Darvin finishes in second

You all have known for days that Darvin Moon made the final two at the World Series of Poker Main Event, and you woke up this morning to the news that he had lost heads-up to 21-year-old Joe Cada. I, however, was clueless, having pledged this year to go into a self-imposed poker-media blackout so I could watch ESPN's coverage of the final table having no idea what the outcome was. I'm glad I did. All those suckouts were even more amazing, considering I didn't know they were coming.

Darvin stuck to his word and didn't take any sponsorship money. He was wearing the usual: Saints hat and Wheeling Island Casino polo. What he did do was play like a maniac. Sometime between when the 10th-place finisher was eliminated and when the November Nine reconvened to play for the title, Darvin decided that, no matter what his cards, he was going to follow that old poker mantra: If your opponent checks, you bet. If your opponent bets, you raise. If your opponent raises, you reraise. Despite the questionable change in strategy, Moon's good fortune carried on. He sucked out on both Ivey and that douchebag Begleiter in big hands. (Obviously, I didn't mind the second one.) But Moon's luck finally ran out when he called a shove by Cada with Q-J suited and couldn't catch an over to Cada's pocket nines.

I don't think Moon came across very well at all in ESPN's final-table telecast. There was that weird bit where, after badly misplaying king-queen, Moon walked over to his wife and fans and flat-out lied about his hand, saying he had pocket queens. (What purpose could it possibly serve to lie to your wife when the hand's likely to be shown on TV three days later? They do have cable where Darvin lives, right?) ESPN microphones also caught Darvin telling Antoine Saout, "It should be me and you," after Cada came from behind in a hand to eliminate Saout in third place. Darvin was likely just being nice, trying to make Saout feel better, but, on TV, it came across as tacky and needlessly dismissive of Cada.

So, anyway, Darvin Moon will not be the first Wheeling Island qualifier to win the most prestigious event in poker. Which means somebody else can take a shot at that honor. Hey, I'll be playing in one or two of Wheeling's Main Event satellites next spring. Why not me?

My one shocking Vegas poker story! First time ever told in print!

In a few weeks I'm going on a poker trip to Vegas. It'll be the first time I've done so in about six years. I have been back to Vegas since then, but it was always with the wife where other things seem to take precedence over poker, things that include fine dining, shopping, Cirque du Soleil, hiking, feeling like I'm going to die because of all that fucking hiking I just did, etc.

But this will be an all-poker-all-the-time trip (with a slight Sunday hiatus to watch the Steelers and bet on some football). And in its honor, I'm going to tell a story from my last Vegas poker trip. Yes, it is an old tale, but it's one that still pisses me off just thinking about it, so I now tell it to you.

I was playing seven-card stud at Binion's. Yeah, you heard me right -- seven-card stud. Back then I wasn't such a snobby hold'em whore like I am now. Anyway, I was up a bit of money when the dealer dealt me pocket aces and a turned-up jack. Nice way to start a hand of stud, and I laid out a good-sized bet. (I can't be sure of the exact bet sizes, but I do know it was a cheap spread-limit game with a max bet of something like $6 or $7.) I got three callers.

Fourth street came an ace, and I was positively gleeful with my well-disguised trips. I checked it this time, and a young, cocky Asian fella at my table bet the max. (Don't ask me what up cards he had in front of him. I have no idea. I do remember that it looked like he was on a big draw, like a flush or something.) I raised the max, and everybody got out of the hand except the Asian, who called.

On fifth street, I was amazingly dealt another jack, which meant I just made aces full on five cards. I could barely contain myself. I'm pretty sure I bet the max here and the Asian called. The pot was getting to be quite big for such a low-limit game.

Whatever came on sixth street shouldn't and doesn't matter. I bet the max. My opponent called.

Whatever came on seventh street shouldn't and doesn't matter. I bet the max. The Asian obviously didn't hit whatever hand he was going for, but instead of folding, turned to the dealer and said, "Hey, man, you didn't burn any cards. This hand should be dead. I want the floor manager over here."

