No! Not the seven!

Now this is what I call a bad beat! This is in the lucky dollar at PR:


NO_LIMIT TEXAS_HOLDEM $1+$0 (Real Money), #504,076,008
Lucky Dollar Multi Table Tournament, 24 Jun 2007 7:16 PM ET
Seat 8: Dr Zen ($1,410 in chips)
ANTES/BLINDS
Dr Zen posts blind ($15), totoze posts blind ($30).

PRE-FLOP
Proschaden folds, Gindujun folds, bambosr folds, DanCAP3 folds, kariba1 folds, gaafar58 folds, schimpo folds, shera-76 calls $30, Dr Zen calls $15

I complete with JJ. I could raise here but I figure that with the right flop, I'll make more money with a disguised hand.

totoze checks.

FLOP [board cards 7D,7C,7H ]

Now that's the right flop!

Dr Zen bets $60, totoze calls $60, shera-76 calls $60.

I am obviously ahead here. There's no way the tards limped with anything better than jacks, and I'd put my stack on their not having a seven.

TURN [board cards 7D,7C,7H,2C ]
Dr Zen bets $200, totoze calls $200, shera-76 folds.

So neither one paired their high card. The caller either has a big face card that he hopes beats whatever I have, or more likely, a small pair, which he hopes beats the bluff.

But neither is at anything like smart thinking.

In the first case, let's say the guy has an ace. He has three outs to a pair but cannot beat any pair in my hand unless he does pair. On the flop, okay, you could believe I was bluffing, but on the turn, the bigger bet makes it a lot less likely.

In the second case, you are relying on my bluffing. But when I bet the flop, the pot was very small, and no one ever folds with trips on the board. Everyone peels for a small bet because they don't credit the bettor and they know they can draw to their six outs and maybe get lucky. But again, on the turn, the bet says, no, I do have it. So you are gambling that your pair is better than mine. And the key is, I'm betting mine. I could just check it and call any bet you make. I could get a cheap showdown with a weak pair.

Anyway, this is looking like a nice pot, which I'm sure I'm winning.

RIVER [board cards 7D,7C,7H,2C,7S ]

OMFG.

Dr Zen checks, totoze checks.

SHOWDOWN
Dr Zen shows [ JD,JS ]
totoze shows [ 9H,KC ]

OMFG.

This guy just called 200 chips on the turn with king high. He had four outs to beat any pair, and three to beat ace high, if I had that.

totoze wins $670.

You get this a lot in the lucky dollar of course. I doubled up a bit later in a hand where I raised it to 5BB after a couple of limpers with AKs, a guy pushed, and I called. He had KQ. Unbelievable. Then the very next hand, a guy with 4500 chips pushed. At 100-chip blinds! The big blind covers him -- the only guy at the table who does -- and calls. The pusher turns over KQ.

The guy has risked his whole stack for 150 chips with king high. Still, dollar tourneys are not the preserve of good players, and this is how players try to win. They play the huge gamble and try to get a big chip stack. Problem is, if they get one, they piss it away, because as clueless as they are with a normal stack, they're doubly so with a big one.