p.453 - Playing Big Pairs

p.453 - Playing Big Pairs


What can I say... Happy 4th of July?

My tournament ambitions crushed, I took to enjoying the remaining of my 4th of July long weekend getting up-to-date with various matters of self import -- chief among them, ensuring SuperGirl's bikini was schematically within 4th of July acceptable standards and colors.

What is SuperGirl doing with SuperSystem? So pleased you asked:

In our weekly no-limit Thursday night poker game between my wife, our friends J & A (married) and me, there was tilt-induced episode over a hand which busted him early.

I had 5-6 of clubs. He had 10-4 suited in hearts, I can't even remember for sure what he had, but I do remember the 4. We each have about $2000 in chips.

He's UTG, and limps in. The ladies fold and in the big blind, I check.
Flop came 2c-4d-9c. I bet $100 to try to end things immediately (given the junk on the flop and my likeliness of holding junk given my position).

Wisely, he raises $300.

I figure there's absolutely no way he's got anything more than a pair since with anything bigger, he'd hammer me on the turn, per his style of play. If he's got a draw, he'll fold to a big raise.

So, I push all-in thinking that he'd fold his middle pocket pair, or his 9x, or even his draw, unless he had a great one. He calls.

Turn comes rag, river a CLUB (I win) and he turns into Phil Helmuth incarnate.
Freaking-out, he berates me for being so lucky, then calls me foolish for going all-in on my draw.
I explain that ultimately I have a full compliment of clubs to hit, an inside 3 for a straight, or any 5 or 6. That's 19 outs to double-up my stack. He felt he had me beat with his 4 -- I guess not thinking that I could possibly improve and was outraged that I'd make such a move.

Even if he puts me on overcards, he has to assume I could hit those too. But he can't get past getting rivered. That's 65% probability after the flop and definitely worth the move in my educated calculation. In looking at it now, it's probably the only move I could have made in my situation. I'd not do it differently, other than to save him from embarrassing him.

SuperGirl urges me to shut-up and to not bring up unsubstantiated claims of outs, percentages, pot-odds, etc. I tell her to look it up herself whenever she wants to prove that I'm not talking shit or trying to exacerbate J's self loathing.

So, despite the deliberate appearance of the picture you see above, it's in fact a genuine shot of SuperGirl.

You see, while waiting for me to find new bathing trunks from our storage bins, and also get over the fact that I'm no longer a size 34, SuperGirl, in her Super Elemental need to set things right, took it upon herself to check with Sir Doyle himself on how well J and me played our respective hands.

It's only because I was right that this picture was allowed to see light of Blog.