Are ... you ... fucking ... kidding ... me?

The Asian was correct. The dealer had neglected to burn any cards between rounds -- as is standard procedure -- for the entire hand. And it was quite obvious that the Asian realized it early in the hand -- like, back on fourth street -- and decided to play the whole hand out, knowing that if he didn't make his monster he could always protest the hand afterward. (Of course, he had no idea that I was sitting on a real monster that likely dwarfed anything he could draw to.)

I was annoyed to no end but confident that the floor would rule that, despite the dealer error, the cards would have to play. After all, we made it all the way to the end of the hand before anyone said anything, and a sizable stack sat in the middle of the table. Can you just declare a hand dead and try to split up the money after all that?

Apparently, Binion's thinks you can. The floor ruled that the hand didn't count, and the manager sat and figured out how much each player had contributed to the pot so their money could be returned to them. I also specifically remember that this very nice older gentleman, sitting next to me in a wheelchair, leaned over and told me that he'd seen this exact same thing happen at Binion's before, but that time, the floor manager ruled that the hand counted and the pot was awarded to the winner.

I was, to say the least, incredulous, but what could I do? The floor had ruled. It was my first trip to Vegas, so I had no idea if I could go "above" the floor with my complaint. (I still don't know, really.) So I sat and watched as my pot was picked apart until nothing but my own contributions came back to me. I was dealt aces full in five cards, but it all was a mirage and soon vanished into thin air. I remember staying at that table and playing a little while longer (which I probably wouldn't do if this happened today, being the grump thirtysomething I've turned into) and even making nice and chatting a little bit with the Asian (which I also likely wouldn't do today ... freakin' angle-shooter).

I played so-so poker on that trip (which is about the best I could do back then -- I've learned a lot since), made some smart football bets, and left Vegas with about the same amount of money I went out there with. But every time I think back on that visit I get a little angry about my monster seven-card-stud hand that Binion's decided never actually happened.

Ohio voters approve four casinos

Looks like the fifth time is the charm as Ohio residents have finally voted to approve casino gambling in their state. That ballot initiative passed yesterday calls for casinos to be built in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo. The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reported earlier this year that table games would be available at each casino. As far as I know, that still holds true.

Casinos again on the ballot in Ohio

Today is election day, which means Ohio voters will once again be voting on whether to legalize casino gambling in their state. Last year's ballot initiative, which called for one casino to be located between Columbus and Cincinnati, failed miserably. Casino proponents are hoping for better luck with this year's initiative, which would permit the construction of four casinos, slated for Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo. If you live in Ohio and would like to play poker in an actual government-sanctioned cardroom without having to drive to West Virginia, Indiana or Michigan to do so, make sure you get out and vote today.

Two-outers make my physically ill

I can't seem to get ahead playing online poker. Actually, that's not quite true. I do get ahead, for a while, but then I always plummet back to the ol' break-even point. I hoped to turn things around last night after a few losing sessions, but was instead felled by this brutal kick to the nuts:



I mean, that's not even fair, right? Okay, sure, make fun of me for slowplaying the flop and trying to incite a continuation bet that I was going to raise the shit out of. Player 8 was obviously too smart for that. But at least I instilled enough doubt in him that he called my turn bet. The plan was to make a similar bet on the river and hope for another call by the guy likely holding kings, queens or jacks. Then the queen hit, and, all of a sudden, things felt ominous. So the check.

Truthfully, at that point, I was hoping for check-check. Pot was big enough. But I already knew that if he bet, I was calling. Just something I wasn't going to be able to get away from. Plus, irrational parts of my brain were insisting that he could be pushing with kings or jacks, that he might be convinced that my turn bet was nothing more than a desperate attempt to win the hand, that even if I had an ace, perhaps he thought he could push me off it by pretending he'd been slowplaying a flopped set of aces or 10s the whole time.

