Final League Tournament and some SICK Cash Game Action

So last night was the final tournament of our league. The tournament for me was inconsequential. I played good at first, and sucked ass at the end. Actually, pretty much a reversal of the way I usually play. I was making good moves and reads early on, and chasing way too much when the blinds were high. I paid a severe price, and ended up getting busted somewhere right in the middle of the pack. So $500 not in my pocket for Tunica in a couple of weeks. That sucked.

Then I played in the cash game that popped up. So sick. It was just a $0.50 / $1.00 cash game at first. All NLHE. When the tourney wrapped up, we moved to the main table at The Shadow's Poker Pit - sweet table and sweet environment to play. We switched the game up to playing dealer's choice. And when we say dealer's choice, it really morphed into dealer's choice of ANYTHING that even remotely resembled poker. And we all got hooked on a game called 52. This is the sickest game ever. It has nothing to do with skill at all - purely a luck game. Pure gamble, and could be very expensive.

For those who don't know what this is, everyone at the table has to ante. Then everyone is dealt 5 cards. You look at your cards, and you have to decide right then if you are in or out (going around the table declaring one way or the other, with the dealer declaring last). You declare by throwing another ante into the pot. Those who stayed in get dealt two more cards. If two or more players stayed in, the winner takes the pot in the middle, and the loser(s) have to match whatever was in the pot and put it into the pot for the next hand. Then everyone antes again, and you start all over again. So if only two people stayed in, then the pot only grows by the amount of the antes. If three or more people stayed in, then you have two or more people matching the pot. The first hand usually has about 4 people in it, so you are looking the pot growing several times the initial pot for the second hand. As you can see, this can get big quick. The way the game ends is if only one person stays in. When that happens, they get their 2 additional cards, and then a ghost hand is dealt in the middle of the table. The player left must beat this ghost hand, and if they do they take the pot. If they do not, then they must match the pot.

The first few times we played this, the pot never got ridiculous. I think we had one $100+ pot the first dozen times we played it. But the last game was a classic.

The initial ante was $1.50 each, and we had 5 players in the pot. After that, each additional ante was $1.00 each. It starts off a little slow, with the pot never getting too big, and usually only one person calling. But at some point, it got ridiculous. I think what happened is we actually had 3 players in the pot when it was up to about $46. So after that hand was over, it was almost $100. Then the craziness ensues. Runner Runner Ricky lost his nickname, as luck was not on his side tonight. He faced off against the ghost hand and lost, and was stuck almost $100. So now the pot was almost $200. Then Robert held 2 pair against the ghost hand - and lost on the river. He was stuck $200 in the game now. So the pot is a sick amount of over $400. So Ricky gets two pair again, and tries to take down the massive pot. Now, please remember that it is after 4:00AM (we had been playing this cash game for quite some time). We had been playing this particular game for awhile, as once the pot got this big most of us were folding and re-anteing to see another hand. So Ricky is feeling pretty good about his hand. I will never forget this. The ghost is dealt:

K-K-K

Now Ricky had a K in his hand. The case Kings are dealt as the first 3 cards to the ghost hand. Ricky is now stuck another $400. By the time this was finalized, the pot was well over $800. Robert takes it down with a high two pair, and we (except Ricky) sigh a huge breath of relief. One crazy hand, and that pot could have easily topped $1700. I think going forward we will call for the pot to be capped, as it is really insane to think that a few hands not going your way could lead to you losing a mortgage payment in a game where skill is next to non-existent. Considering the stakes we were playing for, the end of the night was intense. It was fun, but a stressful fun. I actually had a chance to take down the $800 pot when I was dealt AAKQT, but I had pretty much made up my mind that unless I was dealt a straight, I was not even considering making that call. Then again I would have won and pretty much had my Tunica trip paid for in one psychotic hand of 52. Oh well, as Ricky once taunted John before losing his ass "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda". Ricky probably is probably thinking today he "Shoulda" not made a couple of those calls. Oh well. Live and learn.

I guess this is why I try to steer clear of dealer's choice games. While I like variety, I need to be playing skill games and not chance games. Money much better invested that way. For me, it was a live and learn scenario as well.

Steak