I sinned at the poker table

[Alan Mendelson]

I just played a couple of hours of low limit Texas Hold'Em at the Bicycle casino. I had a few hours to kill. Normally I buy into the $100-$300 game but there was a wait list, so I took an open seat at an $80 no limit table.

This was a "casual game" unlike other $80 no-limit tables which are notorious for cut throat play and wild, all-in betting.

I finished okay for the afternoon -- winning $60. But I sinned -- says my son who has been a part time dealer and taught me how to play poker.

My sin:

I have pocket 9s and raise the big blind from $3 to $9. I get two callers. I put both of these callers on playing AK because that's what they always played --AK.

The flop came Q 5 5. I was first to act. I bet $20 into a pot of about $30 with the blinds.

One player called and the second player who was a short stack raised to $40 leaving himself only about $15. I had just come off a few good hands so I had him covered and went all in.

The two other players folded. One of the players asks me to "show one time." I was pretty sure he had AK or worse so I turned over my 99. His fold declaration was "in" and as he mucked his cards he flipped them over to show pocket jacks.

He would have won the pot. My "semi bluff" won. A semi bluff because I did have a "hand" though not the nuts.

That's when I reached into my wallet and went over to him, shook his hand, and put a $20 bill in his hand. Others at the table saw it and said I did a "good thing" but my son said I should never have done that.

He said my first sin was that I showed. And the second sin was that I gave back part of my win.

Will my sin send me to poker hell?

[Count Room]

Maybe you're still feeling the elation from that huge session you just had at the VP machines? The amount of money you are fooling around with here is inconsequential compared to your latest win, and I'm waiting to see if Rob is going to scold you for this since you may still be "wallowing in the celebration", so to speak.

Just so you know, there is no shame in this if I happen to be speaking the truth. I, too, feel a bit giddy when I hit it big at the VP machines.

[redietz]

I would not show. I would certainly not give anybody any money in that situation as it is semi-insulting to the other player.

[Alan Mendelson]

It was not "semi insulting." He really appreciated it.

Had I suspected he actually had a winning hand I never would have showed.

[Dan Druff]

This story makes little sense.

Why would you put two CALLERS on AK? AK is usually a raising and re-reraising hand.

So you were on the big blind, two players limped (called) for $3, and you raised to $9? And you put them both on AK?! What?!

Anyway ignoring that, I agree that the Q55 isn't a bad board for your 99 there. You're saying that the guy with JJ raised your flop bet to $40, leaving himself with just $15, and then he FOLDED to your re-raise?

That's a pretty awful play. He should either commit himself to go all-in or not raise you in the first place. Folding for $15 into a pot that size is foolish, especially since JJ could be the best hand (and was).

Regarding your behavior at the table:

- Showing is fine. People do it all the time. You shouldn't do it with every hand (or even most of the time), because it makes your play too predictable. Doing it once in awhile doesn't hurt anything. I will show bad players my hand if I really have something good, so they feel better. I never show bluffs to anyone. Well, I made an exception one time, where a really arrogant guy at my table bluffed me and was all proud of himself (after showing me), so I showed him my bluff later after I had 6-high and bluffed him off pocket aces on the river.

- Giving back money is NOT fine. I guarantee this guy would never have given you back a dime. Never feel sorry for your opponents at a poker table. Never soft play. Always play to win.

[Dan Druff]

Also, did your son deal at the World Series of Poker?

If he follows poker, he might know me. I am not an A-list player by any means, but I am known by many in the poker community.

[Alan Mendelson]

My son hasn't dealt in about eight years.

Yes, I put both of those guys on AK when they called me because they were both "quiet" unless they had AK. $9 was a pretty big bet for this table. This table was tight, and the players were not "in the money" so to speak.

Why did the guy with JJ fold when you might consider him "pot committed"? Because I think he wanted to hold on to what he had left. He had busted twice before in the couple of hours I was there at the table, and when he came to the table he had busted out at a $300 table in the high limit section. He was playing "scared money." He also said he wanted to buy into the 4pm tournament so I think he was holding on to whatever cash he had. (You can't play scared money, and it's always better to play at lower levels so you aren't scared.)

I am sure no one would have given me back even "a lucky chip" but that didn't matter.

Actually, it's been done before at that casino among regulars. Of course there is a rule that you can't pass chips on the table, but you can take money out of your pocket and hand it to another player.

[redietz]

Geez, I don't know. I must play with very different people. If someone had tried to give me money like that after that hand, I would be disturbed. It suggests I have no more money in my pocket to rebuy. There is also another element of you not worrying about giving me money because I'm such a bad player that I'll give it back, anyway.

I would really like to know what others think. I would have been highly perturbed and may have done with that chip what Magneto does with his German coin to the guy who killed his mother in X-Men: First Class.

[Alan Mendelson]

Geez, I don't know. I must play with very different people.

I am sure you do!