The Curse of Scotland

The 9 is known as the Curse of Scotland, and I am currently touring Scotland. The first week of the tour was by coach (bus). Taking a coach tour is a little like playing in a poker tournament. You must start earlier than you want; you spend long hours in an uncomfortable seat; bathroom breaks and meals occur only at specific times; long hours of boredom are punctuated by occasional periods of wonder and excitement. I am presently in the beautiful city of Edinburgh, where the Fringe Festival takes place every August. There are about 2,000 events every day. These events include comedy, music, dance, and theatre, and they usually last around an hour. Some are wonderful, but others are not so hot.

Why is the 9 known as the Curse of Scotland? There are several explanations. The most likely is that The Duke of Cumberland may have written the order for “no quarter” to be given after the Battle of Culloden on a 9.

This was the battle in which Bonnie Prince Charlie was crushed and the Jacobite Rebellion was terminated. Many of the Highland clans were wiped out completely in the battle and its bloody no-quarter aftermath.)

In deep-stack no-limit hold’em, suited connectors are often involved in huge pots. When they hit, the outcome also can be quite bloody. The hand I am about to describe might have occurred in a small-stakes (50¢-$1 blinds) no-limit hold’em game. Of course, the 9 plays a key role in the hand. The three players involved all had between $300 and $500 to start the hand. Having 300 or more big blinds is almost beyond deep-stack poker. Stacks are so deep that winning or losing one all-in pot will often constitute your results for the day, or even the entire week.

A fairly solid player raised from under the gun, another tight player called from late position, and our hero called from the big blind with the 9 8. This seems like a fairly automatic play with reasonable suited connectors and some money already in the pot. However, there are some dangerous elements to making this call with an extremely deep stack. You will be out of position. If you make a flush, it is far from the nut flush, which may lead to some tough decisions later on. Suppose that the flush hits on fourth street and the raiser makes a big bet. He could have any hand with the A. Most of the hands that contain the A don’t make the flush. He might have the A A, the A Q, or the A J. If your opponent plays the hand well, he may risk only a portion of his stack when he doesn’t have or make the nut flush and you call his first big bet. Yet, he might actually have the flush, too, and then you can lose your whole stack. At best, you might have to make some tough guesses to avoid going broke.

If you make a straight, things are probably better. Unfortunately, you won’t always make the nut straight. There is one very dangerous board: Q-J-10. Not only have you made a low straight, but A-K is a very likely hand for one of your opponents to have. It is important to remember that J-10 always makes a nut straight. Any lower connectors make a straight that is not the nuts.

The flop was Q J 10. This is a great flop for the 9 8. He had flopped a straight, and had a flush draw. Two cards will make a straight flush. Our hero decided to bet out, and bet $7 into a $10 pot. The initial raiser thought for a while, and called. The original caller raised to $30. Our hero called like a shot. I’m not sure if there is a right play here, but it is certainly worth thinking about your options. If it wasn’t for the straight-flush potential, it might be clear to fold. A reraise might get your other opponent to fold a better flush draw or a full-house draw, and if the raiser decides to reraise, you could fold. In any case, calling another $23 wasn’t too committal.

The turn was the miraculous Q. Our hero had made his straight flush. He felt that this was a time to be cagey. He checked. The preflop raiser bet $55 into the $100 pot, and muttered something about the speed limit. The post-flop raiser smooth-called, and our hero min-raised to $110, which both opponents called. The river brought the 4. Our hero committed his last $100 to the pot. He got a quick call, followed by an $80 raise that was called and created a $160 side pot. When the 9 8 straight flush was shown, the preflop raiser, who had made quad queens, started to moan about his bad luck. He said, “I flopped top set, turned quads, and still couldn’t win.” The other player held A-K suited. He had flopped the nut straight, but didn’t moan about his bad luck. In fact, he was quite pleased by this turn of events. Why? Obviously, his suit was diamonds, and he had made a royal flush. Our hero just sat there shell-shocked. Would you have done better with his hand?

What lessons can be learned from this hand? The first is that any hand that isn’t the absolute nuts can be disastrous in super deep-stack poker. The second is that playing with suited connectors is more dangerous than most players think. They are dangerous not only to your opponents, but also to you. The third and most important lesson is to always remember that while the 9 is the Curse of Scotland, it might bring you bad luck anywhere.

Steve “Zee” Zolotow, aka The Bald Eagle, is a successful games player. He currently devotes most of his time to poker. He can be found at many major tournaments and playing on Full Tilt, as one of its pros. When escaping from poker, he hangs out in his bars on Avenue A — Nice Guy Eddie’s at Houston and Doc Holliday’s at 9th Street — in New York City.