Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. … So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. … Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.
He wasn’t really Goliath. Goliath was actually 9 feet tall, according to the Book of Samuel.
This guy was average height. Like me. With graying hair. Unlike me. And sunglasses. Unlike me.
But he was a familiar face and a familiar foe. He liked to give advice to other players. I heard him once advise a regular that he should have bet more on the turn when holding pocket aces.
You know the type: A know-it-all Philistine.
And I was ready to take him down.
Didn’t need a sling, just needed the right hand. At the right time. In the right place.
So I peek down and look at Ah-Js from early position. Not a great hand, but an okay hand.
I make it a whopping 12 bucks to go. Only Goliath calls.
A familiar dealer is in the box and flipping the cards. He burns and puts out a flop of Jh, 8h and 4h. Not a bad flop: Two pair, top kicker and a flush draw. A flush draw to the nuts, in fact.
I lead out for $10 and Goliath quickly calls.
The dealer burns another card and fourth street is a beauty — the king of hearts.
We have just made the nut flush and, for now, the nuts, an unbeatable hand.
And Goliath is still sticking around, looking interested. In fact, he’s got chips in his hand. So we decide to check.
Goliath makes a measly $10 bet. Can we extract some value here?
We decide to check-raise to $25. Goliath quickly calls.
He must have the heart queen and an ace. Or possibly two pair. Or possibly three-of-a-kind. Those are the only reasonable holdings he could have.
One more card to come now. We really need a blank. We don’t need the board to pair with another king, jack, 8 or 4. That makes full houses and even quads possible.
That would be trouble on the battle front. We need a blank. We really need a blank.
The dealer burns and turns. It’s … the seven of clubs. Yay. And whew.
The board is complete and we have the stone-cold nuts. Now, how to extract value from Goliath, who is still interested and has not gone away.
I count out some chips. Put them back. Count them out again.
Goliath is watching. He is also listening to music on his AirPods and rocking gently.
I finally cut out a $50 bet. Then add a red $5 chip. For value. And slide it out in the center.
Goliath looks at the bet and thinks. And thinks. And thinks. I wonder what he’s listening to on his AirPods.
He looks at his stack of chips. I’m rooting hard for a call. Call, call, call, drop your chips.
Goliath looks at the dealer and speaks. “How much is the bet?”
The dealer cuts out the chips. “It’s fifty-five bucks.”
Goliath thinks and thinks some more. I think I’ve sized the bet correctly. We just need him to call. Call, call, call, drop your chips.
He thinks some more. He has the chips in his hand. And … he pushes them out.
A few players at the table are watching intently. Others are bored. I’ve been called, and I have to show my hand.
I briefly think about slow-rolling Goliath. Flipping over the jack first, then the ace of hearts. But that’s very poor form.
No, as much as I dislike the sunglasses-wearing, AirPods bopping Philistine, I quickly turn both of my cards face up. The dealer pushes them near the community cards in the center and doesn’t say anything. There’s no need. Goliath can read the board. He puts his cards face down in the muck..
The dealer pushes me the the pot, not a huge pot, but nearly a couple stacks of redbirds.
I could walk over and put his sword in him and finish the job. But hey, there’s no need for violence in the poker room at Red Rock Resort.
But behind my cloth mask, I do smile a little.
