The Trip Full of Beats – A tale from AK’s Poker Adventures
recently traveled to Tunica, MS with some buddies of mine to partake in some poker action at a small Tournament Circuit event that was being held at the Gold Strike Casino. I decided to play mostly NL cash games at the Gold Strike and Binion’s Horshoe, two adjacent casinos in the heart of the corn town known as Tunica. The trip started off fabulous with me hitting a 2-outer to beat my competitor’s QQ in a $2-5 NL game. I went bed that night up $1000 and was off to what I thought would be a multi thousand dollar trip. But then the rains came….
After playing in some $20-40 games and losing $600, my profit was down to only $400 for the trip. I did not play poorly in the $20-40, but I must admit, I could have picked a better game in which to play. The game was a short handed game and was being played at 4 in the morning and in hindsight (which for me happens to be 20/20), I could have selected a better game or just not played at all that morning.
Be that as it may, I was ready to get back into the trenches the next day and selected a $2-5 NL cash game at the Strike that I felt I could beat. There was a lot of what I considered to be Dead Money around me and I was ready to run my profits above and beyond the $1000 that I had made the first night. That’s when my nightmare began.
First big hand I play is KK and I make it $30 to go from middle position. I get called by two people and the flop comes 8-T-4 rainbow, a seemingly great flop for KK. The first guy to act bets the remainder of his $90 stack into me and I quickly make it $275 to protect my hand. The button raises my $275 an additional $400 and the massacre was on. I folded the hand and my opponent showed me a set of eights. No big deal—a $300 loss on one hand but I could recover–a minor setback in my quest to “beat” the trip.
Next day at the shoe I am in a 2-5 NL game and there is one fish who had more than $1000 in front of him, and he was obviously the guy in the game I was trying to target. I pick up JJ in early position and made it $30 to go. The fish in the SB this hand makes it $60, and I call hoping to hit a J on the flop. Well, the flop comes out ten high and 3 spades on the board. This fish bets $100 at me, and I make it $200 trying to force him to define his hand or take down the pot. The fish ponders for a minute, then just calls the raise making me feel that a) perhaps I have the best hand right here b) a good size bet on the turn can take down the pot here.
Sure enough, the turn comes a brink and the fish check to me. I fire out $350 to the pot and a look of anguish comes on the fish’s face. He sits there for a few minutes but then finally makes the call. I only have $400 more behind me at this point and decide that if it gets checked to me, I’m going to check right behind. The river is another brick. The fish checks then I check and he flips over AA. I was correct in assuming he had no spade in his hand, and I think I played the hand pretty well, but it was just not meant to be. I think the alternative way to play the hand would have been to fold after he bet $100 on the flop and pick a better spot to go to battle. Even the fish wake up to good hands and at that point you just have to give them credit and move on.
The next day was more of the same. I was in an OK $2-5 NL game and woke up to AQ of clubs on the button. 4 players had cold called in front me so I make it $30 to go and get called in 4 spots. The flop comes all clubs with a Jack being the highest card on the board, and I’m thinking I have a lock on this hand. The first person to act goes all-in for $250, and jackpot bells are going off in my head. The next two players fold and I of course call. I show my nut flush and my opponent flips over a pocket pair of jacks. The turn and river comes TT and I take yet another bad beat on the trip as my flush lost to a full house. What a bummer.
I had initially decided to play all cash games while I was in Tunica, but since things were not going as planned, I decided to jump into a $200 freeze-out NL tourney. I drew a pretty good table as there were one or two fish at the table who I knew I could use to get some chips. The first big hand I play I get JJ in early position and raise 3x the big blind. I get called in two places and the flop comes favorable for my two jacks, 9-9-6. I bet out 2/3 of the pot and some young redneck who was guzzling Budweiser’s goes all-in. I was pretty sure he did not have a 9 and I thought if he had a higher pocket pair he would have raised me pre-flop, so I decided to call his all in bet. He turns over 88 so I win this hand 90% of the time. Then the turn comes and it’s yet another grenade-He hits f^&((*& trips with an eight on the turn leaving me with only 300 chips.
After taking a short time out to curse the poker gods, I regained my composure and proceeded to battle my way back into the tournament. I won a few small and medium size pots to get my stack back up to 1800 and was feeling better about my chances. During one hand, the Bud drinking redneck makes a 3x BB raise in early position, and it gets folded to me in the BB. I look down and wake up to JJ again!! I confidently say all-in and the dude makes the statement “I’m getting’ bored—I call,” and flips over an A7 of spades. Of course you know how this hand ends. King high on the flop, two spades by the turn, and one Ace on the river gives the kid a winner against my premium pair of jacks. I played the cards right but it was just not meant to be.
In the words of Phil Gordon, all you can do is get your money in the pot when you have the best of it, and that’s what I did. The next day, I asked my traveling partner, Chris, if I could borrow his laptop to play online since I was not having any live action success. Neither one of us was having much success, and he suggested we get the heck out of Dodge and come back to fight another day. It was the best suggestion I’d heard all week. Chris and I left Tunica, but with the right attitude and effort towards the game, we’ll always be back to fight another day…….
