As mentioned in a previous post, I’m now practicing online multi-table tournaments in order to improve my rate of cashes. Friday night I had trouble sleeping, and around 6am Saturday morning I was sick of trying. I tried watching a little television, but the programming was God-awful at that hour. Anyone that knows me well knows that if I’m holding any sort of bankroll online, it’s inevitable that I’m going to play poker given even the slightest of excuses. So I signed up for an $11 tourney and got to business.
There were 60 entrants, so I expected the tournament would progress rather quickly. How wrong I was. I ended up lasting 3.5 hours before I busted out. I’m sure there were some interesting hands in there, but I don’t remember any of them except the last two …
Let me set the scene. I’m at the final table, already in the money, and we’re down to the last 7 players. I’m second in chips with roughly 26,000, down by only a few thousand, and there is one player with almost as many chips as me. I’m on the button and I pick up Queen-Jack of hearts. The player under-the-gun moves all in for his last 7,000. It’s folded to the cutoff seat (the guy with almost as many chips as me) who just calls. Normally Queen-Jack wouldn’t be strong enough for me to overcall in this situation, especially with the two blinds acting after me. But those players have been playing timidly, and aren’t likely to re-raise an all-in player after two calls. Also I figure the two of us have a better chance of taking out the guy if we team up on him.
Besides … they were suited. :-P
Anyway, the blinds fold. The flop could not be any more beautiful. 8h-9d-10c. I have flopped the nut straight, and there is no flush draw. At this point in the action, my hand is unbeatable. Unless the other guy has flopped a set, which is possible but unlikely, any hand he is holding will need runner-runner to beat mine. I expect the two of us to check it down to the river, take out the short-stack, and play on. That’s the most widely advocated tournament strategy.
My opponent surprises me by moving all-in. I cannot believe my good fortune. I’m about to double up because this idiot has gotten greedy and spat in the face of general wisdom regarding tournament play. What could he be holding? Pocket aces? Top pair? It hardly matters; I’m calling anyway. It’s time for me to take a commanding chip lead at the table, knock out two players at once, and probably coast to first place and a nice $217 first prize – a 1,872% return on my $11 investment. Damn, I’m feeling good.
He turns over Ace-9 of diamonds. Second pair with an overcard.
Got him.
The conclusion to this story is the stuff of nightmares. I wouldn’t wish this kind of beat on my worst enemies. Well, maybe my very worst of enemies. It hit me so hard in the gut I literally felt like throwing up. I screamed “NOOOOO!!!” and woke up my girlfriend from her late-morning snoozing. Along with about 2/3 of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
I was heated.
I couldn’t believe it.
I felt like I’d been cheated.
But alas, I was defeated.
And in the end, I just had to eat it.
The turn was a diamond, giving the player a flush draw and a few rays of hope. My eyes bulged and my throat tightened … I knew what the river would be before it even fell.
The last card was a fifth diamond, and I damn near threw my laptop. The guy had made an egregious error in judgment and it had paid off for him handsomely. He made the wrong move at the right time, and I was the one left bandaging my knuckles after slamming them into the wall.
The next hand I picked up Queen-6 offsuit, and I just pushed it all in, hoping to steal the blinds and get back into it. I got called by the button, who turned over Queen-Jack of spades. How fitting, for me to be dominated by the very hand I had just had beaten. I lost the hand, turned off my computer, and fumed.
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Got a bad beat story that tops this one? Leave me a comment that tells all about it. It would be therapeutic for me to know that I’m not the only one getting the crap bad beat out of him.
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4 comments:
wasup jamin, this is dave upde (from sproul, the mout) i got a pretty bad story as well, two in fact, i was at chumash playing the 60 dollar tourney, 2k for first, nice size tourney and i was a pretty large stack with some other good size stacks at my table, when i get 44 in mid position and i limp, when the button min raises and the BB calls, as do i. flop was 5 7 9 all off, so i thought i was beating the raiser. The BB checks, i bet 800 chips (the pot) and the button reraised all in for 4000, the BB folds, and i think forever, and end up making the call thinking he had AK or something similar. he sheepishly turns over kj , and hit a 9 on the turn and a 7 on the river to give him a higher kicker on two pair. Pretty bad beat, but even worse that i made a great call when i had a touch choice and then got screwed because of it.
The worst beat ever happened in a 20 dollar online SNG last week, when i looked a jacks, flopped j33 and got put all in, as he turned over AJ, and hit running 3's to have 4 of a kind with an ace, as i only had a jack kicker. Pretty stupid. peace
yikes man ... those are both pretty rough. people overplay overcards all the time these days ... it SHOULD pay off more than it seems to. good luck out there, keep doin' what ur doin'.
How's this for a bad beat. I was playing No Limit Holdem online. I had bought in for $25 and built it up to $70. I limp with king-10 offsuit. Flop comes Q-J-9. Rainbow. Perfect. UTG bets a little more than half the pot. I elect to slow play. Hoping to snare one other person in the hand. Turn is a another queen. UTG now bets 1/4 pot. I reraise all in with my straight. The guy behind me goes all in and so does UTG. They both turn over trip queens with a king kicker. Got em. 200 dollar pot coming my way. They can't hit a 2 outter to screw me. Well guess what? I was wrong and they got to split my $70.
As J pointed out, they had a lot more then 2 outs. But I wasn't thinking about that all the time. Just thinking about my $200 going to other people.
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