Genomeboy makes a funny

I played for a while at the Venetian last night with a reader, Genomeboy. (Obsessive readers with Rain Man-like memories may recall that he got mentioned herein once previously, in this post. N.B.: He is not the same person as the one that runs the http://genomeboy.com/ web site.) Great guy, smart and funny.

The game was largely fueled by one spewtard, who had a roughly $800 stack when I joined the table at 7:45 p.m., and was broke by about midnight. He played virtually every hand, most often for a raise to either $6 or $8. I took one big chunk from him when, after being terminally card-dead for an hour or so, I took a flyer and raised with 8-6 offsuit, got several callers, and saw a beautiful flop of 8-8-2 (with a 6 on the turn for good measure). It was checked to me, and I made the same continuation bet that I would have if I held two big overcards or an overpair. The spewtard check-raised me all in with just a deuce. When I called (duh!), he sheepishly explained that he thought I had A-K or A-Q and had missed the flop completely, just as I had hoped my opponents would think. Much later, I took the last of his dwindling stack when he missed the flop but shoved a big overbet anyway, and I fortunately read the situation right and called him with top pair. (It wasn't too difficult--he had long before proven that he made smallish value bets when he was strong, and much larger bets when he had little or nothing. Typical spewtard pattern.)

Anyway, somewhere in between those two hands, I raised with A-Q, got a couple of callers. Flop was queen-high. I bet when it was checked to me. Two callers--a completely straightforward, conservative, untricky guy in one of the blinds, and the spewtard. I think we checked around on the turn. River was a king. Spewtard made a small bet here, and both I and the other player called. He had A-Q, too. Spewtard had K-6 offsuit. He had sufficient self-awareness to be a little embarrassed for having called my pre-flop raise from out of position with such trash, and having called with nothing on the flop, too.

Even though nobody criticized him for his play, he apparently felt a tad defensive about it. He said, "Hey, I had other cards that would win it for me, too."

Withoug missing a beat, Genomeboy quipped, "Where--in your pocket?"

It was the funniest moment of the night, I thought. (If it doesn't come across that funny in writing, well, maybe you had to be there.) Didn't quite make up for losing $50 or so the way I did on that hand, but I still ended up net positive from the spewtard, so it was OK.