The hand that changed your life................

[TightEnd]

I saw this in a magazine series

Players are asked to describe a hand that changed their life, it could be for the better or worse, it could be a significant change or a minor one

but a memorable hand for you, for whatever reason


thought we would give it a go on here, and see what follows..... 

over to you

[RED-DOG]

[edgascoigne]

I'd never played poker beyond a little bit of 5p-10p in the Sixth Form common room.

I then toddled off to University and played  a handful of £10 sit and gos.

Return home in a holiday from first year at University. Head off to Gala with father for a £10er rebuy, which at the time felt BIG, and crucially was the first time we played poker together. Final tabled it with 8 paid and after the bubble burst I jammed 10bb with Q10hh and got called by 99. Flopped a 10 but he turned a set and that was all she wrote.

I've never known for sure if I made the right play, and I've been seeking closure for the last 10yrs. I bloody love poker and think we often all take for granted what different satisfactions the game gives us.

[Tractor]

About 10 years or so ago, had £80 quid on BET365 and ran it up to 10k+ in a day playing PLO.
Some how got it all in against Luinoid( or similar) set over set and he got there..
Not sure if it actually changed my life but did make me feel sick for a day or two.

[scotty77]

Few years ago, I had £27 in my account.  This was all the money in the world.  Had just started applying for jobs and had a couple of interviews lined up.

Had it all on one table of £30nl.  Got it in as a flip.  Won it.

Within that same night had spun it upto £1k. Used it as a roll for £20nl. Didn't bother applying for jobs anymore.

[neverbluff67]

I tank 5bet all in with  with 15 left in the EPT main event
KK didn't hold
Definite life changer

[TightEnd]

I tank 5bet all in with  with 15 left in the EPT main event
KK didn't hold
Definite life changer

now i remember that one! the archteypal hand for this thread

thanks for the contributions, keep them coming

[The Camel]

WSOP Main event 2008.

About 100 left I have 1.5x average at about 1.3million. Blinds are 5000-10000.

I'm on the most fantastic table ever, they are desperate to give their chips away.

Guy opens in MP for 28k. He's got me covered.

I call in the sb with AK suited.

BB makes it 55k ?!?!? (has me covered also)

MP calls.

I tank call.

Flop is 8 high rainbow.

I check fold.

The other two guys get it in with QQ and JJ.

Turn was a king

I didn't win a significant pot for the rest of the tournament and went out 75th.

The guy who won the pot moved into the top 5 stacks in the tournament and ended 12th or something completely slaughtering his stack.

I decided not to play the AK fast because the tab;le was so damn good, I didn't want to gamble. If it was a harder table I would have been more willing to get them in.

Obviously not sure they would have got them in pre, but feel like at least one of them would. Maybe both.

And If I triple up I would have been main event chip leader with < 100 left.

[Karabiner]

WSOP Main event 2008.

About 100 left I have 1.5x average at about 1.3million. Blinds are 5000-10000.

I'm on the most fantastic table ever, they are desperate to give their chips away.

Guy opens in MP for 28k. He's got me covered.

I call in the sb with AK suited.

BB makes it 55k ?!?!? (has me covered also)

MP calls.

I tank call.

Flop is 8 high rainbow.

I check fold.

The other two guys get it in with QQ and JJ.

Turn was a king

I didn't win a significant pot for the rest of the tournament and went out 75th.

The guy who won the pot moved into the top 5 stacks in the tournament and ended 12th or something completely slaughtering his stack.

I decided not to play the AK fast because the tab;le was so damn good, I didn't want to gamble. If it was a harder table I would have been more willing to get them in.

Obviously not sure they would have got them in pre, but feel like at least one of them would. Maybe both.

And If I triple up I would have been main event chip leader with < 100 left.

That's the trouble with poker - you can play perfect but it's not always enough.

[youthnkzR]

PokerStars Hand #92635404252: Tournament #2013010010, $10+$1 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level LI (600000/1200000) - 2013/01/19 16:47:30 ET
Table '2013010010 341' 9-max Seat #4 is the button
Seat 2: selinantis (12859164 in chips)
Seat 3: 1BigAceHole (29676745 in chips)
Seat 4: katya0071 (7428324 in chips)
Seat 5: GaggleoKings (30147215 in chips)
Seat 6: massiliimo (13479306 in chips)
Seat 7: Kimbalance (19382950 in chips)
Seat 8: tgrigoletti (16318095 in chips)
Seat 9: copernic67 (12320320 in chips)
selinantis: posts the ante 150000
1BigAceHole: posts the ante 150000
katya0071: posts the ante 150000
GaggleoKings: posts the ante 150000
massiliimo: posts the ante 150000
Kimbalance: posts the ante 150000
tgrigoletti: posts the ante 150000
copernic67: posts the ante 150000
GaggleoKings: posts small blind 600000
massiliimo: posts big blind 1200000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Kimbalance: folds
tgrigoletti: folds
copernic67: folds
selinantis: folds
massiliimo said, "i call"
1BigAceHole: raises 1200000 to 2400000
katya0071: folds
GaggleoKings: raises 2455555 to 4855555
massiliimo: folds
1BigAceHole: calls 2455555
*** FLOP *** [ ]
GaggleoKings: bets 2777777
1BigAceHole: calls 2777777
*** TURN *** [ ] []
GaggleoKings: checks
1BigAceHole: bets 6850000
GaggleoKings: raises 15513883 to 22363883 and is all-in
1BigAceHole: folds
Uncalled bet (15513883) returned to GaggleoKings
GaggleoKings collected 31366664 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 31366664 | Rake 0
Board [ ]
Seat 2: selinantis folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: 1BigAceHole folded on the Turn
Seat 4: katya0071 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: GaggleoKings (small blind) collected (31366664)
Seat 6: massiliimo (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: Kimbalance folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: tgrigoletti folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: copernic67 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

