11:33 PM. Thursday night at the Bellagio. On the first hand I play, 4 players are all in so I guess this is a good table to be seated at.
11:41 PM. Minus 20 with pocket 4's.
11:55 PM. Minus 20 with pocket 5's.
12:02 AM. I reraise from blinds and take down some limpers.
12:18 AM. I gamble and it pays off. This time.
I limp with ace jack suited under the gun. Guy raises in middle position to 20. Two callers in front of me. I call.
A different guy to my left, who had limped initially now pushes all in for 46 more.
Original raiser smooth calls. If he reraises I have to fold. But he only calls.
If his hand was a big pair, he probably would have reraised me. I call too.
Now I'm not sure how fast I play on an ace high flop, but I didn't have to worry about that because this time the universe made things real easy for me with an ace, jack, rag flop. There's a flush draw out there too. With plenty of money in the middle, I lead out by pushing all in. I think at this point I have around 275 left to bet.
Preflop raiser is mulling it over. He probably has ace king or ace queen. He's too good to call here. But he also sees how big the pot is. And what if I'm on a straight or flush draw? No one has seen my cards since I've sat down.
I can see him telling the guy next to him how I must have two pair. Then he does the classic cash game move....he turns over his cards. From across the table I get a peak at his ace queen. He wants to see if that scares me or comforts me to see his hand. I choose to ignore him and stare intensely at the pot. You know, get into that head space of how I might feel if I was bluffing.
Incredibly it works. After a minute or two, he calls.
And the truly amazing part? My hand held up! I'm not even being sarcastic. Just respecting the chaos of mathematics.
It could have been the 3rd time today that I got all in with two pair as an over 80% favorite and lost. But I didn't. Somehow, someway the math evened out.
Just like it's supposed to. In the long run.
Meanwhile, how hard is poker?
This would be the only hand of the night that I would win at showdown.
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Then he does the classic cash game move....he turns over his cards.
Your dealer was negligent as this is not allowed anymore at the Bellagio and will result in a warning in a cash game.
Mr Subliminal- What's happening to the Bellagio and cash game poker? First they get rid of having to show your cards when you are all in and now this?
FWIW- I sat with him again over the weekend and he did it multiple times. I didn't complain to the floor because it's such good theater. Especially when someone raises him like 50 bucks and he turns over his cards and acts like he's on high stakes poker. He even got the clocked called on him twice. For me to fully enjoy him making this move, I should probably wear headphones with a laugh track.
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