Karma and the Poker Gods

[renodoc]

I'm playing in a $100 limit tourney with about 270 entrants. I had 66, and a short stack. I was getting no cards. I was heads up with an older guy. Flop comes 2-3-4 and I bet. He calls. Turn and River are Q-J, and I try to buy the pot. He calls and says “I have a jack” and shows me Jack-something. I throw my pocket pair face up towards the muck and he says “Good hand” and the dealer pushes the chips to me. Now, I'm pretty sure I lost the hand, and I'm a bit stunned that the chips are sitting in front of me. In fact, they have basically been pushed into what was left of my stack of chips. No one says anything, I don't really want to say “Hey, I lost that hand!” especially when both the dealer and the opponent read the board and thought I won. I even thought that maybe I read the board wrong until the guy next to me subtly asked if there was a six on the board.

Well, I don't feel right about the whole thing, in fact, I'm kinda sick to my stomach. I mean, this shouldn't have happened and I should have immediately protested and sent the chips to the guy with the pair of jacks. It all was so fast and I was pretty much like a deer in the headlights. And then I realize that there is no way on earth that I'm gonna cash in this tournament after that move.

Its proven to me on the very next hand!! I'm dealt pocket Aces. I look down at em, and I immediately KNOW that I should throw them away. I KNOW they aren't going to be any good. But the poker gods want me to get the lesson completely. I play the hand aggressively knowing full well that if there is any justice or karma involved that I'm gonna lose. Sure enough, a player on the other end of the table three-bets and I call. Flop comes K-Q-9. Lots of betting. Turn and river are 6-9. I'm almost all in and my opponent turns over pocket Kings for a full house. I sigh to myself knowing that my lesson is learned, my conscience somewhat cleansed, and my faith in what goes around coming around is confirmed. I bust out a couple hands later.

So next time, I'm supposed to say "WHOOOAAA that's not my money- give it to the other guy!!!!", right???

[gt6062b]

My opinion is that it's not your job to make sure that the pot is going to the right person. This is the job of the dealer and the player who won the pot. If neither pays enough attention to know when they win, I say take the pot and remain quiet.

If someone else protests and points out the mistake, obviously go along with the correction as well, but I don't see why you should feel bad about this.

I compare this to pool tournaments I've played in where there's a referee watching every shot. If neither your opponent nor the person presiding over the match (similar to the dealer) notices a foul, it's not your responsibility to point it out.

-GT