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The Legends of Poker series at the Bike has just started,
and I have found myself playing a lot of the cash games
here. I find it refreshing, having played almost exclusively
in tournaments for quite some time now. An interesting
hand came up in a $5-$10 no limit game that will surely
spark some controversy. This was the scenario:
 Pretty
much everyone on the table had about two grand in front
of them; I have six. The previous hand, I had called
in the small blind with 6-3, flopped two small pair
and busted the guy in seat #4 for $600. He was a little
disgruntled, as you might imagine, because I had only
been on the table for 15 minutes and was already putting
a lot of heat on the pots. He pulled a wad of bills
out of his pocket and handed it to the chip runner asking
for $3,500. The chip runner had a rack of yellow in
his hand ($500), which he put it down in front of #4,
telling him he would return shortly with the rest. So
the runner disappeared with the dough and the next hand
was dealt. I was one off the button and, as usual, I
raised, making it $50 to go. I was called by #4 and
#7. Now, one of the other players accidentally flipped
over a king in the process of mucking his hand. Someone
jokingly said: “Watch the flop come king, king…”
Well not exactly, but it did come K
5
5 .
The two callers checked to me and I knuckled the felt
as well. The turn brought the A,
making a possible flush, and #4 led at the pot for $120.
#7 mucked, and the dealer glanced over at me, signaling
that it was my turn to act. I peeked over at the $330
in front of #4 and stared at him. “I’ll
put you all in,” I said, and I motioned with my
hand as if I was moving my $6,000 stack to the middle.
His eyes shot open. “You know I am playing $3,000
behind, right?” I took the headphones out of my
ears and said, “What? I don’t know nothing.
I know you got $330 in front of you is what I know.”
He continued to argue that he’d announced he had
another $3,000 before the hand had started. So I called
for a floor man who, after listening to my explanation
that I’d had my headphones on and hadn’t
hear anything, decided (correctly) that since the money
was given to the runner, and it was announced at the
table that he was behind, I would have to make the $3,500
bet all in. “Whatever!” I mutter disgustedly.
Now, at this point the other player could have said,
“ Kenna, since you didn’t hear me say I
was playing $3000 behind, I’ll let you just call
the $500 in front of me.” However, he wanted to
take advantage of my ignorance: “I call,”
he said triumphantly, before turning over an eight high
flush – a hand that under normal circumstances
he would not have been able to call that much with.
Now, I am a professional and, if I don’t know
how much money a player is actually playing with, I
deserve to lose. So of course, I knew all along that
this player was $3,000 behind. I used my acting abilities
to make him believe I didn’t know anything about
it. I turned over K-5 for a full house, and if you thought
he was steaming after my 6-3 busted him, you should
have seen him now. "Oh, great Acting Kenna,”
he said sarcastically, “Great acting!"
The other people at the table looked in bewilderment,
trying to figure out what had just happened. It was
like a scene out of The Sting, where, even after the
con had been performed, they weren’t sure that
they had even been conned.
One guy even exclaimed, "Do you think he actually
knew you had $3,000 behind?"
"Of course he knew! He just ... he... oh, great
acting Kenna…oh, just great!" At this point
I was
trying to be polite and not say anything but, inside,
it was killing me to not burst out laughing. I was biting
my cheeks when the floor man said he’d have to
count me down to make sure I cover the $3,500 (my chips
were uneven and stacked all over the place). I left
my seat and said, "Here you count it," and
scurried away from the table. As I was leaving, I see
#4 dig deep into the pocket and pull out another $5,000.
“CHIPSSSS!"
I love my job.
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