Foolish Imagination

Imagine the following:

You were up to $8.30 in your bankroll experiment on PokerStars, just a few distant weeks past. But then you got a little loose and wild, and found yourself down to $1.2. Ah, but you tightened up your game and battled your way back to the original buy-in amount of around $5. Ah, but then things started going wrong again. You couldn’t hit a set to save your life. Your straights fell to bigger straights. Your flush draws went blank. Your top pairs got out-kicked. Your two pairs were weak. Your trips squashed by boats.

But imagine you maintained your poise, even when your aces got cracked twice in the span of four dealt hands, when your wired kings ran into multi-way action and an ace flopped more times than you can count, when your nut flush was bested by quad threes.

But still you held on, your VPIP at a rock-steady 20-percent. The swings of the game can be brutal, you told yourself, but they work themselves out if you just stay the course. So you did. You played tight, tight, tight poker. You saw flops as cheaply as you could with your drawing hands. You folded when you knew you were beat.

But your bankroll continued to dwindle. Suddenly you found yourself down to $2.50, then $2.25, then $2.00. The tables were incredibly soft, filled with fish and calling stations, but nothing you were were dealt would hold up.

But then imagine that a miracle occurred. You were dealt the A-2 of diamonds on the button. All but one player called preflop, leaving you with the no-brainer decision to limp in with all the other fish. The blinds completed, and you found yourself going into the flop 9-handed.

And what a tantalizing flop it was; just imagine the 3 of diamonds, 4 of diamonds, king of clubs. The betting was capped by the time it got to you, and you made the call of eight cents. Everyone called and you were still nine-handed going into the turn, which was a beautiful, incredible, gorgeous 7 of diamonds, giving you the nut flush.

Imagine that, again, the action was capped by the time it got around to you, and only two people dropped out of the hand. Imagine the size of that pot.

And then imagine the thumping in your heart when the river was a harmless queen. The board hadn’t paired, and your flush was ace-high. Imagine that incredible bet, raise, and reraise that happened in front of you. Imagine how you, of course, capped, and everyone called. EVERYONE CALLED! Imagine the thrill of knowing you held the nut flush!

And even better, imagine once again the size of that pot. Imagine three dollars and eighty-some cents sitting out there in the center of the felt, calling to you. Imagine the pounding in your heart, as one-by-one the players mucked around to you. Muck, muck, muck...

...until it got to the guy immediately upstream of you.

Imagine your reaction, when he turned over 5-6 of diamonds. First, you thought to yourself, “that poor sucker, chasing an inferior flush. I’ve got the ace!”

But then imagine your confusion when that monster pot was shipped to him, instead of you. Imagine how bewildered you were. Imagine thinking that there had to be a mistake, that PokerStars got it wrong. That they shipped the money to the wrong player.

Just imagine for a moment.

Then imagine how tiny your bankroll was now.

Just imagine.

All-in for now…
-Bug