The Crafty Southpaw Goes to Trial

At roughly 1530 hours eastern time, The Crafty Southpaw was arrested without incident at his suburban, subterranian lair and charged with violation of Poker Law 13-B, Failure to Make an Obvious Fold. In the interest of swift and speedy justice, his trial is hereby convened.

The facts, as stipulated by both sides are these:

That on or about 1527 hours on 3 April 2011, Defendant was playing a 45-person, $10+1 Sit-n-Go, when on hand 27 he was dealt Qs10d as Small Blind.

That UTG, UTG+2, and the Defendant called the unraised BB.

That the flop came 2d8sQh.

That Defendant, first to act, bet 120 into a 240 pot.

That The Villain raised the pot to 780 which was called by Defendant.

That Defendant bet 360 on the turn, which Villain raised to put Defendant All In.

That Defendant did call this raise, to find he was outkicked and lost the hand and was eliminated from the tournament.

OPENING STATEMENTS

Prosecution

We hope not to take up too much of your time here. This is as close to an open-and-shut case as ever there was. Every bet the defendant made was designed to probe the strength of his opponent's hand. That's why he bet so little on the turn. The Villain in his turn showed nothing but strength in his raises.

He received the information he was looking for, ladies and gentlemen of the jury - but instead of analyzing this data, he chose instead to ignore it. He called his opponent's all-in raise, losing the hand and eliminating himself from the tournament.

The Prosecution will show that the Defendant, by his actions, knew he was almost certainly beaten and called anyway, which meets the burden of proof of the crime with which he is charged, Failure to Make an Obvious Fold. Thank you.

Defense

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, no poker hand is made in a vacuum. The successful player identifies the playing styles, strengths, weaknesses, and betting patterns in his opponents, and folds all this data in to a decision for every tournament, every hand, every turn of the card. My client saw a player who had a documented history of intemperate raises, continuation bets without any hand strength, and, most importantly, an all-in bet made with no hand and no draw, which ended up winning because one of his cards filled a four-card straight on the board. Far from being open-and-shut, ladies and gentlemen, this hand was as nuanced as any other, and we will show that the circumstances presented to my client warranted his call, and that he was quite simply beaten by a better hand. Thank you.

PROSECUTION

The Prosection asks that Exhibit A, Hand Transcript of Hand in Question, be entered into evidence, and smugly rests:

Full Tilt Poker Game #29595740025: $10 + $1 Sit & Go (230106619), Table 2 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 15:39:24 ET - 2011/04/03
Seat 1: Gustd (1,000)
Seat 2: piponN (1,435)
Seat 3: Solidsnakey90 (2,595)
Seat 4: Da-Insane-Train (3,750)
Seat 6: jano443 (2,810)
Seat 7: MonkeyShaman (1,345)
Seat 9: gpjacobs (1,625)
gpjacobs posts the small blind of 30
Gustd posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #7
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to gpjacobs [Qs Td]
piponN calls 60
Solidsnakey90 folds
Da-Insane-Train calls 60
jano443 folds
MonkeyShaman folds
gpjacobs calls 30
Gustd checks
*** FLOP *** [2d 8s Qh]
gpjacobs has 15 seconds left to act
gpjacobs bets 120
Gustd folds
piponN folds
Da-Insane-Train raises to 780
gpjacobs has 15 seconds left to act
gpjacobs calls 660
*** TURN *** [2d 8s Qh] [6c]
dkofmd (Observer): JUST HAS A BIG STACK RIGHT NOW, WON'T MAKE THE FINAL 18
gpjacobs has 15 seconds left to act
gpjacobs bets 360
Da-Insane-Train raises to 2,910, and is all in
gpjacobs has 15 seconds left to act
gpjacobs has requested TIME
gpjacobs calls 425, and is all in
Da-Insane-Train shows [Qd Kd]
gpjacobs shows [Qs Td]
Uncalled bet of 2,125 returned to Da-Insane-Train
*** RIVER *** [2d 8s Qh 6c] [6h]
Da-Insane-Train shows two pair, Queens and Sixes
gpjacobs shows two pair, Queens and Sixes
dkofmd (Observer): THERE HE MEETS REAL PLAYERS
Da-Insane-Train wins the pot (3,370) with two pair, Queens and Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,370 | Rake 0
Board: [2d 8s Qh 6c 6h]
Seat 1: Gustd (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: piponN folded on the Flop
Seat 3: Solidsnakey90 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: Da-Insane-Train showed [Qd Kd] and won (3,370) with two pair, Queens and Sixes
Seat 6: jano443 didn't bet (folded)
Seat 7: MonkeyShaman (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 9: gpjacobs (small blind) showed [Qs Td] and lost with two pair, Queens and Sixes

DEFENSE

Defense calls player dkofmd.

Defense Attorney: Now dk, you have some experience with the Villain in this case, one Da-Insane-Train, correct?
dkofmd YA I DO
DA: No need to shout, sir, we're in a courtroom.
d: CANT HELP IT ALL CAPS NO PUNCTATION ITS HOW I ROLE
DA: Well, ok, what was your experience with the Villain?
d: I HAD QJ AS BB, HE CALLED SB I RAISED TO 180 HE CALLS
DA: Go on...
d: I CATCH MY Q ON FLOP IM SITTING PRETY HE BETS POT WHITCH IS 360 I RAISE ALL IN HE SNAPS WITH NOTHING
DA: How nothing is nothing?
d: HE HAD A6 DUDE NO PAIR NO STR8 OR FLUSH DRAW WHAT A DONK
Prosecuting Attorney Objection.
Judge Sustained. The witness will be reminded that we are all rubber, and he is glue. Carry on.
d: ANYWAY BOARD IS 5789 BESIDES MY QUEEN SO THE DON...I MEAN THE DUDE CATCHES HIS MIRACLE STR8 AND IM OUT
DA: Thank you. [To Prosecutor] Your witness.
Prosecuting Attorney Thank you. Now sir, could it may be that he had made a study of you, and was acting on HIS observations of YOU?
d: NO WAY DUDE ALL HE SAW FROM ME WAS SOLID PLAY
PA: Yes, but is it not true that the wise man has the power to reason away what he sees?
DA: Objection, your Honor - Prosecution is running a Doobie Brothers Gambit.
Judge: Sustained. Counsel will refrain from quoting the Doobie Brothers, Yes, or Emerson Lake and Palmer. They are reminded especially not to quote Chicago when asking when the next break is.
PA: Withdrawn. No further questions.
DA: Defense requests that the hand discussed here be entered into evidence as Exhibit B and rests.
Judge So ordered. Available as first comment to this post in the interest of brevity.

CLOSING STATEMENTS

Prosecution

Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I have dinner reservations. He's guilty, ok? Please? Thank you.

Defense

My client is innocent. He was up against a player with a history of betting and raising - yes, even raising all-in - with nothing. My client saw a player with more faith in the forces of chance than talent, and thought his top pair 10 kicker was good up against a player like that. Yes, he was wrong, but was that an obvious fold?

Judge

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, it's up to you. Is the Crafty Southpaw guilty of Failure to Make an Obvious Fold, or was it just one of those things? In your deliberations consider whether or not you would have made that fold yourselves. Any ancillary comments are welcome.

The Jury will now consider their verdict and send it in as a comment.