Mathematical catastrophe!

[Duke]

So I'm sweating my buddy while he's playing Larry's game at the Hustler. $300 ante, $500 bring in, $1500-$3000. $25k buy in, $15k rebuys after that.

I won't mention names, but I'm sure you can all figure out that there aren't that many people who could play that game.

I'm not watching from the start, but A(XX) completes the bet, and K(XX) raises. A(XX) calls.

4th street, now the boards are A5(XX) and KJ(XX). Suits unimportant. A5(XX) checks, KJ(XX) bets. call.

5th street. Boards now A57(XX) and KJ9(XX). check-bet-call.

6th street. Boards now A579(XX) and KJT9(XX). bet-raise-call.

Now the A checks, and the K bets all in for his last $700 in play. A says: if I catch an ace, I'll call. He caught a 5, and mucks his pair of 5's face up.

K looks, sees the cards mucked, and says: Hell, I only had pocket 4's, and shows.

There had to be an error on this hand, but since everything is so player-dependent (at that level), it's tough to critique. Now, I'd call the "hero" with as little as ace high, but that was clearly wrong in this instance.

But it -is- a mathematical catastrophe, nonetheless.

I also think it's the funniest thing I've ever seen in poker.

~D

[Andy B]

I haven't played in any, but in a high-ante stud game you're going to see some strange stuff. There's a lot of money in the pot to start with, and this makes for some aggressive play.

I think that if an Ace raised in front of me, I would dump pocket Fours. I might play if the guy with the Ace always raised with an Ace in the door, which wouldn't be a terribly unreasonable policy. If I were going to play, I'd re-raise.

If I were the Ace, I might check-and-fold on fifth street, but I don't fault him for sticking around. I don't understand the sixth street bet. Does he think the other guy is going to somehow fold? Calling the raise is OK, but I think that checking-and-calling is probably best on sixth. On the river, there isn't a whole lot that a pair of fives can beat, but he's getting, what, 40:1 on his call? I'm tossing the $700 in. There has to be a 3% chance that his pair is good, doesn't there?