By TylerDurden on September 10th, 2007 (more posts by author)

So, after work yesterday, I went to go play some cards at my local dog track. Not feeling like buying in short to the various NL games (it seemed like everyone had a couple buyins in front of them, and I hate playing short), I sat down in the only limit game spread in the state, $2-$4 (yeah, yeah, I know, tiny. State law limits the bets to $5 in limit, so it's what they can spread. Deal.). The following hand came up when we were 9-handed:

I'm on the SB, dealt 4[d] 5[d]. Everyone limps, I complete, the BB checks. That's $15 in the pot after rake and jackpot.

The flop comes A[d] 2[c] 7[h].

I check, the BB, a fairly predictable rock, bets out, 4 callers (gotta love low limit, hopes and prayers are worth a call!), 3 folds, and it's a $2 bet into a $24 pot (after rake) to me. 12:1 for a gutshot, backdoor flush (albeit a bad one), and implied odds after that? Sure, $2 is good for 11:1 odds. The SB folds, and we see the turn 6-handed in a $26 pot. (Note: I did not raise here to build a pot for a turn draw as that has been done earlier, and it caused a pretty good clearing of the table; I'd have likely forced everyone but the BB out, thus killing my odds play. Were I in late position, rather than the SB, I'd consider it.).

The turn is the 6[d].

All of a sudden my hand looks pretty good -- 6 straight outs, 9 flush outs. I check, the BB bets out, there's a caller (who has me slightly worried that he's on a flush draw with something like 8[d] 9[d], but he could also have 7x), everyone else folds and it's $4 into a $33 pot to me. 8.5:1 pot odds, I'm delighted, it's just under 7:1 for my straight, and just over 2:1 if my flush is good. Call. 3-handed, $37 pot.

River, a 3[c]. I've got the nuts. I check, BB bets, the in-between caller folds, I raise, BB thinks about it, says "you can't have been drawing with 45," and calls.

"Nope, I wasn't drawing with 45. I was drawing with 45 suited." He mucks his cards (probably Ax), and begins bitching about how you can't keep the drawing hands out.

Which is true -- when the drawing hand isn't riding on the schooling effect of fish. Pull a good pot ($52, of which $16 was mine), AND put the player to my left on tilt, what isn't to like?