Flopping a royal flush, wow. I had something similar happen many months ago when I flopped a K-high straight flush with JTs, checked it, and someone tried to bluff me. Congratulations.
I just played a 6-max 250k SNG, and won it. Not a big deal by any means, but since I’ve been posting so many hands where I complain about bad beats, here’s a series where I benefit from them.
At my lowest point on this table, I was down to about 1000 chips, after taking A9 into AJ and getting the worst of it. I certainly didn’t expect to survive much longer, and shoved 88, got called by JTo, which is pretty weird, and fortunately they missed and I doubled up.
Sometime later, I am playing Q7s and flop a flush draw. No one bets ahead of me, I’m in position, I figure I’ll try to steal, so I pot it. As happens about 65% of the time when I make this move anymore, one of the early opponents jams on me. I’m numb enough from all the other beatings that I’m like, fine, so I call, but I benefit from the river, filling my draw, and double up again. V jammed at me holding middle pair, Ace kicker. This was a nice hand. Good bluff move, just didn’t work out. I called because I didn’t care enough about my chips to fold, plus I did at least have the draw in my favor. Didn’t expect to win, but didn’t mind if I lost.
I thought I had another hand when I flopped trip TTT with KTs, and then filled TTT33 on the Turn, but my opponent also had KT, so we just chopped it. Winning here would have put me in the chip lead, as it is I’m right in the middle, doing OK.
I took a hand with 55, dry flop 42K. I shove blindly into the opponent, hoping they do not have a King and missed this board and will let me take it, but they call, having hit bottom pair, 22 with an Ace kicker. I’m not really sure what the thinking is there. That’s two very questionable all-in moves that didn’t make a whole lot of sense based on the math, and ended up working out well for me in the end.
ATo, on the button. Player in front of me limps 200, I raise to to 550. SB, BB both fold, limper calls. 984 flop, no action. A on the turn, I bet and take the pot. I can’t honestly remember the last time I had a hand go like this. Most of the time, he’s got 44 and sleeping on a set, or jams with QJ and fills an inside straight draw on the river, or something ridiculous. This time I’m given credit for having an Ace, and the hand goes down like a boring everyday poker hand. Amazing!
I didn’t do great from 4up to 3up, mostly dodged out of the way of the bigger stacks, and the #3 and #2 stacks bust, and I’m left sitting HU with the big stack, looking at a really tough uphill climb. I’m not expecting to win here. I’ve been in the opposite of this situation in about 3/4 of the 3-max SNG games that I’ve played, looking at a small stack who should be easy to put away, and somehow just can’t find a hand to do it, and the deck hits my opponent at just the right time and they end up getting the game from me, despite everything I could have possibly done.
Which is what happens here.
First, I hit top pair with J3o, and not wanting to bet it, I’m still allowed to get to the river unmolested somehow, and show the winning hand. Yay.
T8o, I flop a OESD, 94J, and, wanting to build a pot with it, I bet into the Button, who jams. He has J7o and a backdoor flush draw, and is trying to protect his top pair. I should fold here, but I’m bound to lose this game one way or another, might as well do it chasing a draw. Turn puts a 4th club in play for my opponent, but I hit it on the river, Qh to give me my 3-outer to double up.
I raise with A4, to 3BB, 1200 chips, which is not a very good play to make, but I’m hoping I can steal a pot here. Nope, V is totally game to play here with T7s, and manages to flop well, hitting middle pair Tens plus a spades draw. Pot’s about as big as the rest of my stack, and I figure I can only win this hand if I can get V to fold, which he might do if he missed the flop. So I shove.
V calls, Turn puts an Ace on the board for top pair, V misses his flush draw, thankfully, and suddenly I’ve taken the chip lead. Very lucky, should be dead here, but for once Replay is rewarding me for making idiot plays, rather than my opponent. I guess maybe because that’s the way they programmed it to work?
Final hand, I have AJo, the hand I hate the most but just can’t find a way to fold. V raises to 3BB, I flat, we see a TT8 flop. The board turns into a straight draw for me when a 9 hits the board, but it might not be good enough with the pair of Tens on the board. V shoves it, and I call, leaving 400 chips behind to do so, and it’s just a terrible call to make here, I’m only hoping that he’s bluffing and my Ace will be good enough to hold up. V has A7s and and also has a straight draw, we both miss, and I outkick his 7 with my Jack to win the game.
This is the same player who beat my A9 with their AJ to put me down to my low point, making this a nice, if completely meaningless and irrelevant, bit of poetic justice. But I like it when stuff like that happens in a game.