Excerpts From the Big Game

Just about every day, something happens in our game that I think most people would find hard to believe, or at least very funny. Sometimes I write columns about these events, but more often than not, they are far too short to fill an entire column. I’ve decided to put together some of these short stories from time to time in a column titled “Excerpts From the Big Game.” Here’s the first.

The game was deuce-to-seven razz in our $300-$600 mix of games. “Crazy Mike” and Barry Greenstein became involved in a pot together. Barry’s board was 2-7-A (keep in mind that an ace is high and bad in this game). Crazy Mike’s board was 2-5-8. Barry had raised on third street and bet on fourth street.

Now, it appears that Mike has taken the lead here, as he could have completed an 8 low. Barry can have only an ace low. But if Mike made a pair, Barry still has the best hand. So, when Crazy Mike checks on fifth street, Barry assumes that Mike indeed made a pair and he still has the best hand. Therefore, he bets again on fifth street.
Mike now raises, as if to say, “Ha! I didn’t pair and made an 8!” Barry sighs and calls.

On sixth street, Barry catches a jack, which technically improves his hand from an ace to a jack, but if Mike has an 8, that’s pretty meaningless. Mike pairs his 8, which makes it even less likely that he has a pair, and he bets after Barry checks.
On the end, Barry checks and Mike bets. Barry starts moaning; obviously, he caught another bad card and starts to pick up his hand to throw it away. Crazy Mike yells, “Wait!” and picks up his hand. I immediately see his holecards — 2-6-8, giving him a full house.

I think to myself, what is this idiot gonna do? I’m thinking he’s gonna show one card. Or, he could show the 6 and either the 2 or the 8. Well, this genius shows Barry the 2 and the 8 — the full house!

Barry now wins with anything (remember, this is lowball). Barry says that he’ll be nice and just call. He was actually even nicer, as he gave Mike his last bet back, for some reason.

All Crazy Mike had to do was keep quiet and let the dealer push him close to a $10,000 pot. Instead, he tried to be cute and got what he deserved.

If you don’t know Minh Ly, this next story won’t be as funny. Minh has been in this country for more than 30 years, yet his English is worse than … I often ask people how much Minh they speak, which means, how much of what he says can you understand? I speak Minh much better than most, and I’d say that I’m just over the 30-percent mark.
Anyway, Minh was having a tough day. He couldn’t win a pot, and a new dealer came into the box. Anita is a good dealer but still human, and she made a mistake. It wasn’t a big one; in fact, I can’t even remember what it was. What I do remember is that Minh started yelling at her, and this berating went on for about two minutes.
Anita looked at me for a measure of support, and this set Minh off even worse. At this point, she just looked at Minh and said, “I’m sorry, sir, but I haven’t understood one word you’ve said.” The entire table erupted into laughter so loud that it drowned out the rest of Minh’s rant and ended his tirade. Well done, Anita! ♠

Todd Brunson has been a professional poker player for more than 20 years. While primarily a cash-game player, he still has managed to win 18 major tournaments, for more than $3.5 million. He has won one bracelet and cashed 25 times at the World Series of Poker. You can play with Todd online at DoylesRoom.com or live at his tournament, The Todd Brunson Montana Poker Challenge, in Bigfork, Montana. Check his website, ToddBrunson.com, for details.