MotorCity Mafia

Sometimes, things just work out.

I am in a no limit game last night. Heads up against a player on my immediate left.

I have a small pocket pair.

My read is my opponent is holding A-X.

The board is five blanks. No Aces, no paint.

I check call all the way.

On the river, I feel my pair is good.

When I show the pair, I get a speech.

“How could you call with just a lousy pair?” he asks.

“How could you bet with just Ace high?” I respond.

He goes on tilt.

The very next hand, I four bet.

This same opponent pushes all-in.

The action folds to me and I call.

He shows Q-Q.

I turn the cards over so an Ace is showing.

I then slide the Ace off to my right to expose the bottom card.

Another Ace.

And, another speech.

“Dammit. I finally get a pocket pair and you just had to have Aces this time!”

Again, the board was five blanks.

In both hands, my opponent overplayed his hand.

He could have saved alot of money by checking the turn and river on the first hand if he did not pair his hole cards.

On the second hand, the right play was call pre-flop, then fold to my all-in on the flop if he did not hit a set.

There are a few casinos around the country where I regularly play Hold ‘Em. I know the grinders at these card rooms.

Two of the biggest rooms I play at are at MotorCity Casino in Detroit, Michigan and Ameristar in Black Hawk, Colorado.

I have to admit, I do not remember the hundreds of people I see each week in the card room who are not regular players.

No matter where I play, I frequently get someone who will walk up to me while outside on a smoke break that mentions they played with me and describe a hand to jog my ever-increasing short memory.

There is a twist to this last night that made me feel good.

I am standing outside Ameristar Black Hawk. Elevation 8050 feet.

A young attractive woman approaches me and says, “Are you from Detroit?”

“Originally.” I reply.

“Is your name Sammy?”

“Yes.” I am mildly concerned now.

“I watched you play at MotorCity Casino a few months ago.” she says.

“A few months ago? Damn, you have a good memory.” I reply.

“The hand you were in was amazing. How could I forget?” she continues.

“I am easily forgettable after 3 seconds. You remembered me from across the country three months later?” I say.

She laughs and begins to describe the hand, “You were in a short-handed 200-500 game with some real donkeys.”

A by-stander listening in pipes up and asks, “200-500?”

“The buy-in”, I reply, “It was a no-limit game with 2-5 blinds.”

She continues, “It was the hand where you broke the game.”

“I remember the hand, but I am sorry, I do not remember you at the table.”

“I was at the next table over and saw what happened.” she says.

“I got lucky. Are you vacationing here in Colorado?”

“No, I live here but am originally from Detroit.”

The by-stander asks what happened in the hand. The lady tells the story:

“The player under the gun raises to $100 pre-flop. The next player raises to $200. The player after him re-raises to $500. Sammy here is on the button with a mountain of chips and calls. The small blind and big blind each call.” she says.

She continues, “The flop comes J-3-3. All players ahead of Sammy go all-in. Sammy sat there cool as ice and just calls. I figured him for aces.”

The by-stander is now eager to hear how this turns out.

“There had to be, what, over $7,000 in that pot. Anyways, the small blind had K-Q offsuit. The big blind had A-10 hearts. The original raiser had K-K. The player two off the big blind had Q-Q. The next player had J-J.”

“The turn card was an Ace. The river was a 10.”

The bystander says, “So, if I follow you, everyone thought they were good. You had a straight, two pair with an ace, kings up, queens up, and a full house. What did you have Sammy?”

“Sammy flopped quads. He took all the money on the table and broke the game.”

I still can’t get over the fact that this person spotted me. Very flattering. Makes me feel good.

Donkeys. Gotta love them. They never seem to know how far behind they are in a hand. And always seem to catch the miracle card on the river.

I am finally back playing after my “card dead” hiatus.

All is going well for the first hour. I double up.

Then a donkey sits down. I study him for a few minutes. Easy money. So, I stay.

He bluffs me off a flush draw. No problem. I am patient, but I tell him I folded Jacks after he showed me a 3 high (ok, I had only one Jack).

This guy is in disbelief that I folded Jacks, but I was convincing. Too convincing.

He thinks I am super tight and will fold to any big bet.

Next hand, I have K-J. Mr. Donkey and I limp in.

Flop is K-J-10 rainbow. He bets out $15.

Yes, so I have top two pair with a straight out there. No way he has Q-9 or A-Q.

I raise to $45. Everyone folds. Except Mr. Donkey.

He goes over the top all in.

I insta-call and show top two pair.

Turn is a blank.

At this point, I am a 96% favorite to win the hand assuming he is on a straight draw. I figure if he had the nuts on the flop, he would have slow played it. Then again, maybe not. He is a donkey.

River is an Ace.

Mr. Donkey shows me Q-4 for a straight.

Damn Donkeys!

If I had a chip for every time a player that was in a hand that they should not have been involved with in the first place, but somehow caught the miracle one-outer, I would have alot of chips.

The player’s reasoning is they were “gambling” when they made the call.

They are gambling alright. With MY money. In the short run anyway.