Anna Kournikova

This sequence came earlier today, at $1-2 NL Hold’em.

Hand #1

I am the Big Blind with 7d 4d.  Three players plus the SB all limp in, and I check.

Flop ($10) – Jh 5d Kd.  I have a weak flush draw.  The Small Blind check, I check, 2 more players check and the button in Seat 5 bets $6.  SB folds, I call, another player folds and Seat 2 (who will be the Villain in the next hand) check-raises to $20.  Seat 5 quickly calls and I decide there is a pretty good chance at least one of these guys has a better flush draw than mine.  No need to chase a draw here.  I fold.

Turn ($56) – Ac.  Seat 2 bets $10, and Seat 5 who has only $45 left raises to $26, leaving $19 behind.  That usually means he doesn’t need any fold equity.  Seat 2 calls.

River ($108) – 3s.  Seat 2 checks, Seat 5 bets his last $19 and Seat 2 calls.

Seat 2 – Ks 8h – that’s right, he check/raised on the flop with top pair and shitty kicker.

Seat 5 – Qs Td – he has the nut straight, confirming the reason for not raising all-in on the turn.  Nothing to worry about, be patient and get it all on the river.

Seat 5 wins $146 pot.

Hand #2

The very next hand.  After the previous hand, Seat 2 has $98 remaining.  He open raises to $20 from UTG+1, a huge overbet and sure sign of tilt.  Everybody folds to me in the Small Blind, with Ah Qs.

Some of my friends and I refer to this combination as “Anna Kournikova.”  (I’m well aware that other players apply the Anna Kournikova label to AK, as those are the former tennis beauty’s initials.)  But we think AQ is a better fit for Anna Kournikova because, like the real person, it looks really good but never seems to win anything.

But in this case, I think the better play is to shove.  Seat 2 appears to be on tilt after losing the previous hand, which he played quite poorly, and I should be way ahead of his range and positive EV with this play.  I have him covered and shove.

He calls with As 5d.

Yippee!  I have him dominated, and even better when the flops comes 3s 2d Qh.

All I have to do is avoid a 4 making his gutshot straight draw, or running 5’s.  Sometimes this game is so easy!  Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!

The turn is 6h, and OMG here comes the 4s on the river, giving Seat 2 a straight and the $195 pot.

Hand #3

Just three hands later, I am in the Hijack seat with As 4s.  Seat 5 (winner of Hand #1 above) raises to $6.  Normally I might fold a suited Ace here, but I’m a bit tilted myself still and make the call.  SB also calls.

Flop ($20) – 6s Ts 9h.  I have a nut flush draw.  Seat 5 bets $20.  Still tilting, I shove for $70 more and SB quickly folds.  Seat 5 takes about two seconds to call, showing Js Jh.

The turn is the five of spades, completing my flush and I win a $198 pot.

In a span of 5 hands, I’ve lost half of my stack on a terrible Anna Kournikova beat, then won it right back.

Interestingly enough, the chips moved from Seat 2 to Seat 5, then from me to Seat 2, and the from Seat 5 back to me.  After this sequence, all 3 of us are pretty close to where we started.

Now, let’s play some poker!