All ridiculous, of course. And, to make matters worse, he didn't even value bet the queens. Player 8 was too smart for that, as well. He shoved, knowing my fate was sealed and my chips were his.

I need a live game. Things are just clearer for me in live games. Vegas soon. A few weeks away. I will be staying and playing at the Venetian. Hope to hit the card rooms at Bellagio and Caesars Palace, too. Thinking about trying $2-$5 NL for the first time. Hopefully I will bring back good stories to tell here. And, please, poker gods, no more two-outers against me. Not for a while, at least.

One heck of a blow-up

It's not altogether uncommon to see somebody have a meltdown at a poker table, but it usually occurs when a player is dealt an excessively bad beat. A one or two-outer, or some kind of runner-runner hand. That's why I thought it was so strange a few weeks back when I saw a kid blow his stack over a hand during which he never should have felt too comfortable with his chances for winning in the first place. Here's how it played out ...

My usual $1-$2 NL table in Wheeling. Nothing but limpers around to me, and I called holding 10s-6s on the button. Small blind called; big blind checked. Flop came As-8s-6d. A couple of checks before this kid -- a college-aged shortstacker who had already bought in for the minimum and lost it twice -- pushed all-in for $48. He must have really wanted the $16 that was in the pot. Yet here I was, up about $700 (it was this day) and looking at bottom pair and a flush draw. Why not? I called. Disturbingly, so did the jolly fellow in the big blind. My first thought was a hope that we could just check the turn, but plans changed when a red 10 came. I now held two pair, which demanded a bet. He had less than the pot in front of him, so I pushed enough out to put him all-in. He insta-called. Interesting.

Suffice to say, I was very curious to see where everyone was. The college kid couldn't wait to flip his cards, as he shoved with A-10 and just turned aces up. I shrugged, said, "Looks like I need even more help," and flipped my worse-two-pair/spade-draw combo. Big blind showed A-K and didn't seem too upset by the fact that he was drawing to two outs. (Although I figured he'd have to be kicking himself for just checking preflop ... and then just smooth-calling that large flop bet. Not sure what he was thinking in either of those instances.)

River came a beautiful and glorious jack of spades, and I took down the entire pot. The kid with A-10 erupted in a string of obscenities that sounded like "motherfuckshitfuckgottabekiddingmefuckfuck." He yelled. He punched the table. He violently shoved out his chair. And then he stormed out of the room, which was a good thing, as I assume he'd have been instantly ejected for such an outburst anyway.

It was the most pissed off I've ever seen anyone get after being rivered. But, going back to what I was saying at the top of the post, how surprised could this kid really be? He severely overbet the pot after the flop ... and still got two callers! He had to know he was well behind at that point with only top pair, average kicker. (In fact, my trusty PokerCruncher app tells me he was only 7.25 percent to win.) Okay, the 10 on the turn increased his odds to 69 percent, but with the hands then turned up, he could easily see that there were still a whopping 13 cards in the deck (nine spades, the two other non-spade kings, and two sixes) that would result in someone other than him taking the pot. I can understand him being disappointed when one of those cards fell, but, for god's sake, man, losing to a 13-outer isn't really deserving of such an apoplectic outburst. Gotta control those emotions, son.

Table games near final approval

I was planning on writing a nice big post today to sum up all the recent movement on legalizing table games in Pennsylvania, but now there seems to be no point, as you can just click to this comprehensive story on the matter that Card Player published yesterday.

To sum up: The state budget has passed. Revenue from table games is included, which means casinos will be offering table games to customers sometime next year. But, before the bill that makes table games legal is finalized, the state House and Senate have to come to an agreement on how much table-game revenue should be taxed and how high a fee casinos should pay for the right to offer them. That should happen in the next few weeks, after which, according to Card Player, the Gaming Control Board needs six to nine months to properly lay out regulations for the new games.

Also from the article: "There is no indication that the proposed poker games would have any kind of a cap or limit on them, like states such as Florida have instituted." Good to know.

