Head-Scratching Hands

It's not very often that I write about my poker-playing experiences, as I tend to concentrate on rules and decisions and leave the playing to the better players! Every once in a while, I run across an interesting hand, session, or tournament that I turn into a column. In a future column, I will write about my experience in the 2005 World Series of Poker main event, but it is currently a work in progress. Here are some hands that might make you scrach your head.

This hand took place during the 2006 Commerce Casino L.A. Poker Classic.

• Blinds: $50-$100 (nine players)

• Joe raised from first position to $300.

• John called from middle position.

• Jim went all in from the button for $975.

• James went all in from the big blind for $1,500.

• Joe folded the A K.

• John called.

• Final board: 10 4 4 J 2

• John: A 10

• Jim: A 5

• James: A J

This hand is from a single-table sit-and-go.

• Blinds: $300-$600 (four players – three spots paid)

• Jim went all in from first position for $85.

• John raised to $1,800 (he started the hand with $4,345).

• Joe went all in for $1,070.

• James raised all in for $7,600.

• John called.

• Final board: A 8 6 Q 5

• Jim: 9 9

• John: 10 10

• Joe: A K

• James: A 6

This hand took place during the 2005 WSOP main event.

• Blinds: $50-$100 (10 players)

• All players started the hand with at least $8,000.

• Jim raised to $200.

• John called from the small blind.

• Joe called from the big blind.

• Flop: 10 7 5

• John bet $100.

• Joe called.

• Jim called.

• Turn: 2.

• John checked.

• Joe checked.

• Jim bet $200.

• John and Joe called.

• River: 2

• All players checked.

• John: K K

• Joe: J J

• Jim: A A

I was a player in the games in which all of these hands took place. I didn't comment here on the play or outcome of any of these hands for a reason. Each of these hands represents one of those cases in which you are just left scratching your head, wondering what some people are thinking.

The good news is that this type of play seems to be getting more and more common. During my first 10 years of playing poker, either I didn't see as much bad play or I couldn't identify it. Today, the skill in winning at poker lies not only in playing well and getting lucky, but in anticipating where the land mines are and when they will go off!

In the meantime, send me your comments about these hands and let me know who you think played well and poorly. In my next column, I will dissect each hand with what I think the mistakes were, and will use some of your comments.

Michael O'Malley is the poker room manager for Partygaming.com and can be reached at rzitup@rzitup.com. His website is updated regularly at https://www.rzitup.com/.