One evening last month I walked into BSC to settle in for a night of poker. I get to the 1/2 NL table and, on my third hand, I find pocket Aces. I was the big blind, and the guy to my immediate left had decided to straddle ($4). OK, not bad. One guy calls the $4, then another player makes it $14. I like that.
Folds to me, and I make it $32. Now I didn’t have any reads yet on any of the players, but then, they didn’t have any reads on me, either. The straddler thinks a long time, then folds. The guy who called $4 originally announces “all in!” Be still my heart. The original raiser also thinks for a bit. The shove was about $120, but he’s looking at my stack, which is still pretty much the $200 I had bought in for. He looks me up and down, and finally says, “I’m worried about you.” Nice of him to show concern. And then mucks.
So it’s just the two of us now, me with my pocket rockets, him with…who knows? A limp/shove is an odd move. I suppose he could have had the other two Aces. It’s a weird move to make with Kings. Queens? AK? Remember, the guy had no read on me. Anyway, of course, I insta-call.
The guy flips over his cards. Ace-King it is. OK, I’m happy, and my Aces hold up. I pick up over $130 on my third hand of the night, not bad. The guy doesn’t rebuy and leaves without a word.
Now I suppose the fact that he didn’t rebuy tells me something. But I still have to wonder about his play. First of all, most people are going to raise there with AK. But then, whatever, why the hell do you risk $120 on Ace-King?
Seriously. How is Ace-King worth $120? Especially with two raises in front of you? Not one, but two? I mean, that wouldn’t be a bad fold there, would it? A call at the very most.
I know in a tournament situation, AK plays very different, and is a very good hand to shove with, depending on the situation. But there, in a cash game? If he was shorter stacked, maybe. If he’s got $50-$60 there, sure, take a shot. But that seems like an awful lot of money to put out there without a pair preflop—in the face of two players who obviously like their hands a whole lot.
I don’t get it. I’ve seen it before and I just don’t get it.
I suppose the fact that he left may have had something to do with. Maybe he was about to call it a night anyway, and he just assume gamble with his last $120 as he would take his chips to the cashier. Try to double up.
I dunno. If you’re that cavalier about $120, might as well take the money to the blackjack or the craps table, if you ask me.
But good for me. With the same dealer, right before he was done with his down, I won another good sized pot. As I tipped him again, I said that he does good work, and I would be sure to speak to the manager about him.
Unfortunately, the rest of night wasn’t so good. It was drip, drip, drip, losing back chips. I ended up a winner, but not by much. The night had started promisingly enough and ended on a low note.
I believe there’s a saying for this. Oh yeah…..”that’s poker.”
Is Ace-King Worth $120?
Reviewed by asiana
Published :
Rating : 4.5
Published :
Rating : 4.5
