Those of you too young to remember the old Twilight Zone television show of the 1960s (although it appears in reruns now and then) will miss the analogy of that which I will relate. If you have played poker for any length of time however, you will understand nonetheless.
During the introduction, the host Rod Serling would segué into the show by saying something like: “So-and-so has now entered a place not only of sight and sound but of mind. Where the obvious and the subtle trade places with each other on a minute-to-minute basis. Next stop: The Twilight Zone.”
We flew out to Southern California for Memorial Day weekend to see my folks and celebrate a birthday. That weekend, the Ocean’s Eleven Casino in Oceanside had a $75,000 guaranteed poker tourney; a $400 buy-in with a free lunch in a well-run well-lit tournament room. Frankly, it’s my favorite place to play poker in San Diego County. The tournament began right on time and 197 of us were off to the races.
Almost immediately ol’ Rod made his presence known; during the third hand of the tourney the fellow to my left stayed with suited connectors in a raised pot. No waiting: His runner-runner straight cleaned out pocket aces and pocket kings. The third hand and this fellow triples up. He could go see a movie and when he returned would still have been chip leader. Well, perhaps not quite, but his early victory colored his play for the rest of the tournament – ultimately to my benefit later on when we were barely in the money.
The rest of the tourney – until we reached the money – was just like that first event; I saw probably 10 or 12 examples of runner-runner catching at the river and whipping much better starting hands. It was happening so often I found myself humming the Twilight Zone theme over and over. Luckily, none of these TZ’s happened to me but the ricochets did whiz by my head a time or two.
Other TZ moments in this tourney concerned pocket Aces. I had seen them cracked by runner-runner straight during the third hand, and throughout the tournament I swear I saw pocket Aces shown at least another seven or eight times. In all but one event – and that involved me, I’m happy to say – they were cracked by someone playing “wish poker.”
You know “wish poker” don’t you? It’s the game where the player has long, long odds against him and yet keeps throwing chips into the pot ‘wishing’ his miracle card would come.
So as we got into the money – paying 19 places, in essence the last two tables – I felt sure the TZ moments were behind us as the only survivors were the ‘serious’ poker players. “Au contraire, mon Ami”… which is French for “Who do you think you’re kidding, Pal?”
As they filled the last two tables, who should sit down beside me but the fellow at my first table who tripled up with his runner-runner catch at the tournaments’ beginning. His stack was down substantially from the last time I saw it, but he could still do damage to an unwary opponent. We then had a break and while talking to another player he volunteered that the fellow to my left (Sir Catchalot of Oceanside) was invariably aggressive. I should watch out for his coming over the top of any call or raise. Thanking my informant for the free information, I devised a plan to use if and when the opportunity arose.
It did not take long for the moment to occur: Looking down at two red aces I elected to raise from three off the button. He reraised that and the rest of the table folded around to me, so I decided to merely call. I did not go all-in due to a couple of factors: First, it was just me and him. Second, I was in early position and thus at a disadvantage. Third, I wanted to see the texture of the flop and then determine his hand strength possibilities and thus how to play him. The flop came Ace – King – 9 rainbow, so that helped my odds a bit. I bet about half the pot and he smooth-called the bet. Hmmm…is he on a draw or trying to set me up? The turn was a 10, something I wasn’t too pleased about. Could he have done the kind of betting he did with just a Queen-Jack? I didn’t think so.
The river was a non-critical small card; I bet 2/3 of the pot and he went all-in. Only a Q-J could beat me, so I called; he showed A – K for two pair and my trip Aces sent him home. My informant had spoken with a “straight tongue.”
I eventually finished third for a $7,500 win (and a commemorative coffee cup.). But I’ll always remember that ‘Twilight Zone’ tournament where runner-runner came in almost a dozen times and pocket Aces were cracked every time…except once.
