:: Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swinger's Club ::

:: Sunday, April 17, 2005 ::

and chan has him

*warning: poker terminology ahead*

Eric Seidel cannot win this hand, and yet he doesn't know it. Chan is trying to sucker him in... by taking his time... Oh, look at that look of the defending champ! And now 5th street. A 6 of diamonds, no help. Johnny Chan has a Queen high straight. Will Eric Seidel fall for the bait?

YES! HE'S GOING ALL-IN AND CHAN HAS HIM! Johnny Chan the Master.


So I played some cards tonight.

A friend of a friend decided to host a game at his apartment in the west village to break in his new poker table. His company hired Phil Helmuth to make a guest appearance to give a speech and while there, they hosted a tournament in which the main prize was a full-sized poker table autographed by the bad boy himself. This kid won by default as the organizer of the event knocked out Phil Helmuth, and since he was the only other player left, the organizer conceded the spoils.

The Initial buy-in was $60, which was a bit of a suprise I must admit. I came in thinking it would be somewhere between $20-40; MAYBE $50 at most. My friends and I usually start out with a $20-30 buy-in with multiple buy-ins allowed; blinds $.50/$1. So $60 sounded quite high. But from first getting word about this game yesterday, something told me I should go. That something was right.

Arriving 30 minutes late, I found myself sitting down with a bunch of investment bankers and other financial types. I'm sure the $60 buy-in didn't even begin to dent their wallets, whereas I had to pull aside the one friend I knew and asked if he could cover me should I need to buy-in again.

Already there was one guy who had a commanding stack of chips in front of him: roughly $300 i'd say. He was placing $40 pre-flop bets on almost every hand and I found myself wondering what the fuck I got myself into. Immediately I didn't like the vibes this guy was putting out as he pulled the biggest dick-move of the night. It came on a particular hand where early position bet pre-flop, he raised, and dealer and early position called. Flop comes Q, Q, 9 (rainbow). Everyone checks. Turn comes a low X. Checks all around, again. River comes another 9. Early position checks, and this guy gestures a pointed finger towards the dealer, which to the rest of us was a clear sign he was checking to the dealer. When dealer then checked, he responds "whoa, i didn't check. I was gonna bet". Eyebrows are raised all around the table. Dealer complains that the pointing of his finger to him was interpreted as a check to the dealer. A couple people, who voiced their opinions, backed up dealer's point of view - including me. He makes the really bad argument that his style is such that he will tap the table if he ever checks. For those of you who don't know, this is very improper poker etiquette because by doing what this guy did, it allows him to draw information from the next person to act to determine if they have a weak or strong hand. Anyway, so this guy then proceeds to bet $15 and dealer reluctantly calls with his pocket kings, but moreso out of anger it seems. Early position folds and so this guy turns over the small boat - 9's over Q's. Takes down a monster pot. Everyone sits in silence and can't believe he just did that.

"This is going to be a looong night", I thought. So more of the same for the next 30 minutes: his insanely high pre-flop bets, and everyone's folding. I managed to double up on one hand early on with pocket 7s and catching my set on the flop. That took me up to $120. But my revenge against this guy came when I slow played my wired aces in early position with the entire table calling. Flop comes 9, 5, 4 rainbow. Checks all around until it comes to dick-move guy, who bets $10. Couple calls. Turn comes an Ace, making my set. I check and so does the table until it gets to that guy, he bets $10. I go Hollywood on him and reluctantly call, everyone else folds. River comes something insignificant. I check. He goes all-in and I immediately call. He turns over his 9, giving him top pair on the board. When I flip over my Aces, his face goes white.



I take it down. Total pot = $300. Jeah! Suck it!




Felt good. Felt really good.

Finally, one other hand I got tied up in that's worth mentioning. I had A-5 unsuited (Ace of hearts) in late-position and there was mild pre-flop raise, which 3 other people called. Flops comes all hearts and I pair up my 5 on the board. Early position checks, 2nd to act bets $10, I call, dealer doubles it to $20, then another guy just goes all-in which doesn't even cover the $20, but then the original better (2nd to act) goes all-in on me, making it an additional $118 on top. I deliberate for 5 mintues, knowing i'm beat and surely one of these guys have already made their flush and having flashbacks of the recent expensive calls i've made on a draw (atypical of me), none being as expensive as this. I think outloud during this time, and of course, everyone else at the table is egging me on to call it to give them a nice little show. I am about to throw them away when at the last minute I count my chips up and discover I'd stll be up $40 if i lost this hand. But if i just folded I'd be leaving with a profit of about $170. There's only 20 minutes left to play and I should do the smart thing and fold.

So I call him. No guts no glory, right? Dealer folds and there's just the 3 of us now (one guy was already all in). Sure enough, all-in guy turns over his K-9 hearts, flopping the flush to the King. Early position guy flopped 2 pair, but had no flush draw. All I had was my pair of 5's and that Ace of hearts I was living and dying on. It's eerily quiet all around the table. My heart's pulsating a thousand beats per second, my mouth is dry, and i'm already regretting making the call. Turn comes... a HEART! River does not give early position a boat and I'm all smiles. Take it down. $280 pot.

End of the night is here. I leave with $409, most I've ever won in one sitting. Tip the host for providing us beer and I'm on my way home.

Something told me it was going to be my night.

...