Norman Chad is wrong

Every time that the ace of spades is put on the board during a hand shown in a World Series of Poker broadcast, Norman Chad notes that it is "the prettiest card in the deck."

I'm here to tell you he's wrong. The prettiest card in the deck is, in fact, the four of diamonds.

Well, in some circumstances, anyway. Like--to pick a random example--if you happen to be holding the 2d-5d, and the flop contains the 3d and 6d. Then the 4d is unquestionably the prettiest card in the deck.

Oh, look--I just happen to have a photograph of such an occurrence!





Here's what happened. I had been one of just four players to start the day's first $1-$2 NLHE game at Imperial Palace this afternoon, though the table quickly filled up. I bought in for my usual $100, and had built it up to about $175 in 30 minutes or so. That was largely due to one hand in which I held Ac-Kc, with two more clubs on the flop. On the turn I called a bet that was, by the books, giving me incorrect odds, but I knew that since crubs always get there, there is no such thing as being priced out of the nut crub draw. Naturally, the Qc came on the river for me. Thanks for the tip, C.K.!

So there I was, on the button, limping in along with most of the table, with the 5d-2d. Now, the 2-5 is nowhere near the powerhouse that the 2-4 is, but beggars can't be choosers; you have to play what you're dealt.

Flop was 6d-3d-6c. It was checked around to me, and I bet $8 (I think). I got only one caller, and I had to assume he was slow-playing a 6. I figured I would need to make my straight or flush to win.

I was equal parts astonished and ecstatic when I made them both at once with that beautiful 4d. My opponent checked. The pot was already big enough to qualify for the high-hand jackpot, so I was only focused on how to stack my opponent. I thought that if I bet here it would be too obvious that I had a flush, and I judged him to be smart enough to get away from trips in that situation. Checking not only disguised my hand, but gave him a chance to improve to a full house or maybe a flush if he had one diamond. Of course, my fondest wish was that he had flopped quads and we'd split the bad-beat jackpot, but I wasn't counting on that.

I admit that I'm not even sure I looked at the river card. Since I had an absolutely unbeatable hand--no combination of my opponent's hole cards and anything coming on the river could possibly win now--I really didn't care what it might be. Little did I know that it had just given my opponent a full house (sixes full of aces). He bet $15. I raised to $45. He min-raised me another $30 on top of that, which convinced me that whatever he had he liked enough to swallow the hook all the way, so I shoved in my last $116. I had him covered by about $10. He thought for maybe five seconds before calling. (For the record, I would have called in his spot, too. He was only behind pocket aces and the two straight-flush possibilities, so had every reason to think he was good there, poor guy.)

I not only felted him, but picked up a very nice $309 high-hand bonus from the Palace.

Poker has been unkind to me the last few weeks, and I've lately started getting that awful feeling of "losing is an inevitability" when I sit down. In fact, I hadn't played since Sunday, in an attempt to get my head right again, so this win was an enormous relief. A $550 profit in 45 minutes felt like the old days, days that I was beginning to think weren't ever coming my way again. I finished that orbit, but then told the table that that was definitely as lucky as I was going to get today, so I was getting out of there before anything could turn ugly on me. Yep, I took the money and ran. I am not ashamed.

Next time you hear Norman Chad expounding on card aesthetics, remember that, as with most things in poker, it all depends.