ESPN finally notices Darvin Moon

Darvin Moon finally showed up in ESPN's coverage of the World Series of Poker Main Event two Tuesdays back, and the Maryland logger, who qualified for the tournament in Wheeling, got a good bit of TV time this week. (He was even wearing a Wheeling Island Casino shirt!) Interest in Moon, Phil Ivey and the others who make up the November Nine is starting to heat up, and you can read a lengthy feature the Washington Post recently did on Moon right here.

Note to newspaper copy editors: If Moon falls short of the championship because his opponent hits a three-outer on fifth street, please make your headline read: "Moon Rivered." You're welcome.

PA table games update

Okay, here's where things stand on table games for Pennsylvania casinos ...

Even though the legislature continues to struggle with the overall state budget, the House Gaming Oversight Committee late last week officially approved table games for all state casinos. For the law to take effect, the bill still needs approval from the full House as well as the Senate. (The House could vote as soon as tomorrow.) In its current form that the committee passed, any casino adding table games would be forced to pay a $20 million upfront fee as well as 34 percent tax rate on said table games.

That rate is considerably higher than what had been previously discussed, and the casinos are, predictably, not pleased. (In comparison, West Virginia table games are taxed at 36 percent, but New Jersey table games are only taxed at 9.25 percent.) A spokesman for The Meadows has already told the Post-Gazette that they won't add table games unless that number is lowered. (Bluffing or not? You decide.) Rivers people haven't commented, although they've got other things to worry about, most notably that their casino isn't making anywhere near the money it was supposed to and its credit rating has just been downgraded to junk-bond status.

Looks like I'll be taking a three-day poker trip to Vegas late next month. My hope is that all of this is resolved and the casinos are busy laying plans to install tables and hire dealers by the time I get back.

Oh, no, you did not just do that

Another first at Wheeling Island on Saturday. I was at my usual $1-$2 NL hold'em table. I peeked at A-9 off under the gun and raised to $12. Got two callers. Flop came A-9-5 with two spades. I was sadly spadeless but giddy about holding top two pair. I decided to trap and checked. First caller bet out $20. Second guy -- a Mean Old Man (those capital letters are deserved; you'll find out why in just a sec) -- called. I raised to $80. The better folded. Mean Old Man, who had a lot of chips back, more than what I had in front of me at the time, asked, "How much do you have left?" I eyeballed my stack, which I keep quite neat, and replied, "Looks like $234." With a snarl, he shot back, "I didn't ask you. I asked the dealer."

Ummmm, okay, grumpy. (Told you he was mean.) The dealer counted what I had in front of me. "Two-thirty-four," she announced. What a surprise. He thought for a minute or two, then called the raise. Turn came the two of diamonds. I shoved all-in. The Mean Old Man grimaced and stared glumly at the table. And stared. And stared. And stared. Then he checked his cards again. Then he stared some more.

Has to be A-5, I thought in my head. (That's usually where I try to do my thinking.) It's obviously a tough call. No way he's considering this with two spades, right? Could be A-K, I suppose, but I think he lays down A-Q or worse pretty easily. A-5 seems most likely. He doesn't want to fold it, but he's worried that I have A-9 or flopped a set.

Still he stared. I've never called a clock on anyone in my life. I seriously felt like doing it here. But I wanted the call. I knew I was ahead. I wanted him to convince himself to call.

And then he folded. And here's where things get truly amazing. The dealer set down the deck and took up the task of pushing to me my newly acquired chips. I was sitting to her immediate left, while the Mean Old Man was sitting to her immediate right. So she turned away from him to award the pot to me. And when she did that, the Mean Old Man slid his hand in next to her and peeled the top two cards off the deck. He goddamn rabbited the deck himself! Whaaaaa?! The balls on this guy!!!

