Journal of a Poker Pro

I don't know where else to begin, but at the beginning. Forgive me in advance if my story is confusing, as it's all still very foggy to even myself.

As poker players, we dream of finding the biggest fish, and the juiciest games. I'm primarily an online grinder, playing $200NL almost exclusively. Even when I find the fish, I'm usually only busting them $200 at a time.

Well, last night was a different story altogether. Last night, I found my game.It all began with a phone call. My very good friend, a self-made, relatively wealthy individual, called me up.

"You still play poker right?"

Of course I do."

Would you be interested in a really big game tommorow?"

Well, how big are we talking?

"The buy-in is $25k"

Hrmm.. just a BIT out of my leauge there.

"I'll cover you completely, and we spilt whatever you win. I've heard some crazy fishy stories about the...."

Stop. You had me at 'cover you completely', sir.

Fast forward to last night.

I show up, and meet my friend outside a pretty snazzy looking cigar club. He tells me not to worry, the place isn't shady and I don't have to worry about getting robbed or anything.

"Just play your game, and don't stress if you lose, OK?"

Ok.

As soon as I walk into the card room, I feel he is right. It is really brightly lit, and everyone seems to be happy. It all feels very classy, and... well, 'rich' for lack of a better word. You can just feel money oozing from every corner of the place.

I sit at the table and say hello, as a beautiful woman brings me a couple racks of chips.

$25,000.

This is probbaly 10x more than I have ever held in my hands, and oh yeah, pretty much the size of my entire bankroll. I start to get a little nervous.

My nerves die down however, after about the first orbit. Blinds are $100/200, when I pick up ATss on the button and raise 2 limpers in front of me to $1k. I sort of laugh in my head, as I'm making a PF raise as big as any pot I've ever won. Everyone lays thier hand down and I take down my biggest pot ever... a whopping $695 profit!

The game goes on for about an hour. I havn't really been shying away from any action, and have been playing my solid aggressive game. The game was soft, with lots of limping, and general loose/passive play. I'm up to $30k, and feeling on top of the world. I'd honestly have been happy to leave right then. But I was freerolling, and hugely +EV in the game.

What happens next is incredible. There is no better word to decribe this moment in time.

A sharply dressed man in early position raises to $1,000. I had this guy pegged as the biggest fish at the table, when I saw him go waaaay to far with a draw against a set. He hit on the river and scooped a $50k pot. He's sitting on about $60k now, and easily has me covered. There is one caller between us. He's not important.

I pick up Th 9h in late position and call.

The blinds fold.$3.3k in the pot.

The flop comes:Kh Qh As

Sharply dressed man fires $2k into the pot pretty quickly. The man between us calls, and it's to me with a flush draw and gutshot.

I noticed when the man in between us called, the sharply dressed man was not pleased with it. I thought I might have a chance to squeeze both these guys out and semi-bluff my way to a $7k pot. I muster up all my courage, and stack 3 $1k chips ontop of a $5k chip.

Raise.I say it confidently, as I throw the $8k into the pot.

Sharply dressed man considers my raise for all of 5seconds before locating $6k and throwing it into the pot. The man in between folds.

$21,300 in the pot.

The dealer burns a card, and drops down the turn.

J h

My heart began to pound so hard, I was sure it was visable through my shirt. I just made the immortal nuts, and there is over $20,000 in the pot. Over 100 buyins for my normal stakes.

Before it can sink in, sharply dressed man annouces "bet".

He severely underbets the pot and throws $5k in.

I didn't think. I don't know why. I have an unbeatable hand, but somehow before I can stop the words from coming out of my mouth, I declare "I'm all-in", and push all of my chips accross the white line.

Sharply dressed man tanks.

It's 15k more to him, and there is over $30k in the pot.

OMG OMG, why did I do that? Why didn't I just call? There is NO card that can come to beat me, and I just insta-shoved like an idiot.I try to maintain my composure.

What seems like 5 minutes passes, when sharply dressed man flashes a card at me from accross the table. It's the Ace of hearts . He thinks he has a draw to the nuts.

I've played enough live to know that when a player picks up his cards, and especially when he flashes one, he is folding almost 100% of the time.

"I know you have it..." he says. "...I'm not getting the right odds to call and suck out."

I know my hand is unbeatable. He could draw 5 more cards, and never have a hand that beats mine. He can't make a royal because the 10 is in my hand.

So, for the first time since saying hello at the beginning of the game, I speak.

"Ok, how about I give you odds? The dealer can put out 5 more cards, and you use the 9 board cards to make your best hand, and I'll only use the first five. Deal?"

He looks stunned. Everyone at the table does, especially the dealer.

"Are you serious? Wait, do you have a full house?"

Lol, impossible. But I say nothing. And he reiterates what I just told him.

"So I get 5 more cards to make my best 5 card hand, and you only get the river. You're going to give me 5 chances to hit my flush?"

I nod and tell him yes.

We verify with the dealer that this is ok, and after some great hesitation, she calls the club manager over.She expalins the situation to him, and he is clueless. He says if both players agree, then we may do what we choose with the money.

I look accross the table.

"Do we have a deal?"

He shakes his head in disbelief, tells me I'm insane, and agrees.

What an angle shoot. My heart is racing. I wonder what the reaction is going to be when I table my cards.

$60,000 in the pot.

The dealer burns a card, and puts down the river:

3d

The next 4 cards come down in this order, if I remember correctly.

10s

10d

10c

10h

The table goes nuts.

He just made a royal flush.

But wait. The 10h ? Isn't that in my hand?

I double check my hole cards.

10h 9h

Umm. Yep, there it is. I table my hand in the commotion.

The dealers eyes fill with confusion. Other's at the table begin to notice the oddness of seein 5 tens on the table.

An eerie silence slowly fills the room

.After much discussion, the dealer declares a foul deck, and all stacks are to be returned to thier original size before the hand was dealt.I'm in shock.

Too many thoughts are running through my head. I just cost myself the biggest pot in my life. And seriously, a foul deck? Are you kidding me?

None of this makes sense to me. This is just too incredible. And usually when I find myself in this situation, it only means one thing.

Incredible indeed, I'm dreaming.