There have been some complaints that I have been focusing too much on my poker analyses recently and have neglected telling stories about my experiences at the poker tables. So, here's something that happened last night.
In the 5-10 blind $500+ buyin NL game, I was on the button and somebody straddled for $20 (he gets last action, like another big blind). One player limped, and Diane, to my right, raised to $85. Diane is an attractive Asian woman who prides herself on her ability to loosen up a table, encouraging people to gamble with weak hands. Just a few hands earlier, she had executed a successful bluff with a $250 flop bet followed by a $800 turn bet with ten-high, no draw. She had about $5000 in play.
I had about $900 and looked down at AKo, much better than what Diane was likely playing with. I raised to $275.
To my left (in the small blind) was one of the tightest NL players I've played with. He had about $2700 and called my $275 raise. Everyone folded to Diane, who raised to $1000, putting me all-in. I have to call about $625 more. I need about 30% equity to make the call correct. I call. Even against KK I have enough equity here. I'm hoping the tight player to my left will fold, or that he'll push all-in and make Diane fold (in which case there will be more money for me to win, and I'll only need to win 23% of the time).
While the player to my left was deciding what to do, Diane asked me if she could look at my cards. I smiled at her incredulously and shook my head no. She hadn't bothered to wait for my reply, though, and looked at my cards.
The player who had been in the big blind was quite upset by this, and the floorman was called over. It's rather unusual for a player who isn't directly involved in a situation to call the floorman, and some of the other players (most notably Diane and "Corporation" Mike) were quite upset with this guy. However, as the guy said, "I'm not going to just sit here if I see something fishy going on at the table! I'm supposed to just sit back and watch cheating going on?" I'm sure Diane didn't mean to cheat, but I still think it was right for this guy to call the floorman.
Anyway, I think you can see where this is going. The floorman misunderstood the first explanation and said "well, I can't kill her hand just because someone showed his hand to her!" Of course, she had taken it upon herself to look at my hand. Diane started shouting about how this wasn't fair and if they decided to kill her hand, she would never come back to the Bike. The floorman called over the floor supervisor, who, amidst a growing crowd of onlookers, took about two minutes to finally call Diane's hand dead. Her $1000 stayed in the pot. On the verge of tears, Diane left, loudly cursing the floormen and explaining that this is why nobody comes to the Bike anymore.
In my opinion, this was a relatively clear decision for the floormen. Although Diane was not trying to cheat, she did break the rules and give herself an unfair advantage. Technically, her hand would be dead even if she were also all-in already (even though looking at my cards would give her no advantage because she would have had no more decisions to make). However, it's unfortunate to lose a friendly player who was generally very good for the game.
With Diane's hand out of the way and her money in the pot, the tight player made an easy call with QQ and won the whole pot.
5 comments:
No need to worry, she's sitting at the 300-500 table next to money after leaving a dead looking $500 table.
I'm not sure if she COULD leave the Bike. I've never seen her anywhere else!
I think we must be talking about different people, but I don't know who you could be talking about! I've only seen Diane 4-5 times at the Bike, and never since this incident. She said she usually plays at Commerce.
Would Diane's looking at your cards have changed her betting strategy against the third player at all? What happens between Diane and the third player if they have a side pot because you're all in but they keep betting but you win the hand?
Re: Max's question
Well, first of all, she gets to see if any of her cards are dead, which may affect whether or not she wants to risk more chips. Secondly, if she was colluding with the third player she could signal him as to the nature of Keith's hand. Finally, no one should be touching another player's cards or chips without permission under any circumstances, the cheating issue aside. I don't understand what people are thinking sometimes.
Max -
Well, if Diane's hand weren't killed and I won, I would only get the main pot, and whoever was in second place would get the side pot.
As Craig said, there are certainly reasons why my cards might affect Diane's decision. Beyond just seeing if some of her cards are dead, she will get a better idea of what her chances are to win the main pot. For example, if I had 84o or even AQo, she would have a much better chance to win the main pot than if I had AA. If she saw I had AA, she might not bother calling much more with her AK.
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