...but I would venture to say that we've all fallen victim to more than one "sucker punch" in one way or another numerous times during our time here on earth. Like the times in grade school, when the kid next to you pulls out your chair for you and as you sit down he yanks it a way and laughs with the rest of the class when you hit the floor. Or your co-worker who points to a stain on your tie and, when you look down, flicks your nose, exclaims "sucker!" and laughs all the way back to his office.
The more trusting of us or, shall I say, naive of us, have fallen victim more than our fair share. We're Charlie Brown running to kick the ball, trusting that this time, Lucy will be true to her word. Others of us wise up and learn to hold on to our chair or tell our co-worker "nice try, but not this time, partner." We learn to avoid, ignore, shut out or walk away from our nemesis, while secretly planning how to get the best of the jerk and be ready for the next time. But, inevitably, we get distracted or let our guard down, and we're wondering what happened as we're lying on our back in the dirt after Lucy's yanked the ball away again.
I hate when that happens, and that is why I have a certain level of disdain for flush draws. After playing suited pockets and being teased and taunted by far too many flush draws that have sucked me to the river, only to abandon me to drown, did I drastically cut down the number of suited pockets that I would even consider playing. I developed a rule for these cards - if I won't play them unsuited, I won't play them suited. I've missed some winning flushes with this strategy, but not as many as you would think, and not enough, had I played them, to make up for the times the draws fizzled on me.
The flush draw is my "poker nemesis" and I do my best to stay alert and one step ahead of it. When I make a flush, it's usually a secondary result of another hand I'm pursuing. I think that's the best way to go after a flush, if it happens and it's the nut hand, great. If not and you make a hand anyway, so much the better - you've gotten the best of that office idiot; you've held on to your chair and you've refused Lucy's invitation to hold the ball for you.
Today, in a $25 NL game at Party Poker (Bonus Code: KEB), I was on the button with Kc Kh. Under the Gun folded, 5-seat limped in, 6-seat checked (had just arrived and posted a dead blind) and the rest folded to me. I considered just calling to keep the blinds in for the pot, but thought better of that and raised it up to $2 to go. The blinds stayed in anyway along with the 5-seat.
The flop comes Jc Ac 8c;. I think, ok cool, the nut flush draw. I had a strong hand pre-flop, and now it's even stronger going into the turn. Small Blind checks and Big Blind bets out - $4 (hmmmmmm), 5-seat folds and the decision's on me. I'm mildly concerned about the Ace, but then that flush draw says "C'mon, call - you've got the odds, you know you're going to the river, do it - I've got your back." I call. Small Blind folds. It's heads up.
Turn comes As. Whoa, I've now got Aces Up and the nut flush draw - which is enticing me even stronger "Yeah, I've got ya' covered, baby, c'mon, big pot, it's going to be all yours - trust me." Big Blind bets out $5 - under-betting the pot. I say out loud ('cause you can do that when playing online) "My Aces Up is better than your Aces up and I have the nut flush draw." I'd put him on J-something. I raised. He called which put him all-in.
The river lazily flows by and drops the 7c on the shore. "See, baby, I told ya' I had you covered, true to my word." I landed the nut flush. I'm laughing at Lucy now as I rear back to kick the ball. Then the Big Blind turns his cards over. Yeah, he had J-something, alright. Js, Jd for Jacks Full. And now I'm lying on my back, looking up at the sky, swallowing dirt with a chaser of humiliation. I hear laughter from somewhere off in the distance -
"Sucker!"
