Had been waiting for this opportunity for hours.
A bad player running over the game was to my right. Her raises were predictable as were her post-flop bets. And she would call off with second pair or worse.
She was, in short, ripe for the taking.
And when she raised pre-flop for the third consecutive time, this time on the button, and I looked down in the big blind to see A-A, I knew I had her — her heater would come to a crushing end.
I made it two bets to go and everyone behind us folded like dominoes. She smiled, almost platonically, and called.
I was already smelling blood.
The dealer burned and turned and the flop hit the table Q-3-3. Not a bad flop, but not a great flop either.
I led out for the max in a spread-limit game. She called.
Once again the dealer burned and turned. And another queen fell. Q-3-3-Q.
There was no immediate cause for alarm so I led out again for the max. But she never hesitated in raising. You know what she’s got, right?
Of course. But there are still two unseen aces.
I call.
There’s no saving ace on the river.
I check and she immediately bets.
“Do you have a queen?” I ask politely.
She thinks for a moment. “Yes,” she says evenly.
I turn my aces up for the world to see and fold.
She turns up K-Q suited to take down the pot.
If you want to know the damage, A-A vs. K-Q suited is an 82 percent favorite to win. After a Q-3-3 flop, the percentages rise to 87 percent.
Obviously no one told this to the woman. But even if they had, she would have called anyway.
Poker is that kind of game.