A couple of players at that end of the table immediately spoke up. "Hey, you can't do that." The dealer turned back and quietly said, "That's not allowed, sir. You'll get me in trouble." He grumbled that he just wanted to see if he would have hit his flush. Yep, the guy was calling with two spades, no pair. Reports from that end of the table were that the rabbited card was seen and that the spade would not have come.

If I were the dealer, I would have immediately called the floor and asked that the player be ejected. If I were the floor manager, Mean Old Man would be out on his ass for such a flagrant breaking of poker room policy. Not to mention poker ethics. What did he think this was -- his home game? Neither happened. Instead, after the quick admonishment from the dealer, everyone just turned their attention to the next hand. Unbelievable the things you see in a poker room.

Dream realized

Ever since table games were legalized in West Virginia, one of my little poker dreams has been to be sitting at a $1-$2 NL hold'em table with $1,000 in chips sitting in front of me, stacked high for all to see and respect and envy. On Saturday, at Wheeling Island, the dream came true. Bought in for $170; cashed out for $1,082. Man, it felt good.

I have so much more to talk about. A couple of really strange things that happened in the poker room on Saturday. Movement both forward and backward on PA table games. Alas, I'm too tired to write more tonight. But soon ...

Don't fear the turn bet

This is my favorite poker hand I've played in a while:



It's one of those hands where everything clicks into place. When faced with my opponent's bet after the turn, I just knew a sizable raise would take down the hand. I understand why he made that bet there. The ace of spades is one really scary card to hit that board. Perfect card to bet if he's holding something like 7h-8h or 10s-Jd. Hell, he might have actually had an ace in his hand there. But, once all the facts are closely examined, there are very few hands he can actually call a raise with.

Any two spades would be one of them, of course, but I ruled that out almost immediately. He probably would have bet the flush draw on the flop ... but he didn't. He then might have raised with the flush draw after I bet (especially if he put me on two big overs) ... but he didn't. And then he likely would have checked the made flush on the turn to see if I wanted to bet into him ... but he didn't. So two spades made no sense at all.

He could have flopped a set, but many players will bet a set on the flop if the board is suited. And I figure he almost certainly would have reraised my flop bet with a set.

He could have had an ace and bet the turn when he made top pair. But where does that leave him when I show no fear and come right back over the top? I theoretically could have flopped a set, turned a flush or had an ace of my own with a higher kicker. If you eliminate the hands I've ruled out in my head, the only hands he could possibly continue on with are A-K, A-Q ... maybe A-J or A-10, if the jack or 10 was a spade. Or he could be feeling lucky with the king of spades. And that's about it.

Meanwhile, even if he did have ... let's say Ah-Qd ... and made the call or shoved, I still would have gotten a redraw to the flush on the river.

The turn raise was the clear, obvious and easy play for me. If only poker could always be so simple ...

Almost there ...

A tentative Pennsylvania budget agreement has been reached. Table games are included. Final approval should come within the next week or two. Let's not celebrate until it's official.

The Wheeling Bad Beat gets a lot harder to hit

Well, now we know where Wheeling Island is getting all the money for their circus games (aka the new poker-room cash bonuses). It's coming from the Bad Beat Jackpot fund. In turn, they've adjusted the rules concerning what qualifies for the Bad Beat, making it a much longer shot to hit than it had been previously. (Even with less money going toward the Bad Beat, the jackpot still currently stands at $130K+.)

To hit the Bad Beat, a table still needs to have aces full of jacks or better go down to four of a kind or a straight flush. But unlike before -- when you could have any two hole cards and qualify for the Bad Beat, as long as both hole cards played -- now the guy holding aces full must have pocket aces and anybody tabling four of a kind must have a pocket pair in his hand. I've heard that more than half of the Bad Beats Jackpots hands made up to this point would not have qualified under the new rules. (In fact, the Bad Beat that I shared in would have been a no-go.)

By the way, Wheeling Island hasn't cornered the market on poker-room circus games. Mountaineer's also running them. Same sort of stuff -- random seat drawings to win $100, high-hand bonuses, etc. You can see the full list right here.

