise with the nuts (or would she, you never know), so the old man must have it. The old man showed ♠J ♦10 for two pair, and the lady turned over ♣Q ♦J for a higher two pair. I couldn't make this stuff up, folks.

After I busted out of the tournament, I played in the $1/2 NL hold 'em game. It was a dream. I doubled up during the first hour and chipped up a little from there to book a modest profit (after deducting the $110 for the dumb tournament).

There was plenty of entertainment. Players are willing to play giant pots with nowhere near the nutz. Four times I saw players all in when both of them had a flush. When the board has ♠K ♠10 ♠2 on the flop, and you have ♠7 ♠5, why go all in? If you want to protect your hand, there are bet sizes to do that other than all your chips. The other player, by the way, had ♠A ♠Q for the stone cold nuts.

What would you do here? You have ♣Q ♣7 and the board has three clubs to the ace. In other words, you have the second nuts. The river is a fourth club and the villain bets $60 into a $40 pot. Does this overbet smell fishy? The guy called, but the better turned over ♣K ♣9 for the nuts.

One more deal from the cash game. You hold ♣2 ♠2 in the big blind and get to see a flop in an unraised pot. The flop is ♥A ♦3 ♠5. Everyone checks. The turn is the ♠10, and everyone checks again. The river is the ♥4 giving you the wheel. You bet $11 and a lady raises to $22. Everyone else folds -- what do you do?

She might have limped in from early position with 7-6 suited, so you just call, and she proudly shows: ♥2 ♦2 for the same straight you have. "I like how you play," I told her, ha ha.