The Big Hand from Home Game #1

Now, I think I've got just a little bit of room here to tell you about just one hand we played that night, so I'll do that before signing off this time. Big hand of the night was actually about the fifth hand after I got in. Pickles on my right was dealing.

Jake made a little raise to $10 before the flop, and I went ahead and called from the small blind with a 10-J of clubs. 4 players total saw the flop, I think. Anyhoo, the flop came K-Q-J with two hearts and one club. I got a pair of Jacks and an open straight draw. I made a little bet of $10 to see if I could lose some guys, since I didn't really know these guys at all. The Rake and Bonus Bill both called. The pot was now about $75 in chips or so. I'm figurin that somebody's got a pair better than mine, of course, but I ain't put that much in yet.

At this point I'll point out that even though Jake and I are pals, I've only played with him once or twice before. He hasn't been playin Hold'Em for too long, although he's played a lot of semi-pro blackjack and a lot of video poker in Las Vegas. Lately, he's been experimenting with play money online and he really knows the odds of Texas Holdem. I could see right away that he had learned something since the last time I played with him. It appears that he now understands positional raising, and had got down the basics of playing strong-tight before the flop. I was impressed and immediately could see that his Rake monniker is pretty appropriate for this type of home game. Basically, he was taking it a lot more seriously than everyone else, which of course is an advantage. That's Jake for ya!

I say all this to explain my big screwup you're gonna hear about in a minute. I was pretty sure from lookin at his face that when he called my fifteen it was cuz he had an A-Q or something. He had raised before the flop and I was just getting "pair" vibes off him. I'm not usually the kind of fella to commit to that kind of an idear, you see? But I did this time, cuz after all it's just a little home game where I'm gettin to know some people and I didn't really feel like thinkin too hard. I'm just throwin some nickle chips in a pot, right?

Now, I'm lookin at that deck and thinkin Ace-Ace-Ace-Ace, and it turns out my psychic powers were firing on all cylinders, cuz sure enough Lord Pickles burns and turns over my long lost friend, the Ace of Clubs! Makes me a nut straight of course, with a flush draw and a straight flush draw that would likely be up against a full house! Pickles gets all excited and says "10 makes a straight!", which was TRUE. Bless you Pickles. I figured, "hey, this is a nice hand, I'm happy to have callers, but I don't really wan't to try to maximize profit by layin a trap for my new buddies, know what I'm saying?" So, I threw in a green chip worth $25. A few guys out of the hand say "ooh, ahh" like that's a pretty big bet for what they've seen so far.

Now, Jake thinks for a minute, and then CALLS. I didn't expect that. I was pretty sure he was on a pair, like I said, cuz he raised in early position before the flop. I'm thinkin he must have two pair or trips, but I don't think he has a 10 (he would definitely raise). Bonus Bill also called, which I really didn't like. I'm now thinkin B.B. probably has a 10, but he could be on anything. I don't know this guy at all yet. (I'll tell you more about him in some other Tale I spin soon).

So, the thing I'm thinkin about is that I don't want the river to pair the board. That would really cramp my style. And what a relief when the river came a 3, huh? I can tell all you folks right now that the Turtle was real pleased with that card. Disaster averted, hip hip hooray! So, I'm thinkin, hey, I've got the nuts, this is pot limit, I haven't played pot limit in a long while, and I want to make a big splash here for these nice folks, so I stuck my foot all the way down my throat and said:

"I bet the pot".

Whoopee! You see, I don't have a problem making a "big" bet in a home game, but I don't like to check raise or lay traps, as of course the old snappin turtle likes to do when he's playin for real doughnuts. I'm sorta expecting them both to fold unless one of them has a 10, so I don't think I'm even going to have to stack up the chips. But the Admiral counts the pot and says "it's about 150", and he asks me to count out the chips, so I do. I guess that's how they play cuz they saw it on TV. Fine...

So, old Jake thinks for a minute, and he kinda surprises me when he says "I call". Huh? Jake has a 10? Does he just not believe me and he won't let go of his pairs? I'm pretty sure he knows I have a 10. I'm a little confused. Oh well. Split pot, whatever, right? I've about finished stacking up my chips when Bonus Bill calls too. The curiosity is killing me at this point. I don't know this guy. Does he know what's going on?

So I flip over my cards and announce "I've got the 10". I look at Bill to see what he's got. He's turning over some kind of a two pair hand, and I'm startin to feel pretty good about things when Jake says something that makes my jaw drop so far my dentures fall out:

"I've got a flush".

Huh? A flush? What insolence! What's he talkin about? The durned club draw missed! But what do you know? He turns over the 4 and 5 of hearts. HEARTS! That little old river Trey I mentioned was a 3 of HEARTS, and the KJ on the board were hearts. Your old pal Perfesser Tony never even saw them colors runnin, what with this being a home game and not knowin where these guys were at. Too much to think about, I guess. You see, I'm pretty fallible sometimes when I got a beer in my hand and I ain't concentrating too hard. Hard to believe, I know.

So, yep, it never even occurred to me that old Jake was squattin like a squaw on a little flush draw. I didn't think he'd be playin that with his overall "play it safe and rake the blinds with a preflop raise" approach to poker and life. Perfesser Tony will let you in on a little secret here and tell you that people usually play poker like they play life, folks. But old Jake surprised me good on that hand, and he raked down that whole big dang $400 chip pot with his little baby flush. Good for him, eh?

So as you can see, the old Turtle learned something about the folks he was playin around with the other night. Like I says, I was only there an hour and a half or sumthin, but I saw a number of pretty good plays, and it's actually got me pretty darn fired up to play with them again next month. Hopefully I'll make it in time to play a little longer and have some kind of a tale to spin for y'all after that. But until then, I'm a-gonna sign off here, and mosey on to play some online tournaments or somethin goofy like that there.

Oh, but first, I need to write a Note To Self and stick it up on the inside of my shell here - "watch for flushes on the board, you silly old reptile!" You'd think I'd remember THAT, even if I was playin with that foxy Warden Ming sittin on my lap. Anyhoo, look forward to seein you out there havin good luck and a good time WHEREVER you're playin!

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