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09/20/2001 Archived Entry: "A gamble"

I had a bit of a peculiar dream last night, about poker. Not surprising since I haven't played the game for a long while now. It was one of those vivid experiences which seemed so shockingly real at the time that when you woke up, you consciously had to sift through your memories to figure out whether it actually happened or not.

I was sitting at a table somewhere, dealer to my right so I was the blind. Start off on a middling bet, it goes around, no raises. I looked at my cards; they seemed pretty good, a low pocket pair or something like that. The three-card flop is dealt onto the table and I'm quite encouraged by it - I have the makings of trips, or maybe even a full house. I tell myself to slow-play the hand but it's not much of a problem since two other people at the table make raises.

I call, it goes around again, no more raises, quite a few folds. There were probably only about three or four people left in the game, myself included. The strange thing is that I can't remember who any of the other players were, although this didn't seem untoward at the time. Turn card comes out; I've got a full house now; there's a pair on the table and a trips made up from my pocket pair. Not bad. I start off on a high bet to try and push people out of the game - I don't want anyone sucking out on the river card, not when I've got such a good hand now. Everyone remaining folds, apart from one person who calls.

Last card - river card - comes out. Doesn't do anything for me but it's an ace or some equally high card, which is dangerous considering the pair that's already on the table. I place a middling bet, which is raised significantly higher by the other remaining player. It's a high enough raise to make it hurt if I lose the hand; it won't bankrupt me and I'll still have as many chips as most of the other players on the table, but it's a risk nonetheless. I try to peer at the face of the other player, but nothing's changed and I still can't see it. After a little hesitation, I call the raise - I have a full house, after all, it's not something you just throw away on a whim.

Moments pass, and I wonder what I've done. I open my mouth and stilted words come out.

"Okay, let's see them."

I place my cards face up on the table slowly. And then I woke up.

The type of poker game that I play with my friends at home and university is called Texas Hold'em. It differs from most types of poker in that skill is paramount and the amount of random luck in the system is reduced; there's no drawing of the cards, and you share five of your seven cards with the rest of the table. Luck is reduced to the two cards you are dealt personally before the flop, and this opens up many opportunities for tactical playing, bluffing and so on.

You can also limit the way in which luck affects you - if you're dealt a bad hand then you have to know when you should stay in the game or when you should fold, based on the flop cards and the reactions and bets made by other players. Hence the name, Texas Hold'em - 'you have to know when to hold'em'.

For me, Texas Hold'em is most enjoyable when the game moves quickly and smoothly, and you also have those tense memorable moments when you're up against one person and you've got nothing to rely on apart from a vague knowledge of the statistics of card hands and the deceptive grin on your opponent's face.