Poker News

Rivered

As I entered the Hustler Casino the other evening, a player who recognized me from my column in Poker Player stopped me to bemoan his fate. Tom told me that he was playing no-limit hold’em and had made the nut flush on the turn only to lose to a full house on the river. “I was rivered,” Tom complained. I commiserated with him. Acting paternally, I put my hand on his shoulder. I looked into his eyes and said, “I understand. Next time you will have better luck.” I gave him a good-luck pat on the back, and we went our own ways. Later that evening, playing $4-$8 hold’em, it had been a tough night for me. On too many hands, I had been beaten by a better hand. That happens sometimes to all of us, even to the best of poker players. We have no control over the element of luck. Just don’t go on tilt when it happens. . .

Changing seats to get to the left of a very aggressive opponent, helped for a while. Maybe my luck was changing, I thought, as I started to rebuild my stacks. But then someone else kept catching the card he needed to beat me.

Time to switch tables, I decided. There was one seat open in a $3-$6 game. I took it. At first, I had some decent hands. My luck was changing for the better. I was on the way to recoup my losses, I thought, still hoping to go home a winner. But then it happened to me.

I was rivered. On the button with A-2 of hearts, I called in a multi-way pot. “Lots of hearts,” I silently prayed as the dealer turned up the flop: Three beautiful hearts with the king.. Wow! I had the nut flush. I was almost certain to win this one. My confidence was restored! There were five other players in the pot and I was on the button, the best possible seat position. Naturally, I decided to slow-play my hand to try to build the pot as big as possible. An early-position player made the bet on the flop. No one raised. That’s OK, I thought, let’s keep them all in. . . I just called with my nut flush.

The turn was a blank. There were no pairs on the board, so my ace-high, nut flush was quite safe. The early-position player to my left bet out, the same one who had bet on the flop. He must have something, I thought. Still I held the nut flush. This time I raised when the betting got to me; and he reraised. I reraised, going all in. Now it was just the two of us, so we turned up our cards. He held K-9, giving him two-pair, kings and nines.

I felt confident that this hand was mine. He had just four outs to makea full house, two kings and two nines. The odds were heavily in my favor: 10.5-to-1 that he would not fill up and beat my nut flush. I was a huge favorite to take this pot.

Well, you probably guessed it. The river was another nine. I had been rivered! I thought about my words of wisdom earlier that evening when I commiserated with Tom. The player who had just “sucked out,” did offer words of sympathy. But it didn’t help. I put on my jacket and went home. . . I had been rivered.

. . . So readers, what’s YOUR opinion?

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