Against All Odds

Many of us...no, make that ALL of us who have played poker for at least 3 or 4 years have experienced the joys of the bad beat, the one outers, the stupid calls against, etc.  Well, this is not going to be about bad beats.  The only bad beat stories I tell to anyone other than my 'live game' cash poker partner are the stories of other players that make me feel better about any hits I have taken over the years.  No, this little piece is about oddities, odd streaks of curious proportion that defy the facts and logic of statistics. 

To warm your reading pallet let's start with a side story that was not a statistical anomoly but was a very strange declaration of personal poker brilliance by an opponent of mine one evening on a cruise in 2007.  Playing a $3/$6 no limit game at a full table (10) I got involved in a hand that ended by providing some real entertainment for the room.  Maximum buy-ins for the table were $600 a head and I had about $700 in front of me.  I raised pre-flop to $40 with KK in seat 1.  Actual position is immaterial to the hand.  Seat 4 pushed his short stack all in for $104, and seat 10 called.  At the time of his call, seat 10 ("Ralph" - just guessing) had $563 remaining in front of him.  The flop was 10-A-2 rainbow.  Ralph checked and I bet $300, a hefty amount given the stacks, and it was also the approximate pot.  (Note: this is not about a bad beat, as we have all had worse - it's about one of the most sincere and funniest things I have heard at the tables!)  Ralph thought about it for about 20 seconds and just called.  That leaves him with $263 and I have him covered.  The turn was an 8, and after Ralph's check I pushed him to decide about the rest of his chips, and he called all in.  I turned over my KK, and Ralph flipped up a surprising 66.  I was relieved.  The short stack was of no relevance to the hand.  When the dealer turned over the river 6, Ralph jumped up out of his seat and pumped his fist while yelling..."What a great call!"    

But now for more interesting stats, and I would love to hear from any of you regarding similiar items.  Why these things are on lock down in my thought processes I have yet to determine.  Blessing - curse, you decide. 

In the order in which they occurred:  

7.  The consecutive number of times when dealt AA AND getting to heads up pre-flop, lost.  Six times to underpairs and once to AK.  No straights, no flushes. 

13.  The streak of getting to all in pre-flop heads up with a "dominant" hand, i.e. AQ vs. QJ, or AK vs. A10 - lost. 

9.  Seeing the flop with suited cards and having it rainbow the other 3 suits.  Note: Not just missing the suit.  Nine straight times getting involved to see the OTHER 3 suits hit. 

104.  Being dealt a pocket pair, seeing a flop, and missing the set.  Uh, that's not a typo.  104.  On the 105th I was dealt 2-2, flopped Q-2-Q.  Felt sick that this was how the streak ended, but I survived an overboat! No one must have had a queen.

These aren't streaks or streak worthy, but I found them odd anyway.  Playing through six dealers, being dealt one Jack high, no pairs, no direct connectors.  3 hours...one Jack.  I didn't even like the Jack, but I have to tell you something. 

 Four straight hands being dealt 2-3.  The fifth hand, looking for 2-3, I was dealt 2-2.  (I like this one because whenever one dealer delivers the same values to me 3 straight hands I tip $1.  It has only happened 5 times.  This 4 straight 2-3 was one of those and was my only 4 straight hole cards of same value ever.  $2.:)

"What a great call!" 

Sorry, that happens every now and then.  I'm sure I'll get over it.  I'm sure I will.  I'm just sure, that's all.

Mike B