Learn Texas Holdem

In a "Casino Night" at a local fire house I sat down at a 100+50 no limit game with about 145 people. Top 12 places pay out and after a quick drink to calm the nerves and a look around I start sizing up the competition immediately.

Not only was I younger then anybody in the room, I think the next youngest had 8 to 10 years on me. I walk past table after table and all I hear is "bad beat" this and " I couldn't believe he caught that on the river". It was full of what they would like to call good poker players.

I got down to my usual strategy. Ultra tight. Little to no bluffs through the first 5 or 6 rounds. I try to develop a tight image and never reveal a bluff to the table during the opening rounds of the tournament.

After the first break I am a little above the average stack. And way on par with my 2 or 3 pots an hour goal. After a great run late in the middle stages of the tournament with AA QQ and 1010 back to back to back. I clean up the table I was on and then folded out the rest of the round hoping for the last "late great" to move his chips into the middle so we can move to the final table.

After a quick bathroom break and another drink to get me going again. We sat down. After about 15 hands of blind stealing around the table from the dealers. I find myself on the button and 2nd highest chip stack.

This table was so tight you could breath on the pot and steal it and some were doing it 4 or 5 times in a row and with a look on there face begging for folds around the table. The blinds were 1k and 2k. Big and little post and first under the gun raises and makes it 4 and a half to go. A couple folds go around then to me.

I make it a habit to not look at my cards until its on me to decide. I watch peoples eyes when they see their KK or AK suited and watch there hands jumble when they reach for any amount of chips. (nothing pisses me off more then when the new fish at the table just grabs a stack of chips and splashes the pot then after a 10 second pause to count his chips he announces his raise, it screams. AK aww… this will do.)

Well, I look at my cards and see two top dogs in my hand begging for a reraise. My thoughts at this point were simple. "Aces baby takem' down". And with the tight image this table has shown with like 4 flops out of 20 deals it wouldn't be hard.

I didn't want to re-raise too much and scare them away so I thought about just a call so maybe he can hit a k on the flop and bet into me. Well I took a chance and I reraised. I made it 6k to go. And in turn my little and big to my left were out simultaneously. Then to the big raiser(blind stealer).

After looking at me up and down several times trying to see past the brim of my hat into my eyes. He calls. And we were off. Now here is were my tight image comes into play. The guy has been moved to every table I have been to and knows how tight I was playing. But he was also witness to my switch and saw several bluffs and thought he was catching on quickly.

The flop comes As, 8h, Ac. Oh man quads. And aces at that. This guy is going to go down hard. I could go two ways check and hope he thinks those aces scare me and try to steal it, or I could bet and beg for a call. I decide im not going to allow him anything free but I do so the right way and beginners take notes.

I bet 2k into a pot of 15K. A value bet on my end with a promise to increase if we see a turn card. But he played it the way I wanted him to and came over the top of me thinking it was a continuation bet when I missed my whole cards on the flop.

He raised me to 4 1/2, so I made him think I was thinking about it for a second, really I was thinking how long do I have to keep these monsters face down so he will call me. I reraise him. I went all in and put my last 8k out there. With two AA on the board there is no way he will make this call. Well he does.

I almost shit myself when I saw his face as I turned over the monster which was quad ACES! Read them and weep. This guy risked 89% of his chips with Jh, 7h. Lets recap. The flop was As, 8h, Ac, (no flush and no straight. Did he think his Jack high card was the best hand. Not when there was three players on the board that were about to push all in and we were going to slide right up to the winnings ladder and really get paid.)

Why would he bet into me like that he really took that 2k bet as a bluff huh? Well I was sitting back enjoying the show as he picks up his things and is all but out of there. The turn comes out. 10h, okay this was a blank in my mind.

Nothing could save him with j7 against quad aces. Then I hear what I think is a moron say from the back of the crowd the developed "all he needs is a 9 of hearts". Yeah right I snapped back because the odds of that happening are ridiculously low. WTF I screamed as the dealer flipped a 9 of hearts and the guy walked back to the table.

He sat down and said "straight flush huh, wow that must hurt" and confidently gathered the chips which sent him straight to the top of the chip lead. I sat there looking at the cards as if I could find a way that makes me win if I just stared long enough.

The nerve of this guy to call my all in bet of 8k with two aces on the board and no straight or flush draws out there. How could he make that call. He was practically going all in with a jack high and he thought he had it. I couldn't believe he called me. And then got runr-runr cards to pull a straight flush over quads.

Things like this only happen to me. I pulled in a very hard earned $1015 and walked away with my head on the floor. I could have made that in 2 hours at a cash game easy. This has to be one of the worst bad beats in history.

/ Anthony