If you play enough poker you get to a point where you think you have seen it all. Between 2003 and 2007 I played hundreds of thousands of hands if not a million hands online. Since 2009 I have played more days in card rooms than days I didn't play. In nine years I have played a whole lot of poker and yet I saw something the other day I have never seen. That is one of the things that makes the game still fun and exciting after all of these years. On any given day anything can happen at the poker table.
The other day I was playing in a pretty loose $1/2 No Limit game with big chip stacks. There was one man in the game who only had about $150 (the shortest stack in the game other than him was probably $450) in front of him. He had not won a pot in a long time and couldn't seem to get anything going. Somebody raised it preflop to $10 and this player, we will call Alan, called as did I. I had 33 and the flop came 3 5 7 rainbow (suits are not relevant in this hand). Pretty darn good board for my hand. The original raiser checked, Alan checked, and I made a bet of $25. The original raiser folded and Alan called. The turn was an 8. Alan checked and I bet $40. After long deliberation he called. The rivers was a King and he checked. He had about $80-90 left and I really didn't think he would call an all in bet and I wanted to get paid off so I bet $40 again. Alan folded his cards face up without even thinking about it. He showed KK. Yes, pocket Kings for top set. Alan called $40 on the turn with KK on a 3 5 7 8 board and then folded on the river for $40 on a 3 5 7 8 K board! And he showed his hand, folding face up like he was proud of his laydown! He didn't speak about the hand even though the table was in shock and discussing the bizzare play. He is an old fella, and hardly ever speaks at the table. He is a war veteran and pretty well liked so nobody really probed him on it. I still have no idea what he was thinking. Maybe he thought that I had a straight and the fact that I just bet once more on the river confirmed his suspicions? That seems pretty wacky but I have no idea what else it could be. I don't think he misread his hand either. I truly, truly don't know what happened in that hand. I don't think I have ever seen someone call a bet on the turn with a strong hand and then fold his hand when it received maximum improvement without any other danger on the board such as a flush card on the river. And the bet on the river was very small compared to the pot. And he was losing in the game and had not won a pot in hours! I have never seen anything like it but I was happy to take the money and the pot. It is my greatest bluff to this date! :)
Disciplined Degenerate
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