10 Of Clubs
I was playing a 1/2 No Limit Holdem at The Mirage. (1/2 meaning the table had a $1
small
blind and a $2
big blind.)
I got there as the table formed and everybody got $200 to start with. I dragged in a nice
pot after picking off a
bluff;
dealer's pitching the next
hand as I'm stacking up.
I think, Perfect time to run a
bluff, people will think I'd only stop stacking to play a big
hand.
I'll raise with anything.
I look down and see a pair of
Aces, so I
make a nonchalant
raise
and got 2 or 3
callers.
The flop
showed an Ace, Jack
and a 4. The guy to my right bets $20 and I
call,
planning to pop him on the
turn,
while the other players
folded. The
turn
was a King. He bet $50, so I assumed he had an
Ace Jack or
an Ace King and
drawing dead. Stone-cold lock, right? So
I raised him to $125. He goes
all in
for another $55 and said "If you got me, you got me," basically advertising
an Ace Jack. I
called and he rolled over
not an Ace Jack, not
an Ace King ... but
an Ace Queen. I think
Going to the mattress with top pair? Crazy! You're not as strong
as I thought. He also wasn't
drawing
dead, as it occurred to some yokel who piped up, "Hey, he can win if
he pulls off a ..." Just then the dealer turned over the
river card ...
it was the 10 of G-ddamn motherf&%$ing
clubs. Broadway. Ship him the $400+
pot.
Because of that loss, I went to $65 instead of $650, which would have
let me dominate the table. Worst part was the guy left about 3
hands later with my money ...
obviously to go tell his hipster buddies, "Hey, check out this sick monster
pot I took off this guy." No buddy, you STOLE it.
I almost got back to
$200 that session, the whole time thinking, What if? So now whenever I'm playing and I see that
card on the board I hafta yell, "Tennaclubs!"
~Ken 2011
