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Aces Cracked

It’s a poker truism: with pocket Aces, you’ll either win a small pot or lose a large one. Here’s an example where I slow-play the darned things and get burned.

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PokerStars Game #3111139271: Tournament #15385002, Hold'em No Limit
Level III (25/50) - 2005/11/20 - 16:41:04 (ET)
Table '15385002 2' Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: JoseRijo27 (1360 in chips)
Seat 2: JoePa2 (815 in chips)
Seat 3: CaCouter (3495 in chips)
Seat 4: BoIpsen (1000 in chips)
Seat 5: sem959 (2455 in chips)
Seat 7: RideAK (1590 in chips)
Seat 8: Seicor (4145 in chips)
sem959: posts small blind 25
RideAK: posts big blind 50

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to JoseRijo27 [A♦ A♥]

Seicor: folds
JoseRijo27: calls 50
JoePa2: folds
CaCouter: folds
BoIpsen: folds
sem959: calls 25
RideAK: checks

It’s too early in the tournament to be satisfied with just the blinds. So I’m hoping to get some callers. Only the blinds enter my trap.

*** FLOP *** [Q♣ 9♦ 5♦]
sem959: checks
RideAK: checks
JoseRijo27: bets 100
sem959: calls 100
RideAK: folds

Neither of these guys bets. So again, I throw down the maximum amount I think they’ll pay to see a card.

*** TURN *** [Q♣ 9♦ 5♦] [9♥]
sem959: bets 100
JoseRijo27: raises 200 to 300
sem959: calls 200

Uh-oh. He can’t have a nine, right? He only bet $100.

*** RIVER *** [Q♣ 9♦ 5♦ 9♥] [8♣]
sem959: bets 200
JoseRijo27: raises 600 to 800
sem959: calls 600

*** SHOW DOWN ***
JoseRijo27: shows [A♦ A♥] (two pair, Aces and Nines)
sem959: shows [6♦ 9♠] (three of a kind, Nines)
sem959 collected 2550 from pot

That’s right. Three nines. Two hands later, I’m out of the tournament.

In hindsight, I got greedy and should’ve just called on the river. The $100 I could have made raising before the flop now seems like a downright windfall!

Last Updated: Fri, 16 Dec 2005