Bizarro World

My plan was to start off 2006 with a bang and hit all five major tournaments in January. That would take me from the Bahamas to Australia, then to Tunica for two events, and finally to Atlantic City.



The first stop was the PokerStars Caribbean Poker Adventure in the Bahamas, a World Poker Tour event. This tournament was like no other I've ever played in my life. Without question, the average age in this event had to be the lowest in history. If you were 25, you'd be considered one of the old-timers.



Since the legal age for gambling in the Bahamas is 18, the event was chock-full of pimple-faced 18- and 19-year-olds who qualified online. The scene in the lounge was something: At each couch and at each table, there was a sea of laptops and kids playing four, five, or even six tables online at once!



Oh my, how the poker world has changed. I felt like an old kid who flunked high school and was held back for 10 years!



At each table in the tournament, there were at least three players under 20, from what I could tell. That's pretty impressive, considering the fact that there were more than 700 entrants.



At my first table, I just couldn't make a hand and was never able to get more than my original $10,000 starting stack.



By level three, my table broke and I was at a new table that looked similar to my last one: three Internet whiz kids, along with a few players in their 20s, and a couple of old guys.



The key hand in the tournament for me came against one of the old guys, who seemed ancient. The dude had to be 36 years old or something. He seemed to be in pretty good shape for his age, though, as he wasn't using a cane, walker, or wheelchair to get around.



So, anyway, here was the hand: The old dude made it $500 to go from early position with the blinds at $100-$200 with a $25 ante. I called the raise from the button with the 5 4 and we took the flop heads up.



The flop came J 8 3. This was a decent flop for me, giving me a flush draw and backdoor-straight draw, and if my opponent had something like A-K, I also could win with a 4 or a 5.



The old man checked, but it seemed rather suspicious to me. I felt like he was going for a check-raise, so I opted to take the free card and checked behind him.



The turn made my flush, as the 6 hit, and it also gave me one out for a straight flush. Now, my opponent bet out $1,000. At this point, I felt like he might have an overpair, and also possibly a higher flush draw. So, I called the $1,000 and made a small raise of $1,400 more.



The old man checked his holecards, presumably looking to see if he had a heart, and called the raise.

Now, the only card I didn't want to see on the river was another heart, unless of course it was the 7. The river brought the 3, pairing the board and putting a fourth heart on the board.



Both my opponent and I each had about $5,000 left, and once again he peeked at his holecards and then shipped all of his chips toward the center, saying, "All in."



Yuck! Well, that sucked. It seems that every time I think to myself, "No heart, no heart," that's precisely what hits!



Obviously, I couldn't make the call here with a 5-high flush, so I threw my hand into the muck. Then, unprovoked, my opponent flipped up his hand to reveal the A J? What?! He bluffed me with that hand? It was such a bizarre play that it had me shaking my head. The way the hand played out, the old man's bet was akin to suicide. If I had flopped a set, I'd have a full house. If I had the A, I'd have the nut flush. With either hand, I'm calling, and he's broke.



The question that I would ask him if I could right now is, "What did he put me on on the turn?" If he was willing to put all of his money in with top pair/ace kicker, why would he have waited till a horrible card came on the river before betting it all?



You see, his hand wasn't one that needed to bluff in that spot. He could beat virtually any hand that wasn't a flush. If I had K-J, J-10, or 8-6, he could check with his A-J and still win the pot. So, unless he put me on a flush on the turn and was trying to bluff me off my hand on the river, his play made little sense.



That's not to mention that if he did put me on a flush on the turn, his call of my raise on the turn made no sense.



Frankly, I think I know what happened. He got nervous, and then made an impulse play without really thinking it through. He simply didn't understand that he didn't have to bluff in this situation, because he had a hand that had a very legitimate chance of being the best hand. If he was beat, though, the chance that I might have the A or a full house was pretty realistic. After all, what hands might I raise the turn with there?



All in all, the play worked out great for the old man, but I just don't see how I could have made that call. It would have been a very sick call had I made it, but I wasn't about to risk my entire tournament hoping that my opponent had just lost his mind!

You can read Daniel's blog online at http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/.