Drum roll please.....Here's Jew Boy!

You know what I LOVE about Jew Boy's Post? The first two words!

Please to enjoy:

Josie's right - we came across an interesting hand that went down late in the evening. I was SB and got dealt 34d, with which I stayed in because I was discounted. The Mayor and Dave stayed in as well.

The flop came 456 rainbow. I had bottom pair and an open-ender. It was at least possible, considering the rag flop, that I was already best hand, and I had 10 outs to improve to what was almost certainly best hand. I was first to act. If memory serves me (check me on this, Jo) I bet out one BB which was 400 at the time, to see where I was and maybe to even pick up a small pot.

But the Mayor shoved, which I didn't expect at all. It was about 10 BBs, around 4000 or so, and about three times what was in the pot already. I hadn't made up my mind entirely but I was leaning toward folding, when something ELSE funny happened on the way to the collosseum: Dave shoved as well - and he had more than Hizzoner, about 4500 chips.

Now I went into the tank, but good. Josie accused me of Hollywooding, saying "he's gonna fold, just give him a minute" or something like that. Now I'm not the speediest player at the table; I don't mind taking my time to think about a hand but I don't often Hollywood a fold. I showed my hand to her and she actually retracted her statement. I had a real dillemma on my hands.

I was being asked to call about 4500 chips, over 4/5 of my stack, with bottom pair and a draw. I knew that neither one of them had two high cards that they were protecting; The Mayor would have check-folded two high cards there and since he didn't, Dave had nothing to gain by shoving after him for only 500 more. There was no flush draw on the board so I figured I was up against bigger pairs or pocket overpairs. That meant that I had least 10 outs (two fours, four deuces, and four sevens) and maybe threes as well. I was only drawing thin or dead to three hands - 78, 55, and 66. And now, since the pot was almost 10,000 in chips, I was exactly at pot odds to call a hand in which I was 2:1 against to win.

I've been accused of relying too heavily on math and pot odds to make a decision in tournament play; smart people whose opinions I respect believe that has more of a place in a ring game, but not so much in tournaments. Nonetheless, I couldn't shake the thought that I was getting the right price on a huge pot, and thus do the courageous win renown.

I called.

The Mayor turned over A5. Dave turned over 67. My call was correct, but Dave also had a ton of gin cards, in addition to holding the lead. He had a bigger pair than me, and had eight cards (any three, any eight) to counterfeiting all my outs. So: The Mayor was drawing way thin, and Dave and I were fated to sweat down another one.

After the flop I thought I was 40% to win but apparently I was still 2:1 (rule of four only applies heads-up, Jew Boy you idiot):


Such are the ways of poker that I drew a deuce on the turn and took control of the hand.

Dave needed a three or an eight to win, which he did not catch, and I raked in a biggest pot of the night. Which I promptly lost to Noodles heads-up, but that's another story.

Laying aside the fact that I won, I'd like your opinions on the decision itself. Would you have called or folded were you in my position?

Oh, and Josie wants me to tell you:

Play Smart.

-Jew Boy