I just won the biggest pot (relative to the limit/blind size, anyway) that I’ve ever won in internet poker, and I just had to tell someone. So I’ll be telling you. And in return, all of you can tell everyone some good beat stories of your own, and we can all rejoice in this wonderful game.
I’m playing fixed limit Texas Hold’Em. I have KQ of spades, raise preflop, and am called by four people. The flop is 9JJ with two spades. Two overcards and a straight flush draw - that’s worth a semi-bluff in my book. I bet, and everyone or almost everyone calls. The turn is a queen, so I have two pair and bet again. At least one guy calls. The river is the ten of spades, and I have the nut straight flush. A hand in a million.
As it turns out, this site has no cap on the river. Good for me. I bet, he raises, I re-raise, he re-raises and so forth. He just never stops. Nor do I; I’m the guy with the nuts, after all. When the river was dealt, he had 40+ big bets in his stack. When he’s finally all-in, there are 94 big bets in the pot. I can’t believe my eyes. I can only imagine one hand that he could possibly have: JJ. With that hand, I’d keep raising too, but I’d get worried after the TWENTIETH FREAKING RAISE when there are three cards to a straight flush on the table.
What did he have? AKo. A regular, run-of-the-mill, common or garden straight. With three spades and a pair on the table.
You know those guys that always draw you out with crappy hands that they misplay? And you know how everyone says they’re the ones that pay you off in the long run? I think the long run just landed in my lap.
Once I got dealt pocket 5’s in a 3-6 hold’em game. Flop was 5c5s7s. I bet, got raised, re-raised. Turn was the 9s. You can guess the rest - I got beat by a straight flush.
So why is this a good beat story? Because the casino had a $15,000 bad beat jackpot that was maxed out, and my quad 5’s being beat qualified. So I lost a $150 pot, and got $7500 in cash in return.
Unfortunately* it was a very low-limit game, so the winnings were tiny, somewhere around $30 or so. I basically play for pocket-change. That’s also why I added “relative to the limit” above; I’ve won much bigger pots, in absolute numbers, at higher limit games.
*Of course, if it had been a high-limit game, it wouldn’t have happened, 'cause the people who play that badly are much rarer at high-limit games.
This isn’t a ‘good beat’ story, but it’s a ‘good day’ story. I went to play a one-day local poker tournament a few years ago. Waiting for the tournament to start, I sat down in a 5-10 game, went on an incredible rush, and won $750 in about an hour and a half. Then I won the tournament, and got $1700. On my way home, I decided to stop at a poker club to see if a friend was there so I could tell him about the tournament win. He was there, sitting in a 15-30 limit game. So I sat down in the game, and made $1300 in one hour.
That day was just the most incredible run of cards I’ve ever had.
See, I know what the word “good” means and I know what the word “beat” means but I put the two together in the context of my poker playing I have no idea what they mean.
I don’t play cards or gamble (mainly because I just don’t get it!) but occasionally my father will go out and spend a bit of money at a casino, and usually comes back on top.
On a cruise with my mom once, he went down to the casino the first night while my mom was getting ready for dinner, and won nearly 700$ at the slot machines. Since it was basically “free money” he played only with that the rest of the week - he lost a lot of it, but it was more enjoyable than if it had come out of his money to begin with.
When my parents came to visit me once and mom and I went shopping for my wedding dress, he went to the nearest casino (only about 20 min drive) and decided to play something like 40$ max, again, at slots. Came home with 250$.
Occasionally buys scratch tickets, and more often than not will win 5-10$. I think he won 1000$ once.
Never any huge jackpots, but he’s lucky enough to win often enough that it’s fun to go back.
I’ve been playing limit Hold-em for about a year, both online (penny-ante) and at my local casino ($2-$4). On Saturday afternoon, August 3rd, I got a royal flush, the first one in my life. I get a jacket, a couple of handshakes, and I am the center of attention for a little while.
The next day, I am back at the casino, playing 2-4 Hold-em again.
I get another royal flush.
About 24 hours after the first one. Another jacket, which I give to a friend’s daughter. He was sitting next to me.
I was told a dealer remarked that one could expect a royal flush only once a lifetime. I think an avid player could get 1 or 2 a year. But getting 2 in 24 hours?
I don’t think many people would believe me if I told them.
My hubby can be annoyingly lucky. The most annoying time was when he was visiting his brother; his sister and mother decided they wanted to go to the local casino, but didn’t want to drive at night so convinced him to take them. He didn’t even want to gamble, so sat in the lounge reading a book till he finished the book, so finally went and stuck $5 into a slot machine.
A few minutes later, when his sister and mother found him, he was waiting to collect his $1600 jackpot.
So my friends have a standing NL game every Thursday that I used to go to a lot but had taken maybe a year off from. It’s a $10 buy-in (unlimited rebuys) and the blinds are $0.25/$0.50.
I think three weeks ago I was playing with them and got dealt pocket 10s (which is absolutely my luckiest/favoritiest hand - especially given this story). I call at $1.50 pre-flop raise (which is pretty standard in this group) as do a few others.
The flop comes JJ10.
I check.
The guy next to me checks.
The guy after him bets a few dollars - I don’t remember how many. Maybe $3? $4?
I go all in with what I have left - maybe $8.
Guy to my left calls. As does the guy behind him.
I flip up my boat. Guy to left has AJ. Other guy has like AK or something. Rest of the cards are inconsequential - I take down like $40 in one pot.
Later that night I called a $1.50 pre-flop raise with 45s. Flop was A23 - so now I have the wheel. I won that one too.
