Don't Snow a Snower

I'm not sure where the expression "don't snow a snower" came from, but I definitely know what it means. I recently played a hand in the $100-$200 mixed game at Commerce Casino while we were in the deuce-to-seven triple-draw round that brought that to mind. I was dealt my five cards, took a glance at 3-7-9-J-J, and tossed it away. The dealer then pushed it back to me and said, "It's your big blind," to which I muttered something like, "Why didn't you tell me that before I mucked? It's your job to make sure I have my blind up before I get my cards. What if I wanted to sit out?" Anyway, everyone folded around to the button, one of the pros at the table, who quickly raised. The small blind folded, and I intended to fold – until I got the bright idea to "snow the snower." It was quite obvious that he witnessed me muck my hand when I didn't know I was the blind. I thought to myself, "If I were him, I would raise this pot with five blank cards from the button." I shrugged, called the raise, and made some comment like, "Oh well, I've got a hundred out there already, I might as well take a shot." Little did he know that I had this play all mapped out. A common snow is to draw one, then stand pat. Drawing one card and then standing pat usually sells the bluff a little more than just standing pat right away.

It was my turn to draw first, so I kept my 7-3 and drew three cards, while my opponent drew just one card, as I had anticipated. I checked to him, knowing that he would bet, and then I called. After my first draw, my hand didn't improve at all. I now was holding 7-3-9-J-K. It was my turn to draw, so I decided to take two cards this time. Taking two cards would show my opponent that I had improved a little, but was still very weak. Showing that weakness would induce him to continue on with his attempt to snow me. To my delight, he stood pat after my draw. I quickly peeked at my cards, although it didn't matter what I had received, and then checked to him. He bet, and I raised. After I raised, he showed me two aces and a king, chuckled a bit, and tossed his hand into the muck. I took down the pot and patted myself on the back for my quick thinking in this situation. Poker is a lot like chess. I could see a few moves ahead and it really helped me out in this game.

On a different note, recently while playing at Commerce Casino, I noticed how popular a game called "badougi" has become. Most of the time, badougi was one of the games in the mix of the higher-limit games there. Badougi is a four-card triple-draw game in which the best hand is A-2-3-4 – all different suits. The object of the game is to get the four lowest cards that aren't paired or suited, and it is played with three draws. I think the reason for the game becoming rather popular is that it induces tons of action. The pots in this game are huge, and it is quite exciting. One early morning after playing throughout the night, I found myself sitting next to the "Prince of Docness" (quite a unique nickname, if you ask me), and we started chatting about the game and how to make an improvement. Somehow, we decided that if we mixed stud with badougi, it would create an exciting and very challenging new poker game. It would be a variation of the two games, in which half the pot would go to the best stud high hand and the other half of the pot would go to the best four-card badougi hand. By the time the next day rolled around, a bunch of my friends and I were sitting there playing a full game of "studougi." There is definitely no lack of action in this game, and quite a bit of skill is involved. I think this could be the game of the future!