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I’ll
admit it. I was nervous Tuesday as I entered
Pilot’s Pub for my first Texas Holdem poker night.
All right, I was more than nervous. My heart was
racing, I could feel the blood rush to my head and
my palms were sweating. I had no idea what the
night held for me.
I paid the $20 buy-in. That may have been my first
mistake.
I got taken to the cleaners for the first hour.
Either the others knew I was a rookie and wanted
me done, or I just wasn’t any good. I didn’t win a
single hand for well over an hour.
I was nearly dead last with only two chips when
the opportunity to buy back came. I risked another
$10 because I knew I wasn’t done. I couldn’t leave
without winning a hand. My luck had to change.
Then the
Texas Holdem
poker gods smiled upon me, and I won my first
hand, then another, then another after that. I had
gone from the cellar to the top in three hands. I
was back, and happy about it.
That’s poker for you.
A little before 11, we whittled ourselves down to
four players, and I was one of them. Things got
interesting. The fewer the players, the better the
odds of getting a good hand.
Unfortunately, the same is true for your
opponents.
I lost a few hands and wisely folded out of a few
more. I was down to 49 chips. The minimum blind
had gone up to 40, so all I could bet was nine. I
figured that I either was going to win big or my
night was done, so why not?
I went all in with an off-suit jack, 8. Another
player went all in with a pair of queens.
I cussed under my breath. The player across from
me folded, and the other player went all in with a
suited ace, king. I cussed under my breath again.
If the game had been on ESPN, they’d have shown
that I had a 2 percent chance of winning.
The flop came down: 6, 10, 7. I’ve got a much
better chance. All I need is a 9.
Come on, baby, papa needs to pay rent.
The next card is a 5. The odds are building in my
favor. The rest of the night depends on the last
card being a 9.
Then the poker gods again smiled on me. The river
was a 9 of hearts, and I won a substantial pot
with a jack-high straight.
Not even half an hour after bluffing my way into
that big pot, another huge pot ushered my demise.
I was one-on-one with the chip leader. I had an
ace, 6 -- not a great hand, but the community
cards gave me a potential straight. All I needed
was a queen.
My opponent kept raising the stakes because he
either 1) had something good or 2) had nothing and
was trying to buy the pot.
I kept calling his bets because I was either 1)
hoping for the straight, 2) thinking that he was
trying to buy the pot or 3) an idiot.
Was he bluffing? Was that gleam in his eye telling
me he would beat me no matter what? Did he see my
cards? Did I have some involuntary tell, maybe a
twitch or something that betrayed my hand?
I didn’t know.
We both went all in. All night, he never went all
in unless he knew he’d win. I’m had. The river
card wasn’t a queen, and he proved he wasn’t
bluffing.
He laid down pocket jacks and beat me easily.
I got hustled, plain and simple. I’m out of chips
and done for the night.
So what did I learn from my experience?
Always wear sunglasses while you play, no matter
how dark the room is, no matter how bad your
eyesight, because nobody can tell if you’re
looking at your cards, half-asleep or staring
right through their souls.
Know when to fold.
Don’t drink too much.
This game is really fun.
I’ll be back next week. With a little better luck,
I hope.
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