I am at MGM Grand Detroit the other night. There was a guy with a deep stack of about $900 in seat 6.
I am in seat 9 listening to seat 7 and seat 10 talk about how you need to have quads or better to win at this table because of the sick one and two-outers this guy is hitting on the river.
Sure enough, for the next two hours, his chip stack doubles - all from one and two-outers on the river.
The first playable hand I get is pocket Queens. I flop quads and double up. I don’t see another playable hand for an hour, so I leave and head over to MotorCity Casino.
At MotorCity, I sit down to a table of familiar faces. The lady to my right is a solid player at a table of loose players.
She makes a comment about the only way you can win at this table is to have quads or better. And, as it turns out, the only hands she has won at this table were quads.
An hour into this session, this person hits quads. Again.
Two hours into the session, I have not had a single playable hand. As I am thinking about calling it a night, I get dealt pocket Queens.
The Quads lady is in the hand to my right and to my left is a notoriously loose player.
The flop comes A-2-2 with two spades. The lady is first to act and checks.
I immediately put her on 2-2, given her track record on this night. I ask her “why did you check?” before betting out $50.
Mr. Loose calls, and Ms. Quads calls.
The flop is a Queen. Ms. Quads bets $100. I ask her if she has quads already, then I call.
Mr. Loose folds.
The flop is the case Queen. Ms. Quads checks. I make a value bet of $50. Truth be told, I hoped she had A-A or 2-2. The Bad Beat Jackpot at MotorCity pays on Aces full of Jacks or better getting beat as long as both hole cards play. Quads over quads would have paid out about $40,000.
Instead of a bad beat, it was bad news: she asked me if she could see one card. “No, not tonight” was my reply.
“Should I call or fold?” she asks me.
“If you have pocket Aces or pocket deuces, then call. Otherwise, fold”, I reply.
She calls and shows a dry Ace.
Two playable hands at two casinos in four hours happens to be quad Queens.
What are the odds?