Rounders is great for quotes. What can I say, I’m famous for running a good thing into the ground. Anyway, I can’t recall the exact phrasing, but near the beginning Damon’s character voices over and says “Most poker players can’t remember their big wins, but they recall every detail of their worst defeats.” And I’m here to challenge that, because there are a couple of my favorite winning hands that I’ll remember forever. What are yours?
My favorite winning hand? Not to be confused with my best winning hand, which was a Royal Flush of hearts in a game of seven-card stud back in college. I even have a framed photo of the hand using the backs of discards as a background. I dated the frame, too. No, my favorite hand dates back even further than that, goes back to high school. Seven-card stud again. Started the hand with pocket 2’s…nothing much by themselves, but my first up-card was another 2. So right away, I need to slow-play trips. Six people started the hand and four remained through fourth street. And the worse my up-hand became, the happier I was. Opponents will be wary of you betting a bad hand, so I just kept calling. By sixth street there were three, one on a straight draw, one on a flush draw, and my trips. By the river, it was heads up with the flush draw, who caught. He raised the roof, and I enjoyed the feeling of seeing the case 2 on the river. I won a nice amount, but that was my favorite hand for just the expression on the other guy’s face after he saw what he lost to.
And I’ll just throw this in there, even though it’s not poker, but I used to play hearts for money just as much as poker (hearts is still my favorite card game of all-time), and I was in deep trouble late in the game. My right led a heart, and I had one left – a 10. I knew if the guy to my left ducked, I was the rest of the cards and would’ve scooped up more than 20 points. So, even though I had no other play, I hesitated, making him think I was considering ducking. And it worked. My left took high over my 10 with the intention of leading back the low heart. What should’ve been his “safe” play resulting in me escaping without taking any points and going on to win the hand, and about $50.
There’s nothing I enjoy more when talking about cards than sitting back over a few drinks and hearing other folks war stories. So let’s have ‘em.