PokerStars Hand #108991862918: Tournament #823266939, $2000+$100 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level XXX (8000/16000) - 2013/12/23 22:25:58 WET [2013/12/23 17:25:58 ET]
Table '823266939 107' 9-max Seat #8 is the button
Seat 1: GaggleoKings (458557 in chips)
Seat 3: DEHELLHOUND (343050 in chips)
Seat 4: goleafsgo41 (1439692 in chips)
Seat 5: jobetzu (848061 in chips)
Seat 6: s00tedj0kers (1308703 in chips)
Seat 7: Face333X (566510 in chips)
Seat 8: Dimon_77_rus (703852 in chips)
Seat 9: lasagnaaammm (1116952 in chips)
GaggleoKings: posts the ante 2000
DEHELLHOUND: posts the ante 2000
goleafsgo41: posts the ante 2000
jobetzu: posts the ante 2000
s00tedj0kers: posts the ante 2000
Face333X: posts the ante 2000
Dimon_77_rus: posts the ante 2000
lasagnaaammm: posts the ante 2000
lasagnaaammm: posts small blind 8000
GaggleoKings: posts big blind 16000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to GaggleoKings [ ]
DEHELLHOUND: folds
goleafsgo41: folds
jobetzu: folds
s00tedj0kers: raises 16000 to 32000
Face333X: folds
Dimon_77_rus: folds
lasagnaaammm: calls 24000
GaggleoKings: raises 93559 to 125559
s00tedj0kers: folds
lasagnaaammm: raises 989393 to 1114952 and is all-in
GaggleoKings: calls 330998 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (658395) returned to lasagnaaammm
*** FLOP *** [ ]
*** TURN *** [ ] []
*** RIVER *** [ ] []
*** SHOW DOWN ***
lasagnaaammm: shows [ ] (three of a kind, Sevens)
GaggleoKings: shows [ ] (a pair of Jacks)
lasagnaaammm collected 961114 from pot
GaggleoKings finished the tournament in 31st place and received $10632.90.
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 961114 | Rake 0
Board [ ]
Seat 1: GaggleoKings (big blind) showed [ ] and lost with a pair of Jacks
Seat 3: DEHELLHOUND folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: goleafsgo41 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: jobetzu folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: s00tedj0kers folded before Flop
Seat 7: Face333X folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Dimon_77_rus (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: lasagnaaammm (small blind) showed [ ] and won (961114) with three of a kind, Sevens

I think these two are the hands which have had the biggest impact on my poker life. One good, one bad. The first was huge for my confidence and was with around 20 left in a TCOOP which I went on to win. I was in the same boat as Scotty was at the time; applying for jobs. The second was for 4/30 in a 2k wcoop series event with half a million for the winner. Obviously there is no guarantees I would have got much further but at the time I felt really really robbed of my big shot. 

[MANTIS01]

The right one, age 12.

[RED-DOG]

The right one, age 12.

Late starter eh?

[theprawnidentity]

There's not many hands I remember too well.  Guess a big one for me was 12 left in a special edition Sunday Storm with around 130k runners.

Got it in with   vs   for a fairly substantial chip lead and bricked a   flop.  Busted 12th for $6k with $130k ut, still, not bad for $11.


Looking at this story retrospectively, it didn't really change my life at all.  As you were.

[stato_1]

Two for me:

Sixth Form Common room 2005, playing 5p/5p. Can't remember the whole hand but got to the river and I had J5ss and the board was 789Tx with 3 spades. Bet £5 on the river and got called by 3 people and scooped the ~£30 pot with the whole common room watching. Hooked!

Other one I got in half my net worth vs Alan Stearn and someone else I cant remember with 66 vs 88 vs 45 on 2863 board, river pairs the 6 and Alan, having seen the other guys straight rolls his cards over exclaiming "NUTS"... not quite Alan!

[zerofive]

After spending most of the year of 2014 knocking it in with set vs something better than my set, and moving down stakes all the way back to £1/1, I jumped in a small cash game at Dusk and proceeded to fold every hand for 2 or 3 hours. Eventually I found something playable in the form of 77 and took it to a flop of 7 6 4, where I cbet and was min-raised by an older gentleman. In my head - I'll be honest - I knew what was going on, but I said to myself "if I lose another hand with a flopped set, I'm quitting poker for the forseeable future and getting a job." We got it in on the turn and the board failed to pair. There was a feeling of complete despair, but also a feeling of relief. I certainly don't love my life anymore, but it's definitely changed.