Rounders, Inc.

Poker is a game of inches.

One wrong read or one wrong move and you could lose your entire stack.

I just finished one of my best sessions yet. I was confronted with a tough decision early on for about 20% of my chips. This was not my biggest pot of the night, but it was a close call.

A new player joined the table to my immediate right. I have never played with this person before.

I am generally cautious of new players until I get a read on what types of hands they play. I have also been burned in the past by new players that get dealt A-A or K-K for their first hand. In other words, I have mistaken their aggressiveness as establishing a table image by raising their first hand as opposed to them having a monster hand.

The new player limps in on his first hand.

I raise to $20 pre-flop with 10-10 in middle position.

A player on the button calls and my new friend also calls.

Three-way action to flop, we get Kh-9-h-2s.

The new player checks to me.

I bet $40.

The button folds.

The new player raises me another $100 by going all-in.

I look at him and ask if he is on a flush draw.

I get no verbal reaction, but I could sense weakness in his eyes.

After talking through the possible hands he could have, like A-A, K-K, or A-K, I then do the math.

The math does not work. I have potentially 2 outs to the turn, which makes me just about a 9-to-1 underdog to win assuming he has A-A or A-K.

If he has a set of Kings, I am a 989-to-1 longshot to win the hand with runner-runner 10s.

If this player had A-A or K-K, I am sure he would have re-raised pre-flop to get us heads-up. Very few players would “just call” with those kinds of hands.

Big Slick is plausible, but not likely, I decide. Most players, myself excluded, would re-raise with A-K.

I can’t put him on 9-2. Only a donkey would play that hand.

Of course, I have been beaten more times than I care to count with K-2. Perhaps he has two pair.

A set of 9s or deuces is most likely here.

No matter how I read it, I figure I have two outs.

I then go to feel. It just feels like he is trying to buy it. I just feel like my 10s will prove to be the winning hand.

I call.

Before we can get our cards turned over, the dealer puts another King on Fourth Street and a blank on Fifth Street.

My opponent proudly shows his pair: he flopped two pair with 9c-2c.

I show Kings and Tens for a better two pair.

As I am stacking his chips, I get a speech.

“How could you call that with a King out there?”

I grin and ask “How could you call a pre-flop bet of 10 times the big blind with nine-deuce?”

Of course, I got the standard donkey reply, “It was suited.”

And he was felted.

Last night was a strange night at the poker table.

For starters, I could not see my hole cards while wearing my new prescription Oakley Whisker sunglasses.

I must have folded a dozen hands - rags - that flopped the nuts.

Everytime I got a nice pocket pair, either everyone folded to my pre-flop bet or I was forced to chop in the small or big blind.

My reads were totally off - which is highly unusual since I am reliably spot-on.

In fact, I lost a dinner bet due to my terrible reads. This is the first side bet I have lost in 20 years.

I folded K-2. A young lady sitting next to me said she had pocket Kings.

To which I reply, “There is no way you had pocket Kings.”

She bet me dinner.

And I lost.

In my sunken emotional state over bad reads and a couple bad beats, I forgot that they load up FOUR Kings in a deck.

I made just enough money for 8 hours to fund the blinds and stay even.

The only real hand I won was three way action at the end of the night.

I raise to $20 pre-flop and get five callers.

At this point, I am convinced they can see my Q-Q reflected in my shades.

Long story short, I get all the chips in the middle.

Three players fold.

One flops a set of 10s.

One turns a set of Jacks.

I got lucky and rivered a set.

Thankfully, a player with A-K folded on the flop.

It took 8 hours to triple up.

Now, I have the bankroll to fund the dinner bet marker.

I have been running incredibly well lately. I am blessed.

My reads have been unbelievably accurate. Case in point.

I have 10-10 in the big blind. I make it $20 to go and get three callers.

The flop comes Js-8s-7d.

I bet out $40 and get two callers.

The turn is 6h.

I bet $100.

The next player to act says, “Why so much?”

The truth is, at this point, I know I am beat.

I also know that catching a 10 makes my hand worse.

Catching a Q or 9 for a straight is probably second best.

I do know this: the two players in the hand look scared and won’t call off the rest of their chips.

Speculating in a hand in three-way action or more is against the rules.

It is a fine line here, but I say, “One of you is looking for a third spade. The other has a Jack. I don’t want either of you drawing out on me. The bet is $100, Sir.”

Both players fold.

Sure enough, the first player was on a spade draw.

The second player shows K-J.

My aggressive play against players that thought they were weak won the pot.