Shamus reported yesterday on some head-scratcher hands from the World Series of Poker, where it's hard to understand what, if anything, the player was thinking--and the difficulties this poses for reporting what happened, especially with little or no time to sit back and analyze it carefully.
It reminded me of my favorite such moment from the Series so far, which I had forgotten to mention here. This account comes from the PokerNews live blog account here:
Chainsaw Kessler to a Double
Allen Kessler opened under the gun to 600 and found action from both the
blinds.
The flop fell down 3h-4c-10h with the big blind leading out for 1,000.
Kessler immediately moved all in for 2,775, and once the small blind folded the
big blind was put into the tank before making the call.
Kessler: Qh-Qc
Opponent: Kh-Qs
"Oh my god! What's wrong with you?" screams Kessler when he sees his
opponent's hand.
The dealer then burns and turns the Ks to thrust his opponent in the lead.
"So sick! What is wrong with these people?" comments Kessler.
However with one out still in the deck, the Qd would indeed land on the
turn to give Kessler the double up to 8,200 in chips.
I'm not what you'd really consider a spontaneous-outburst kind of guy. I tend not to say much, and to think fairly carefully about what I want to say before saying it. The advantage is that it's a lot less often I have to apologize for things I wish I hadn't said. The disadvantage is that no matter how many times I may think it, the heavily fortified filters between my brain and mouth will never let me have the experience of screaming at a moron opponent words like, "Oh my god! What's wrong with you?"
Which seems like it might be kinda fun.
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5 comments:
I actually dealt a hand the other day in a Caesar's Megastack with a gentleman calling an allin on a 8 high board with QJ off. Winning hand? Q high. Shover had 10-9.
So Rakewell, you're okay with winners screaming at/humiliating losers at the table?
I can understand losers screaming at winners. Of course it's bad form, and I don't like it, but at least it's understandable.
I'm sorry but I'm getting really sick of this hypocrisy I keep seeing in the poker-playing world. ANYTHING a millionaire pro does--no matter how crazy the bluff-- is brilliant and wonderful. Meanwhile, amateurs are now and forever just "donkeys catching cards."
It is surely not possible for anybody to have been reading this blog for any significant length of time and yet conclude that I actually approve of such antics.
Of COURSE nobody should engage in such abuse of other players. But I laughed out loud when I read the story, because you can't help sympathesizing with the emotion behind the outburst.
There is a huge difference between what I think would, on some level, be funny and/or perversely satisfying, and how I think decent people should conduct themselves.
Humiliating opponents is OBVIOUSLY bad for the game and for one's own long-term profit. I couldn't even begin to count the number of posts in which I've made that point. But things that are morally, ethically, and pragmatically wrong are still sometimes funny. IMHO, this happens to be one of them.
I've seen worse calls, it's not jump outta your seat bad.
I don't think the call was terrible.
Im assuming we had ~1900 in pre flop, "opponnent" bets 1k, Chainsaw shoves for 2.7k, now we're somewhere ~5600 with "opponent" needing to only put more in to try and bust Chainsaw. And we have no idea where "opponent" is at chip count wise. Someone please feel free to correct me.
It probably would have been easier to read had I referred to the two as Chansaw and villain, but anyone trying to bust Kessler a villain. How could any professionala ct like this?
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