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Poker karma: Be prepared to lose

                According to Princeton.edu, the definition of Karma is “the effects of a person’s actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation.”  However, I think it applies to poker and that a person’s actions often determine their destiny in a hand.

                Last night, I was playing Omaha Hi-Lo at the Hard Rock in Tampa. It was a fairly aggressive game with a lot of new players trying to hit the bad beat. (As of October 12, 2009, it was almost $39,XXX.) This has brought several tradition hold’em players over to the tables. This particular game ended up with almost every hand being a Kill pot. I don’t usually like games like this; however the pots were very nice.  

At one point, I was dealt JJA4. Since it was a bad beat hand, I decided to play. The hand was a kill and it was capped at $20. I wasn’t particularly thrilled with $20 on this Omaha hand, but it just turned out this way. The player in seat 5 had raised and re-raised so he could go all-in. The flop wasn’t too bad: QJ96. I had trip J’s and was in for the long-haul now. Another round and the healthy betting continued.  The turn was a K, so I figured someone hit Broadway, but there was too much in the pot to turn back now. I had a lot of outs…a 10 for Broadway to split the pot or if the board paired I would fill-up. The betting continued with me going along for the ride. The river was another K. I filled up, but I could still be in trouble. I wasn’t much worried about the all-in, I put him on A2; although he could have had AA’s. I checked and seat 1 bet; of course I had to call. He threw his cards on the table and said; “I only have the straight.” So, I won this very large Kill pot. Seat 1 got up and told the dealer: “I hope your Dick falls off” and promptly marched away from the table.

This behavior is uncalled for. In Omaha, once the board pairs you have to at least consider the possibility that someone will fill-up; often times more than one. I was prepared to lose with my full house. If you are not prepared to lose; don’t play!

See you at the tables…where hopefully I will win or lose with grace and good karma!