Penguins payments to hold up table games in Pittsburgh?

Interesting story in today's PG Business section about how the state legislature might not give Rivers a license for table games (which everybody else is going to get real, real soon) until the casino's owners agree to start paying the $7.5 million it owes annually for the Penguins' new arena. Under the original agreement, back when Don Barden was going to be the casino's principle owner, those payments were supposed to start this fall, but the casino's new owners keep trying to push it back, much to the chagrin of the legislature.

I don't think Pittsburghers need worry about having to drive south to The Meadows to play poker, though. Rivers won't pass up the chance to add table games as soon as possible. The stingy bastards will pay up.

Proposed PA budget includes table games

The Pennsylvania legislature yesterday proposed a new budget that includes revenue earned from table games during the current fiscal period, which runs through next July. The governor is saying he will veto the proposal, but a budget will be passed at some point and it now looks like the legalization of table games will certainly be a part of it. The Post-Gazette article details the usual back-and-forth about how much the state should tax table-game revenue and how high the licensing fee to operate table games should be set, but a few new details of particular interest to we poker players sneak through.

For starters, this is the first time I've seen in print that the Meadows already has plans for a 25-table poker room. (Not a bad size.) They're just waiting for the go-ahead. No poker-room table count is given for Rivers, although poker is listed as one of the games they're planning on offering. (Hopefully, they're not just talking about imitation "play against the house" poker, i.e. Three Card Poker, Caribbean Stud, etc.)

Also, David La Torre, spokesman for the Meadows, told the PG that it would take about six months to have table games up and running once the state signs off on it. I'm not sure how long it will take the legislature and the governor to agree on the budget (it's already 73 days late), but if they did so by the end of the month, that would put the launch of table games near the beginning of April. They may not be here quite that fast, but I'm guessing that by the end of next summer, Pennsylvania players will be playing casino poker without having to drive to West Virginia or Atlantic City to do so.

When the last hand turns into a big hand

Whether I'm playing live or online, I always play my last hand from the same position -- one off the button. I'm not sure when I started doing this, but for a long time now, whenever my brain or my back or my butt tells me it's time to quit for the day (as opposed to me going totally busto, which is obviously a different story), I play my blinds, play my button, then play my final hand, which is usually pretty uneventful.

But last night, playing $0.25-$0.50 NL at PokerStars, this happened on my "last hand":



The big decision I had to make was whether to raise or smooth-call after the turn. I figured Player 8 had me on a flush draw or something like A-10. If a heart came on the river, it could severely limit how much money he'd be willing to put into the pot. So I figured it was better to force him to decide before the river whether he was ahead in the hand or not.

After taking down that pot, I would have felt like a heel immediately leaving the table. So I played two more rounds. My second "last hand" -- again one off the button -- was an easy preflop fold.

Gotta love the casino clientele

Last Sunday, I was leaving the Pirates game and getting on the elevator to take me up to the eighth floor of the West General Robinson Street parking garage, where my truck was parked. Stumbling onto the elevator right behind my was a scraggly, older gentleman who absolutely reeked of alcohol. In that particular garage, which sits between PNC Park and Heinz Field, the various floors are marked by photos of past Steelers and Pirates greats. After the elevator doors closed, Extremely Drunk Guy leaned down to examine the pictures accompanying each of the floor numbers. I assumed he was trying to remember where he parked (scary thought in itself), or maybe he was just interested in seeing which players were awarded floors in their honor. But after a few seconds, he straightened up, turned around and said to me, "Hey, buddy, you know what floor the casino is on?"

In case you're not familiar with Pittsburgh's North Shore, allow me to let you in on the joke. Rivers Casino is actually a mile or two down river from PNC Park and this particular garage.

Trying not to bust out laughing, I replied, "Uh, you're not at the casino."

"Well, where am I?" he slurred.

"PNC Park."

"Which way's the casino?"

