What's He So Upset About?

The player in the #1 seat flops an Ace-high flush; a monster hand. He bets $10. He gets raised $40 by the #4 seat and re-raised $202 all-in by the #8 seat! He hems and haws about calling, finally does, and the #4 seat also calls himself all-in for $120. Seat #8 flips ups her cards, King-Queen clubs. When seat #1 realizes that she flopped a King-high flush, he throws his cards (Ace-Ten clubs) face up on the table and loudly proclaims, "This is MY POT!"

Charming!

Meanwhile, the board pairs on the river and seat #4 casually flips over his cards, revealing a full house (Eights full of Nines) which is now the best possible hand among the three players.

Seat #1, previously a low-key player, slams the table, stands up quickly, knocking over his chair and loudly storms aways exclaiming all kinds of obscenities.

Meanwhile, the lady in seat #8 had already quietly stood up and dismissed herself from the table. As she was walking away, when the young man stormed off, I heard her mutter to herself quietly, "What's he so upset about?"

I knew immediately what she was saying. Our upset friend still won money in that pot because the lady had bet more than the fella who won had... that meant that the angry fella still won about $160. Of course, he had $300 before the hand started, but instead of losing everything, he only lost about 1/2 of his chips. He should be happy!

Mathematically speaking, the fella with the boat was drawing to an inside straight and made it. Okay, so the Ace-high flush got unlucky there, but he really got lucky that he didn't lose all of his chips, or worse, his entire bankroll! No, he had a little cushion, and ended up winning money instead of losing everything. After all, he could have had all of his chips in with the 3rd best hand!

So for this he makes a scene? The lady had a point. Subtle, but quite valid. By the time anyone could digest the moment (all eyes where on the irate man), make sense of her commentary, and formulate a response, she was gone... the phantom lady quietly vanished into the night, gone as quickly as her chip stack.

I was playing at the Venetian poker room. On the surface, it's a very classy joint, quite large, teeming with people. The room is segregated into different classes of players, depending on how large the game is. I was playing in the main room, packed like cattle in coach, while the high-rollers enjoyed their own room, and medium-rollers were also detached from the din of the main room.

Have you ever been to a restaurant that is so large, it requires teams of people with headsets to manage the tables? That's how big this was. Normally, the floor manager can handle the entire room, but here there were as many as six managers working at once, each one tirelessly pacing up and down, scouring for empty seats or chip buy-in/re-buy requests.

The room was so big and there were so many tables, I encountered a new (slightly slimy) breed of poker player; one who constantly changes tables so that they are always playing with new people. Play 10 hands, move, play 10 hands, move, etc. They obviously feel there's an advantage to doing this or they wouldn't do it... usually it's because they play really tight and they don't want people to realize this, or they would get any action. It's obvious when the player across from you hasn't played a hand in 40 hands, but if he has just sat down and not played a hand in 40 hands, well, you don't know that, do you? In the first case, you'd never call a bet/raise from such a person, in the second case, you probably would.

The Venetian provides gourmet food service, right to the table, which itself is pretty impressive. Mandalay Bay does this too, but it's room service; here, it's a bit higher quality and a bit lower price. For $12, you get 2 large crab claws (already open, just use a fork and eat), 4 large shrimp, crackers, sauce, and vegetable sticks. Not bad!

Of course, they allow their own dealers to play there... not cool in my book, and doubly not cool when the dealer sits down and immediately tunes out the table with glasses and headphones. Give me a break, it's low-limit! I pointed out to management that one would expect their employees to "set a good example" but my suggestions fell on deaf ears. They don't care. Keep the cattle moving.

Obviously, I wasn't impressed. But, I was playing nonetheless and at a fairly good table.

Times were lean. Recent setbacks had offset earlier wins and I was now playing not with winnings, but with cash out of pocket. Most of my winnings I had earlier thrown away in satellite tournaments, trying to get into the WSOP main event. The day before I had lost to not one, but two inside-straight draws and that constituted the rest of my winnings. I was now playing with the original money I came out to Vegas with, but I was in high spirits... sooner or later the luck turns around, and if I catch a run of good to balance out the bad, I'd be back over $2K in the black. Such are the swings in no-limit poker...

