“I haven’t slept in over 48 hours,” said the kid in his early 20’s on my left. He wasn’t winning either. For purposes of this blog, I’ll call him “Reggie” (in honor of the 48 Hours movie character played by Eddie Murphy).
Half an hour later, he and another player – one of Reggie’s friends – got entangled in a hand. The board ran out KQJ-4-Q and Reggie went all-in on the river. The other player called, asking “do you have a full house?” When Reggie said no, the other player tabled ATo, stating that he had flopped a straight and scooping a large pot as Reggie slowly shook his head and mucked his hand.
As Reggie continued to mutter under his breath, his friend asked him why he would shove all-in there without a strong hand. That’s when it got weird, as the conversation went somewhat like this:
Reggie: I flopped a set, and even then I can’t seem to win.
Friend: No, that’s impossible. You couldn’t have flopped a set there.
Reggie: Yes I did. I had pocket jacks and there was a jack on the flop.
Friend: Dude, then you DID have a full house!
Reggie: [extremely pained and confused look] Wha-a-a???
Friend: That’s right, the river was a queen, which paired the board, which means – if that’s really what you had – your pocket jacks would have a full house. That’s why I asked you if you had a full house. Remember that I asked you that?
Reggie: [after a long, sad pause] I didn’t see it. [followed by a couple minutes of dazed, mumbling pacing about the room]
Reggie hadn’t slept in over 48 hours!
My father is fond of saying “One thing leads to another and everything connects.” He is a very wise man.
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