If you are sitting at home reading this article, chances are you’re just like me – you love the game of poker. Whether you’re in it for the thrill of the game or you’re trying to make a living, playing online offers several distinct advantages over the “live” game. The online game is a faster game, which essentially means more and potentially larger pots and more risks per hour than a standard B&M (brick and mortar) game. When you see a larger volume of hands, chances are that during each session you play, you are bound to see something that leaves you speechless, shaking your head, mystified, or (shudder at the thought) having to re-buy. In this column, each week we will take a look at a different hand that fits the previously mentioned criteria. My involvement in the hand notwithstanding, I will try to remain as impartial as possible, and for the hands that I didn’t win, I will keep my bitterness to a minimum. (At least, this is my intent)

In baseball there is a saying that goes “Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make.” What this means is that sometimes there is a player who seems really attractive to your team but the price may just be too high to go out and get him. Well, in poker there is a similar principle. Sometimes your best hand are ones in which you throw your cards away. In other words you live to fight another day. Keeping this in mind, I am about to tell you about a similar hand that I was recently involved in.

I was at my local cardroom playing in a $1-$2 no limit hold em game. We were 8-handed and the action was fast and furious all night long. Everyone seemed to be getting hand after hands and the pots were huge with players routinely going all in. In middle position, I looked down to see the As-Ks. The under the gun player had just taken a crippling beat the hand before and was clearly on tilt. He pushes his remaining stack of $85 into the middle. The player before me thought for a second and instantly called as did I. The button player also called and we were ready to see a flop 4-handed with $343 in the pot.

The flop came beautifully for me. It was Ah-5d-7s. The player before me checked and I bet out $150 into the pot. The button player without any hesitation moved all in for $800! I was absolutely stunned by his move. The other caller mucked his cards and it was on me. And I went into the tank. I thought and thought and thought. What could he possibly ave called an $85 preflop bet with? I put him on a strong Ace at this point. Previously, I thought he had a pocket pair 10’s or higher making a set unlikely. If he also had big Slick then we would chop and my folding would lose me a share of a big pot. Could he have possibly called with pocket 5’s or 7’s? I thought it was unlikely but by the time he acted, he had odds to call with any pocket pair hoping to spike a set. Plus, his large stack also could have enabled him to call preflop as well. After about 3 full minutes, I turned my cards over and said, “this is either the best or worst fold of my life.”

He flipped his cards over and showed pocket 5’s. Wow! My read was right on the money and for this I was quite happy. I would have been drawing to runner runner for a higher full house giving me less than a 2% chance. I made the right fold and it saved me $500. I’m still not too sure how I managed to make the right decision.

As I breathed my sigh of relief, I watched the rest of the hand and what I saw shocked me. The all-in player showed Ad-4c and he need runner runner A-4 to win the pot. Mind you, he needed the case Ace since I folded mine.

The turn was the 4s, and the river, if you can believe it was the Ac! This guy made an awful preflop move, was drawing nearly dead after the flop and hit the only 2 cards in the deck that could save him. What a lucky turn of events for him. I was shocked as was everyone else. But like the winner of that hand, I lived to fight another day.

Until next time, may the chips fall your way.