I played an unusual hand in a recent tournament at Casino 99 in Chico, CA. There were two tables remaining and I had a mid-sized stack (about 15,000 in chips). On the button, I picked up the Ace of spades and 6 of clubs. I called the big blind with four other players. The flop came 5-7-8 of clubs…an open ended straight flush draw! The small blind went all-in and so did the big blind; then two folds to me. I figured at least a set or two pair, plus a flush draw were sitting behind me, but probably not a made flush. The two all-ins were both in the 10,000 chip range. My guess was I was behind but, if I lost, I could continue playing short stacked. However, tripling up with a straight flush draw was very appealing, so I called. Tabling our hands, position 1 had the King of clubs with an off-suit Jack (a flush draw). Position 2 had a 5-6 of hearts (open ender). Conclusion: I lose to any club that’s not a 4 or 9 and chop with any non-club 4 or 9. Here’s what happened; the turn was a brick and the river was a meaningless deuce. The dealer looked at the hands and pulled out my Ace of spades…I tripled up! The dealer admitted he had never seen that before, as I happily pulled in the chips. I went on to win the tournament.
By Howard Hian