(Photo/Assopoker.com)
In poker, it’s sometimes tempting to just give up.
The game drones on. Maybe 85-90 percent of your starting cards are unplayable (unless you’re loose-aggressive, an expert in post-flop play and get really luck). Even then, you miss the flop most of the time.
So they we were in one of the locals joints as the game droned on during a weekend afternoon.
We hadn’t seen much in the way of starting cards. A suited A-Q did deliver the nut flush on the turn. But, conversely, a pair of pocket jacks had been smoked by a flush a few hands earlier.
We had gone to a half-kill, increasing the stakes slightly when we picked up 6-6. It’s a pair, albeit a small one, and was worth a bet before the flop.
Six players saw the flop of 10-10-7. Not exactly “Yahtzee” for our 6-6.
It was quietly checked around, which meant of course nothing. Anyone with a 10 might be sand-bagging. And somebody with a 7 might have been too cautious to bet.
The turn brought a a harmless 4. And with six bets in the pot, we decided to take a calculated risk and fired a big bet into the pot. Several players folded but a stubborn player in the No. 4 seat thought for a moment — and called.
So we went to the river. Of course, we’re thinking “six, six, six” but the left part of the brain reminds us that’s a 22-1 shot.
And there’s a reason long shots don’t come in very often — they’re mathematically unlikely.
Regardless, the dealer burns and turns and it’s … another 10, leaving the board 10-10-7-4-10.
We think for a split second, but we have some money invested in this pot. And we fire out another big bet.
The stubborn player thinks and thinks and think. And we finally conclude why he’s thinking: He paired the 4 on the turn. He doesn’t have pocket fours because he would have turned a full house. He has only a 4 and that gives him 10s full of fours. Meanwhile, we have stumbled into 10s full of sixes.
He thinks a bit more and finally calls. We quickly turn up our hand and the dealer declares 10s full of sixes.
And the stubborn player takes on a decidedly glum look before pitching his hand.
Six small bets, four big bets makes for a fairly decent pot. Someone offers congratulations on the full house.
It’s a narrow win. But it’s a win.
And once again, the game drones on.
