Crazy calls, bets and plays – part one
A certain hand came to mind when I first thought of doing a series of posts based on the above title. I was going to begin by mentioning the year as somewhere in the mid-nineties. However, I also remembered that this particular hand took place on the same night I had a bet on Liverpool to win 5-0, 6-0 and 7-0 against Crystal Palace (Liverpool actually won 9-0). Google said the match took place in 1989. 1989? Wow, must be going senile! Anyway….
Pot Limit Holdem had just started to take off at the China Palace Casino in Birmingham. And of course, as the name of the casino would suggest, the game was mostly made up from Chinese players who made the casino their home. Most were young, but a few of the older generation also tried their hand at this new gambling game. And by gambling, I mean gambling!
As usual, I would sit with 100 quid in what was just a 1-2 game that was often played with a straddle of 5. To my right that night sat Alwyn, the only Chinese player I knew that didn’t gamble. The fact that our styles matched ensured that we had soon become friends. Perhaps for that reason also, we tended to avoid doing battle across the felt. Don’t get me wrong, we wanted to bust each other badly. It’s just that we never seemed to clash very often. And anyway, there was ample value elsewhere. That night was no different. Well, until one crazy call by yours truly….
There was barely ten minutes remaining before Alwyn and I would be discussing how much we had each won. As it was, we must have had close to 3K between us. Anyway, to the game….
On then BB, I get to see a flop with my
-6d. I miss the flop and muck my hand. Next hand, we see a small arise and a call before Alwyn raises the pot . The table smiled – we all knew the raise signaled A-A. Looking at 6-6 on the SB, I try and get lucky and make the call.
The flop showed three small cards but no six in sight. I of course concede defeat and check to what would be certainly be another pot size bet from Alwyn. But when the bet came, I found myself studying the board. All I could see was that the
was the last of the three cards on the flop. This got me thinking….. I had mucked
-6d on the previous hand. So what if the two cards were together? What if the
stayed together during the shuffle? Obviously, the top card would be discarded, but what if just one card had been shuffled between them?
Alwyn in the meantime is waiting for me. He must be wondering what the hell I was doing. I must know he had A-A, so why the tank?
Suddenly, I found myself checking if one of my 6’s was a diamond. It wasn’t, and my crazy thoughts began to gather momentum. At the same, I flash a smile at Alwyn. I don’t recall if I was smiling at him or at the crazy thoughts in my head.
Part of me was telling me not be a f…ing idiot. Another part of me was pushing to make the call. The thoughts came thick and fast. If the
was there, at least there would be no possible flush or straight, but could I get him to part with the rest of his stack? I guess the only way I was going to find out was to make the call. I flash another smile in the direction of Alwyn as I part with what was about 80 notes. This was probably the craziest call I would ever make, but I needed to know if the
of was there.
When the dealer turned the
, the smile that came with it was kept private. This one was just for me and my crazy thoughts.
My check raise on the turn came as a major shock to Alwyn, but it still wasn’t enough to drive him away. My all-in on the river brought disgust from Alwyn, but the call came anyway.
Of course the inquest by Alwyn soon followed. “Didn’t you know I had Aces”, he asked? When I nodded my head in response, he followed that question with another. “Then why did you call when you knew I had Aces?”
I tried to explain my thought process, but Alwyn started spouting back at me in Chinese. I wonder how you say f…ing crazy idiot in Chinese?
Alwyn and I actually become very close good friends over the years. He sadly past away just a few years ago.
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