Story: Two-Time Loser

I was playing recently at the $2-$5 no-limit table at my local casino and, after about five hours, had raised my stack from $200 to around $800. Then, in the big blind position, and with seven people at the table, I was dealt pocket jacks. The chip leader (at nearly $1,200) raised under the gun to $25. Everyone folded around to me, and I calmly called. The flop came out JS-9S-8C, giving me trips. I checked, and the chip leader bet $75. I thought for a moment and decided to smooth call. The turn revealed the fourth jack. I could hardly contain my excitement. I checked the monster hand and my opponent bet out again — this time, $200. I immediately re-raised to all-in. He called and flipped over his QS-10S with a grin. He stopped smiling, of course, when he saw my quad jacks. I commented, “Nice hand,” to which he replied, “It’s not over yet.” Unfortunately, he was right — the dealer proceeded to peel off the dreaded king of spades, giving my opponent the straight flush. Now, you may be thinking that the silver lining is that I surely must have won the casino’s bad-beat jackpot. Well, I did, in fact, win it. However, adding insult to injury, the entire bad-beat pool had just been emptied earlier in the session. So, I ended up with a measly $55 — just enough to buy a few rounds at the bar.

Author: Terry B. of Kincheloe, MI

Story: Nothing to Brag About (For Me, At Least)

Two friends of mine and I entered a local poker club’s tournament a few months ago hoping to make a big impression. All three of us have been playing poker for more than five years and consider ourselves to be very good players. As the tournament came down to the final table, one of my friends and I still remained. We both grinded it out until we were the only two left. The first-place purse was about $5,000 and both of us could’ve certainly used the money — yet, since we both knew we were going to get paid, the bragging rights were actually more important. On the third hand of heads-up action, my friend had a certain look in his eye and pushed in his huge stack of chips, calling all-in. I knew be must have had something good. I looked down at my cards to see a pair of kings. I was close to even with him in chips, only trailing by a few thousand. If there were ever a time to go all-in on him, this was it. I called him and he was in total shock that I’d done so. He flipped over his Big Slick and I laughed. Then I revealed my pair of cowboys, and his jaw hit the floor. He was thinking that the only way for him to win this hand would require: 1) hitting an ace, and 2) no kings being dealt out to the community. The dealer put out the flop and it was 7-7-2. At this point, I was thinking that I had it in the bag . . . although there was still that chance of him hitting his ace. The turn came out and it was another seven. Now I was certain that my full house and I would be taking the hand — and leaving him with so small a stack that I’d be almost guaranteed to win the tourney. By now, my friend wore a look of total disgust, and was all but on tilt. The dealer came out with the river card and, lo and behold, it was another seven. This meant that my friend now had four-of-a-kind with an ace kicker, while I had that same four-of-a-kind with a king kicker! Needless to say, he won the big purse and has bragging rights over me for the foreseeable future. In fact, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live this one down. So, there you have it — my worst bad beat ever.

Author: Daniel G.

Story: Straight to Elimination

During a recent no-limit Texas Hold’em tournament, I found myself looking at a short stack following a few failed bluff attempts. The blinds were 50-100 and I had just under 1,000 in chips. In early position, I saw A-6 and decided to raise to 300. Everyone folded to the big blind, who called. The flop came 8-6-4 rainbow, which was a great flop for me. The big blind immediately put me all-in. I was worried that he had an eight, but figured it was unlikely, so I called.  When he turned over his 5-6 off suit, I was glad but, at the same time, shocked. Why would he call a raise with a hand like that? Anyway, I knew the odds were with me. A king came on the turn, making me even closer to doubling up. Then, a dreaded seven came on the river, giving my opponent his straight and knocking me out.
 

