Slim Wins

These hands occurred during the WSOP Circuit Pot Limit Holdem Event in New Orleans.

"Slim" came into the seat on my immediate left. And, he stayed there through the final table. "Slim" came over to my table after several players were knocked out in a single hand. Including the infamous "Monkey". I played three significant hands with him.

For the first hand, I do not remember the exact positions we were in. I remember that the blinds were on the other side of the table and that we were closer to the button than the big blind. Action folded around to me, and I looked down to find A K suited. I made a standard pre-flop raise. "Slim" hesitated for a very long time. And, I do mean a very long time. People were getting up off the table to walk around. He finally raised the pot - essentially going all in. For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this hand. But, I put him on either an Ace, or, a medium pair. So, I calculated the numbers, and I felt like I should call. I raised to put him the rest of the way in. He turned up a pair of sixes. Great. A race. I had plenty of chips, so it was not devasting. I just do not like races. The hand played out, and "Slim" won.

For the second hand, I was in mid to early poistion. I looked down to find a pair of kings. And, I made a standard pre-flop raise. "Slim" looked at his cards and made an immedite call. The rest of the players folded. The quick call got my attention. This was a different behavior for "Slim". He practically beat me into the pot. The flop came 7 - 5 - 5 with two diamonds. I led out with a 50% to 60% pot bet. "Slim" immediately went all-in (or as much as he could). Now, I am freaking out. You see, I had just lost the two previous hands; along with about 40% of my chips.

The first hand I lost: I had a pair of Jacks when the big blind woke up with a pair of Kings. I lost 20K+ chips in that hand to double up a short stack. For the second hand I lost: I had a pair of Tens, and the player to my immediate right raised and I called his pre-flop raise. When the flop came J - J - blank, the player checked. I thought that seemed odd, so I checked as well. The turn was an Ace, and I decided not to continue the hand and folded. The player turned up A J for a full house.

So, here I am with my third pair in a row, facing an all-in bet. My little voice kept saying "Aces". I had that same feeling I had with the A K suited. I took a keep breath; trying to settle down and think this thing through. I figured I needed to be worried about a flush draw, full house, trips, aces, or a smaller pair. It was hard for me to imagine a quick call with a single seven, or even a pair of sevens. So, I ruled out trips. A pair of fives (for the full house) also crossed my mind. But, I figured fives or sevens were about the same. The quick call and all-in also made me question the diamond draw. But, I was thinking that if he really wanted to steal the hand, that is the kind of hand he would have played: suited ace. He knew I had called his raise with A K suited from a previous hand. So, he might have been confident that I was going to call. At least, I thougth so. I kept coming back to aces, so after a very very long time, I folded my Kings. The table was shocked that I folded the Kings. "Slim" did not show his cards. But, when asked, he said he had a pair of Queens. If he had Queens, then, I made a bad move. Do you think I made a bad fold?

For the third and final hand I played with "Slim", I had pocket Eights under the gun. I made a standard pre-flop raise. Slim immeidately went all it. I had decided that he bluffed my on the previous hand, so I went all-in as well. "Slim" turned up A J off-suit. Great. Yet another race. The hand played out, and I lost.

So, out of the three significant hands we played, I lost all three. I guess it was only fitting that "Slim" put me out of the tournament on that third hand.

And, therefore, "Slim" wins! :-)