Keep in mind we're in the middle of a closed elevator and I'm pretty sure this guy couldn't walk a straight line if you offered him $100 to do so. I told him the casino was behind us, that he should get out of the elevator, turn around and keep walking that way. I give it four-to-one odds that he actually found the place.

Word of advice: Speak up when you call

After a three-month break, I finally returned to Wheeling Island to play some $1-$2 NL hold'em on Saturday. Of course, we hadn't yet even completed one rotation around the table when all hell broke loose. It's never easy, is it? Here's what went down ...

A player sitting three seats to my right straddled. I called with Kh-6h. A few others came along. The straddler, who dressed a bit gangsta and played super aggressive (he had put in a raise in something like three of the first six pots), bumped it to $16. I figured I better make a stand sooner rather than later or this cat might run roughshod over the whole table. Plus, I guessed he liked to raise his straddle with a wide range of hands, so my holdings seemed playable. I was the only caller. Flop came Kc-9c-6c. You bet my hand was playable! Two pair for me, and I just hoped he wasn't holding two clubs. He led out with something like a $20 bet, and I quickly tripled it. He took a moment, played with his chips, then called. Turn came a total blank -- two of diamonds or something similar. He checked, and I pushed forward a $100 bet, which was just a buck or two more than what he had in front of him. He again took a deliberate amount of time considering whether to call or not. Then he dropped the chips he was playing with back on top of his stack, mumbled something under his breath, threw his cards in front of him on the table (though not all the way into the muck) and leaned back in his chair. At least, that's what I saw and heard, and it seemed an obvious fold. The dealer came to the same conclusion, pushed the pot in my direction and began gathering up the cards. Next thing I knew, the guy who just folded was yelling at the dealer, saying he called my bet.

Wait ... what?

Turns out, the mumbling that I heard was apparently my opponent saying that he called. But he did it so quietly that only one other player at the table could confirm that he announced "call." Also, although I only saw him push his cards forward face down, other players at the table informed me that he flipped them face up seconds later, after I had turned my attention to my newly acquired chips. (The player sitting to my left said that he assumed the guy just wanted me to see what he was laying down.) My opponent was playing Ac-Jd and apparently wanted to call my turn bet with the nut-flush draw. In fact, he kept saying over and over again, in protest, "Like I'm going to fold the nut-flush draw! Like I'm going to fold the nut-flush draw!" Umm ... actually, buddy, you probably should. You're only 20 percent to win at that point, and you sure aren't getting pot odds to call. But, hey, I'm the one getting into big pots with K-6 suited, so who am I to critique?

The floor was called, and the situation explained. I said little except for "I didn't hear a call, and it appeared to me that he folded." The ruling came that since the guy did not push the required chips forward, nor make an audible call loud enough for the dealer to hear, the hand would be considered a folded hand. The guy immediately grabbed his remaining chips and bolted up from his chair, leaving the poker room entirely. I figured I'd never see the dude again. I was wrong. A little over an hour later, he came back to the table. Wound up in the same seat he had vacated before. And, boy, did he start coming for my throat. (Metaphorically, of course.)

First big hand between us upon his return, I called his preflop raise holding Qs-10s. Flop came Ks-6s-4h. He bet. I raised. He shoved all-in. I decided to call, as there was extra money in the pot from other preflop callers and pot odds were really close to making the call the right play. Ace of spades came on the turn; blank on the river. Of course, he's one of those guys and didn't want to show. "I called you," I said calmly. He flipped over a king -- and just a king, leaving the other card face down. "I called you," I repeated, making a little "flop over your other card" motion with my finger, and he begrudgingly turned up over his other hole card. He preflop raised with K-7 offsuit. Told you this guy was aggressive. I showed my winning flush, and he went to the cashier to buy back in.

