King Kracker

Posted by wynn on Jun 24, 2010 in Buy-in, Great Reads, Table Talk | 0 comments

We all make mistakes during a session. In retrospect, I played a hand badly. The right move was fold. No one at my end of the table thought too much of it, though. Instead, they thought how it all played out was very funny.

It was just after 1:00 AM when a young gun struts in with a cold beer. He sits down in seat 10 and posts the big blind.

He gets settled in for a long night of poker. His eyes get big with excitement after seat 7 raises and I three bet it from seat 9. The kid is loving the action – this is his kind of table.

“I re-raise”, he says.

The action folds around to me. Even the original raiser folded, which surprised me because this is his first pre-flop raise in 6 hours.

“I am all-in”, I say to the new player whose freshly opened beer is starting to sweat.

“Wow. This is my first hand. What choice do I have?”

“You can fold those pocket Kings and drink your beer before it gets warm,” I tell him.

“I can’t fold this hand. You got Queens. I call.”

Seat 10 is all-in and shows K-K.

Truth be told, I almost wished I had Queens. I really was not that strong, and I should have folded when he four-bet it. That was the right move: fold. Maybe just call.

But, calling is not in my arsenal. I usually raise or fold.

Perhaps it was the young gun factor, or maybe it was the raise with the first hand. Or, maybe it was just simply that he was playing back at me that had me make him make a decision for all his chips.

I don’t know what it was, but I instinctively put him to the test.

“You got Queens, right?”

“No”, I reply as I flip my top card over: Ace.

Tony, the dealer, looks at me as he burns a card and counts out the flop.

The window card is a much needed Ace.

The turn is a Queen. I show my second hole card for two pair.

Seat 10, who has been standing this whole time, calls his buddy over. “I have not even had a drink of my beer yet. I got Kings cracked. My first hand!”

He drove 45 minutes to the casino, bought a beer, sat down with his entire bankroll for the night, and left after one hand. Ouch.

The guys at my end of the table had a good laugh at the expense of the spent young gun.