A brash, flashy, middle-aged man sits down at the table. It's obvious to me he's one of those table movers (he's coming in with more chips than you can buy-in for). He's wearing a gold Rolex and has a smugness about him I found to be repulsive... the kind of man who tries to make it look like he's really a good guy as he's ripping you off. Like a car dealer. Okay, that's not fair, like a slimy car dealer. I've played with his kind before. I've loved his kind before.

I have King-Queen, there are 6 people in the pot, including Mr. Flashy, and the flop comes Queen-Jack-Seven. Everyone checks, I'm last to act, I bet $25 into a $24 pot. I'm trying to see who's got what.

Everyone folds except Mr. Flashy. He calls. Turn comes a Ten, he pretends to make a bet, looks for my reaction, then checks at the last minute (haha), and I bet $100. Now he tries to make a move on me and raises all-in!

I stare him down and replay the hand in my head. Card reading (based on his actions) makes it very, very improbable he has what he says he has (trips or two-pair) and even if he does, mathematics tells me that I have enough redraws (chances to beat trips or two-pair) that I should call the bet, but still, it's a $525 call... that's a lot of money... to me.

I 'legally cheat' by asking him questions about his hand and reading his reactions. I'm having fun, actually, this is what separates the good players from the really good ones, and I enjoy putting on a playful show.

"Can you beat a Queen?" I finally ask him straight-up.
"Oh no, REBUY!" he exclaims.
"Now, you don't have to act!" I tease.

One benefit of being cute and nice at the table is that people generally answer questions from you honestly. Card reading says he's bluffing. Face reading says he's bluffing. One more test to be sure.

I show him that I have a Queen and watch his expression. No change, he thought he was beat when I asked him if he could beat a Queen and now that he knows he's beat, no reaction.

So, he was trying to bluff out the pretty young girl at the table, ay? Gotcha!

"Call"

The table gasps as I only flip over top pair with a King kicker. Yes, I have an open-ended nut straight draw, but it's a relatively weak hand for just one pair, especially with such a scary-looking board, especially to call such a large bet! Too bad they didn't know what I knew!

He flips over his cards. Nine-Ten. More gasps as the table realizes he was just bluffing with bottom pair and that I had just made a sick call. I love this game. I'm a 93% favorite to be up $1200. People say poker is gambling, but if you always find yourself in this situation... you're a big winner.

But not every time. This time the river comes a miracle Eight, giving Mr. Flashy a straight. What a kick in the ovaries! I take it in stride...

"Table change, please," he orders the dealer.

What a classy guy! Jerk.

Undeterred, I dip deeper into the red... it is a good game, after all, and I'm really playing the table now... I have King-Queen clubs and am pretending to be 'on tilt' or temporarily playing badly. Of course, King-Queen suited is a strong hand, and I was lucky to be dealt that immediately after losing. This is a perfect time to make others think you're bluffing with nothing when you have a great hand because most players would go mad after losing such a pot, and with their temper, all of their chips! Teehee. I love this game.

I raise $25 preflop and get two callers. Cool! The fella to my right even tries to slow me down, muttering under his breath, "woah, don't go on tilt!"

"Oh, I'm steaming," I reply, loud enough for the two callers to hear me. Perfect!

The flop comes Jack, Eight, Nine, all clubs giving me a King-high flush!!! The first player actually bets into me $10 and the second player makes it a pot-sized bet for $50 (raising $40). Still playing like I'm pretending, I raise all-in... I don't want someone with just an Ace of clubs to call, so I have to make it expensive enough that they won't be getting proper odds to call.

The first guy calls! The second guy calls! I know before the cards are turned over, so I flip up my cards, collect my purse and start to get up. I've just lost all my poker winnings and also my poker bankroll. I'll be lucky if I can get through valet without bursting into tears. Why oh why didn't I self-park?

As I'm leaving, I hear one of the guys shout, "This is MY POT!" He quickly storms away in a rage. Out of the corner of my eye, over my left shoulder, already away from the table, I notice the board paired on the turn.

"What's he so upset about?" I mutter to myself...