A little while later, I raised preflop with A-J off. Unsurprisingly, he was the one player who called. Flop came Q-J-3, two clubs. I laid out a pot-sized bet, and he shoved all-in. Because of all the negative emotion suddenly at play whenever we were in a hand together, it became extremely difficult to predict his hand or even guess at an accurate range. Was he daring me to call? Trying to show me he was the better player? Trying to show me who's boss? Honestly, I had no idea and figured I better play it safe. There was no need to make an emotional call in this situation when I didn't really have a good read. I folded, and he showed his complete bluff. (He was playing middle suited connectors that weren't clubs.)

The very next hand, I raised preflop with pocket 10s, and he couldn't get his chips in the pot fast enough. Flop came K-K-8 rainbow, and I bet a sizeable amount. He shoved all-in yet again. My first thought was, How perfect is this going to work out for this guy? He showed his bluff last hand, letting me know that he can make this move with any two cards, and because of it I'm going to pay him off while he's holding trip kings or eights full or something ridiculous. But, after a few moments in the tank, I concluded he'd probably get greater satisfaction trying to trap me with those hands. And, again, there was the matter of standing up to this guy and letting him know that if he was going to be this aggressive, he better have a hand. I called. It wasn't a total bluff this time; he was playing A-8. But I was ahead in the hand, and he was unable to catch up on the turn or river.

So I felted him a second time. To his credit, he didn't pout or complain. He stood up, reached across the table to shake my hand (whether it was sincere or not, I do not know) and left the room for good. Another player at the table joked that I better "watch my back" when I walked out to the parking lot later that day. I don't think it was that bad a situation, but it sure does make things awfully tense when a player thinks he's been cheated by the dealer and then can never come out on top against the player that, in his mind, wrongfully gained from the dealer's mistake.

I wound up $550 to the good after five and a half hours of play, my second biggest one-day total so far this year.

A bit more on poker etiquette when it comes to showing or mucking a called hand

It's been more than three months since I wrote this post about poker etiquette, which sprung from an incident where a player at my table didn't want to show his called hand after all cards were dealt and action had ended. Since that time, I've come to realize that I'm not the only one who gets annoyed by that kind of table behavior. Most notably, the Poker Grump wrote this July post where he asks, "What is so hard to grasp about the SHOW part of SHOWdown?"

I've also discovered that I'm not the only one who's unsure of what constitutes proper table etiquette when a hand turns ugly because a player with a called hand won't just flip over his damn cards. I know this because a steady stream of web-surfing poker players have found their way to this site over the last few months by Googling phrases like "mucking a called hand," "asking to see a mucked hand," "poker etiquette show cards," etc. I continue to read all I can find about these matters, and I think I now have a better understanding now of what's right, what's wrong and what constitutes complete douchebaggery.

The big rule is this: If you have a called hand after all cards have been dealt and all action has ended, you should either show or muck your cards immediately. You can do either. And I now understand that mucking is a perfectly acceptable alternative. But if you pushed all-in at any point in the hand and were called, or made any size bet after the river that was called, you need to show or muck ASAP and not keep the rest of the table waiting.

For a player to just sit there with a called hand, either asking what the other player has or trying to "out-wait" the other player, hoping he'll show first, is unacceptable and a certain breach in poker etiquette. If someone does this to you, my advice is to calmly state, "I called you. Either fold or muck." Hell, I don't even mind you saying this to the douchebag if you're no longer in the hand. After all, he is holding up play.

If you're heads-up and the other player does choose to muck, most casinos (though unfortunately not all) will allow you to collect the pot without turning your own cards up. Ideally, if the guy with the called hand doesn't want to show, you shouldn't have to, either.

As for asking that a mucked called hand be fished out and turned up, as I did in the event described in my original post, I'd advise against it. It's only going to exacerbate the situation and slow down play even more. If a player takes a long time to muck, it's tempting to want to teach him a lesson, especially if your poker room's rules dictate that any player can ask the dealer to flip up a hand that went to showdown. However, those rules are really only in place to prevent collusion and shouldn't be abused ... even if a douchebag at your table deserves a little abuse.