POKER INFO

It was my first visit to Las Vegas when I still thought poker was easy and that rebuys were for losers.  I had built my bankroll up from $10 by playing premium hands and busting players and friends without that kind of patience.

After earning my first $1000, I traveled to Vegas with a friend that I considered a solid winning player.  He had been getting his aces and kings cracked all weekend; I had been winning with them (I was so spoiled in the beginning… I know better now).  It was there, playing at the $1/$2 at the Mandalay Bay when I witnessed a hand that changed everything for me.

I had been watching a young player for hours; he was very disciplined and hadn’t played a hand at all.  He folded hand after hand.  He had about $600 in his stack, which he presumably got in a hand or two before I arrived at the table.  Suddenly he opened for $25 UTG.  I already had grown accustom to the $10 and $12 opener (which still seems absurd), but why would anyone possibly call with anything other than the other 2 aces?  Then I watched him get called by 3 people that didn’t seem like idiots.  On the flop he bet $100 and got one caller.  On the turn he bet $200, and his opponent pushed him all in.  He called and showed AA; no surprise there.  But what surprised me was the 8-5 she tabled for two pair and felted the guy for $600.

As I watched her stack her chips, I remember thinking: “What a donkey! I cannot wait to play a hand with her.  Who calls a $25 raise with 8-5?”  Shortly thereafter, I had the chance to speak with her away from the table, and I asked why she would call $25 with a couple of napkins.  She explained it so concisely, “With that raise, I know exactly what he has, his cards may as well be face up, and I know what I have to beat.  I am 8 to 1 to crack his AA, but if I still have better than 1 pair on the turn, it is all going in.”  That donkey got paid better than 20 to 1.  That was the day I realized that I want to be the one cracking the aces, not the other way around.

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