The Poker Suck Out

For those of you that play poker you assuredly have been on both ends of a "suck out" at one time or another. I will describe the latest one that I did in just a minute, and maybe you can give me some feedback on how the hand was played.

First of all, just a quick comment about Texas Hold em. It is truly a great game. You have the overall fun of playing cards, quite a bit of math to use your mind with, and there is a mystery to solve with several clues coming as the hand progresses.

So back to this hand I had this past weekend. I was playing in a tournament that started with about 84 people. We were down to the final three tables and I had a below average chip stack. To you non-tournament players: the amounts that I am about to describe are just tournament chips - they don't equate to real dollar amounts!

I was the small blind and the current level was $200/400 with $50 antes. The second person to act limped in, and then it was folded around to me. I decided to put the extra $200 in to call with my 5D-7C. The big blind checked. The flop was 10-6-4 - the 10 and one of the other cards being diamonds. Both of us blinds checked and the player in position bet $1200. I called as I was getting the right odds - $1200 to win $2850 with my open-ended straight draw. The big blind folded. The turn was 2D. I checked. Now the other player bet $2000. I re-checked my cards and I still had the open ended straight draw, but now the flush draw as well. obviously if I hit the flush it will be very small, and there was a chance that the other player already made a flush. But I surmised that he had an A-10, which, if the case, he could not have already made the flush. The card that could blow my theory is if he is holding the Ace of diamonds. I realized I had exactly $2000 in chips left and the total in the pot was $6050. I had 15 outs - I had the odds - but if I didn't get one of my cards I would be out of the tournament. However, if I folded at this point, I would be more severely short-stacked with the blinds and antes due to go up again.

I made the call. Sure enough he turned over A-10 and luckily not the Ace of diamonds! The dealer turned over the diamond on the river to complete my suck-out. I could hear the groaning as I scooped up my chips (I think the groaning was actually from other players, the guy in the hand handled his loss very graciously).

I played good poker the rest of the way to finish in 8th place and a little bit of winnings (this is good because I have actually built up a little poker winning bankroll lately, which is the only way I can justify continuing to play). You generally do need a little bit of luck (strategic luck) to cash in a tournament, but tell me what you think of this play.