Author: Andrew P. of Naperville, IL

Story: Diamond in the Rough (Very Rough)

As the big blind, I was dealt AD-KD. Another player, with 7D-KS, raised. The flop came 4-5-10, all in diamonds, which meant I’d flopped the nuts. I bet; my opponent called with his king high. The turn was 6D. I bet big, and my opponent, with only a flush draw, called. The river, incredibly, produced 3D. I went all-in and my lucky adversary called with his straight flush. Of course, I have no idea what he was calling with on the flop!
 

Author: Steven F. of East Longmeadow, MA

Story: Ode Mode

I walked over to the table
Sat down with my chips
First hand that was dealt
I was given Big Slick

When the flop gave me two pair
I put on a look of despair
My opponent bet into me
So I raised him all-in, you see

When he flipped over his cards
I’d never laughed so hard
With all my money in the pot
I was about to win a hell of a lot

The next card that was dealt
Sure gave me a scare
But with all that money in the pot
It was hard to really care

But when the river card had come
I hadn’t realized what it had done
For a flush was created, and my opponent had won

He gave a little chuckle
Said “Better luck next time,”
So I met his face with my knuckles
And ran away with every last dime.
 

Author: Douglas E.

Story: A Not-So-Great Straight

I was playing in a $35 buy-in tournament at a local Vegas casino recently, and doing fairly well —  I’d doubled up a few times and had made the final table (out of about 45 or 50 people). Shortly after returning from a break, I was dealt 9-10 off suit in the big blind position. Nobody raised, so I checked. The flop came 6-7-8, none suited, so I made a small/medium bet and everyone folded around to this woman who looked at me and asked, “How much do you have left?” As I was stumbling around counting my chips, I was also silently praying for her to go all-in . . . which she did! I immediately called. She had K-8 of spades, with no spade draw on board. She saw my nut straight and, with a sigh, grabbed her purse and put her jacket on. Then the turn card produced a seven, prompting her to return to the table. The river card: an eight! Full house. What a rip. The woman subsequently sat back down and, while removing her coat, tried to act like she played a great hand.
 

Author: Mike R. of Dryden, VA

Story: That Does Not Compute

First off, let me say that my bad beat was nowhere near as horrible as the bad beat (i.e., open-fisted punch) my computer took! I’d been playing in a 1,200-player online tourney and things were going pretty well. In fact, by the time the field was narrowed down to just 50 players, I was in 25th place. I was soon dealt pocket kings, KS-KH. I raised the 3,000-chip blind bets to 20,000, figuring that such a sum would get rid of the rags before the flop. One player called. I put him at A-K, A-Q, or maybe even a pocket pair. The flop came KD-3S-8H, and I was basically licking my chops. I was pretty sure I had the winning hand, regardless of what cards my opponent held. Just before I pressed all-in, I said to myself, “Pocket aces is all you need to be concerned with — and that’s only if the turn or river produces another ace.” So, it was all-in, baby! He called. Then he turned over 2-6, off suit. I was thinking that the guy must want to quit and go to bed. My heart finally stopped racing because I knew the hand was mine. The turn was 5H . . . but I wasn’t even thinking about straight possibilities. The threat didn’t register because my opponent had such rags. And then BAM! The river produced 4D, and the chips instantly went to him. I was dumbfounded for about three seconds, and then the tower to my computer somehow crashed into the monitor.
 

Author: Brian K. of Snellville, GA

Story: Eight Hate

While playing online recently, I was dealt pocket kings. I bet $2 and had one caller. The flop came 8-8-K rainbow. I checked to the caller and he kept the bet at $2. I decided to just call. The next card was another eight. I went all-in for $40 to scare him off. He called. We flipped our cards, revealing my K-K versus his A-K. The river produced the final eight, giving him quad eights with an ace kicker against my quad eights with a king kicker!

Author: Brad C.

Story: Take Me to the River . . . or Not!

Playing at BetZip.com in a multi-table tourney, I ran about 95 hands without pocket pairs. The 96th hand I played was pocket jacks. Another player had a pair of deuces. We played heads-up to the river. The way the cards were on the table, I figured I had him beat. He took me all-in and, naturally, won on the river with trip twos.

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