Hand of Triumph, vol. 1

OK, so I'm as sick and tired of ranting about bad beats as you are of reading about them. So this post is dedicated to a hand in which I did not get sucked out on, nor did I suck out on anyone; I had the best of it from jump street and carried it through to a huge pot.

I am BB in a $30, 1-table tourney, non-turbo, blinds 20-40. One player had already been eliminated. Player 1 was 3rd position with 990 in chips. Player 2 was 5th position with 720 in chips. Player 3 was SB with 1520, and I was BB with 1550.

I was dealt A5d. Player 1 raised to 80 (a doubling of the blinds); players 2 and three called. So there was a fair amount of money in the pot already (with blinds, 340). I was getting almost 9:1 to call, so, with apologies to Josie, I called and stayed in with ace rag.

The flop came Ah 8d 5c. I had flopped top and bottom pair. Woo-hoo! Player 1 bet out 200. Player 2 raised to 400. Player 3 folded, and I went all-in with 1550. Maybe I should have been a little calmer; there was no danger of a boat or a flush based on the flop, so I was only vulnerable to AA, 88, 55, or A8. So maybe I could have finessed it right there, but it turns out I didn't need to; players 1 and 2 both snap-called me for all their chips.

Player 1 had A9c, and player 2 had 5s8h. So I had the best of it there but was vulnerable to a 9, which would have given 1 a higher twoper (as we call it around our home table), or an 8, which would have filled 2 up.

But, wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles, God took my bankroll by the hand (little Fiddler on the Roof for you there). The turn came 4d, no good to nobody, and the river, just for shits and grins, came 2d, which not only made a winner out of me but also gave me a flush, just for style points.

I knocked out two people in a 9-er, and gave me a chip lead that I would not relinquish. I ended up winning the game and feathering my nest to the tune of $135.

So to all you online players who have given up home on sitting down to a square game, take heart. It happens, it really does!

If you guys like this level of detail on hands, let me know and I'll document more hands like this as they come along.

By the way: the only time I went in with the worst of it was when I had Josie's favorite hand, a suited J10 - against, as it turned out, her least favorite hand, ace-rag. I flopped a 10 and that was that.