This happened earlier today, playing $1-2 no limit Hold’em online.
There was a lot of ongoing chatter in the chat box, mostly friendly. Some was trash talking, some talking about the definition of a nit and comments about players who buy-in at the table minimum. One of the chatterboxes had bought in for the minimum, gone bust and re-bought a couple of times. Two others were the players to my immediate right.
Just prior to this hand, the player two seats to my right (“Villain 1”) typed a comment directed at the player to immediate right (“Villain 2”) [Editors note: starting to sound like the characters Thing 1 and Thing 2 from The Cat in the Hat] to the effect of “let’s go at each other on this hand.”
I’m on the button and dealt 9-9. V1 raises to $6, V2 calls and I also call. The big blind also calls. The flop is A-6-4 with two hearts, and after the big blind checks, V1 leads out with $13. I’m thinking about calling here, partly based on the chat box comments about going at each other, which leaves me not convinced that either player has an Ace. Maybe I can wrestle this pot away from this on a later street. My image is very good – I have $320 on the table at the start of this hand and have played very smart and tight. A winning image for sure and I may be able to use that to my advantage. Or perhaps my pair of nines is actually good, with only one overcard.
V2 raises to $26. Hmmm… I don’t want to spew away a winning session based on the comments in the chat box. I ponder a few seconds and decide to fold. The big blinds folds and V2 calls. The pot is now $74 (after rake).
The turn card is a 9, which would have given me a set. Dang!
V1 checks and V2 bets $77. Double dang!! Maybe my presence in the hand would have tempered his big bet, but this sure looks like a big one that got away.
V1 folds and V2 shows A-J and types in another chest-thumping comment to V1.
Sigh.
Year-to-date online results: + $6,734
Month-to-date online results: + $1,398
They Always Have It 