S
ssbn743
Visionary
Silver Level
So this is that special time of year when the Heartland Poker Tour comes to Colorado and all the idiots decide that they can play poker because they’ve seen it on T.V…Sigh!
We are in a bonus cash tournament during the 2 week qualifying period. The blinds are 1K and 2K with no ante. All stacks involved in this hand have between than 60K and 70K with my stack as the exception; in fact I have the shortest stack with about 55K.
I’m in the big blind and there are three limpers, one from early position, one from middle-ish position, and the third from the cutoff. The small blind suddenly and unexpectedly goes all in; he has me covered by about 5K.
Now this next part is funny so pay attention! This guy has a flat shaped mercury stone for a card protector; basically, it’s a mirror. Up until now it has not been a problem; however, on this hand he moved the stone directly beneath his cards as he looked at his holdings. I very clearly saw A K in the stones’ reflection; the suits were harder to see and I wasn’t able to make them out (not that I was trying – it was a spur of the moment thing) but I was certain he had A K. Now you can bring all kinds of moral objections into this hand if you want to but this guy showed me his cards – what am I supposed to do; tell him?
I have 5 5 from the BB and now have a decision to make. I have three limpers in front and my thinking is that hand ranges Ax to Kx are more likely to be held by these opponents here; hands like K Q and A J are very likely possibilities. 5 5 versus A K is just a hair above 50/50 at best, so do I want to race here? My answer, normally, is no; but if I know I have an edge and at least 1 or 2 of his outs are burned I lean towards taking that edge. So after much deliberation I make the call for my entire stack. Then surprisingly the cutoff seat calls as well and shows 8 8. The eights hold up and both the SB and I are left walking.
Now this 8 8 call could only happen in the HPT qualifying period; like I said – a whole lot of very NOT good poker players show up in droves. But what I am having trouble with is the hand between the SB and myself in the BB. With my stack and situation, remember I saw the guys cards, is it right to race for my tourney life? This says nothing for the fact that some idiot will limp from late position with 8 8 and then call all his chips off into a three way pot either. I could fold here too I guess but I find that hard with the information I had; I don’t know, anyone?
We are in a bonus cash tournament during the 2 week qualifying period. The blinds are 1K and 2K with no ante. All stacks involved in this hand have between than 60K and 70K with my stack as the exception; in fact I have the shortest stack with about 55K.
I’m in the big blind and there are three limpers, one from early position, one from middle-ish position, and the third from the cutoff. The small blind suddenly and unexpectedly goes all in; he has me covered by about 5K.
Now this next part is funny so pay attention! This guy has a flat shaped mercury stone for a card protector; basically, it’s a mirror. Up until now it has not been a problem; however, on this hand he moved the stone directly beneath his cards as he looked at his holdings. I very clearly saw A K in the stones’ reflection; the suits were harder to see and I wasn’t able to make them out (not that I was trying – it was a spur of the moment thing) but I was certain he had A K. Now you can bring all kinds of moral objections into this hand if you want to but this guy showed me his cards – what am I supposed to do; tell him?
I have 5 5 from the BB and now have a decision to make. I have three limpers in front and my thinking is that hand ranges Ax to Kx are more likely to be held by these opponents here; hands like K Q and A J are very likely possibilities. 5 5 versus A K is just a hair above 50/50 at best, so do I want to race here? My answer, normally, is no; but if I know I have an edge and at least 1 or 2 of his outs are burned I lean towards taking that edge. So after much deliberation I make the call for my entire stack. Then surprisingly the cutoff seat calls as well and shows 8 8. The eights hold up and both the SB and I are left walking.
Now this 8 8 call could only happen in the HPT qualifying period; like I said – a whole lot of very NOT good poker players show up in droves. But what I am having trouble with is the hand between the SB and myself in the BB. With my stack and situation, remember I saw the guys cards, is it right to race for my tourney life? This says nothing for the fact that some idiot will limp from late position with 8 8 and then call all his chips off into a three way pot either. I could fold here too I guess but I find that hard with the information I had; I don’t know, anyone?
), I just don't like 55. I think I would rather continue with 25 BB. You are barely behind on a pretty even chip distribution and still have plenty of poker left in you. At $2k BB I would guess it is pretty far along and starting to get close to the bubble?
