Last week I jumped into a $300-$600 Mixed game on Table 2.  E-dog, Eric L., was in the 1s.  We exchanged hellos and I asked him if he was going to Aruba for the Ultimate Bet/WPT tournament the end of the September.  He said he didn’t think so.  My statement was that he has to go, he has to defend his title from last year.  He said he’d just returned from the Aviation Club de France where the casino was robbed at ‘shot gun’ point while he was playing poker.

Ugh!!!!  Frightening to say the least but he said it appeared that they weren’t going to get hurt as long as everyone cooperated.  Another fear on his part; the Police might be outside and the bandits might cause an exchange of gunfire trying to leave.  Still another point, after the robbery attempt (not sure if it failed or succeeded), the Police wouldn’t let them leave the casino and they had a flight to catch.

He did finally agree that in Aruba, the cash in and out for tournaments is handled through the Ultimate Bet account so it’s not as dangerous as having mass amounts of money in one place.

The strange side of dealing.  Deuce to 7 Triple Draw, Eric was the button and heads-up with Jim, the Small Blind.  They went to war with raises.  On the final draw, I burned, Jim’s first card popped face up off the deck onto the table (the Card Fairy must have been at work here).  I’d never had this happen before and had no idea what to do.

I called for a decision, Carmen came over, after a moment of discussion Jim and Eric were decisive on what should be done and Nate happened to walk by to cement the rule.  Jim wanted two cards and Eric wanted one.  Jim’s card was not a wheel card which changes everything, if it was, he would have kept his card, even though it was exposed.

Jim received the second card and Eric received the third, Jim then got his last card.

*****

A few hours later in a $15-$30 Holdem game, I watched the strangest play I believe I’ve ever seen in a limit over $4-$8.  The 1s was the Button.  Everyone between the Big Blind and the Button folded.   The Button raised, the Small Blind (in the 2s) called $20 more, the Big Blind Folded leaving heads-up play.

The Flop was 6-6-2.  The Small Blind checked, the Button bet, the Small Blind called.  The Turn was a 6.  The Small Blind checked, the Button bet, the Small Blind called.  The River was a 7.  The Small Blind checked, the Button bet, the Small Blind called.  The Button turned over K-10 Off and the Small Blind turned over 7-8 off.

WHAT THE HELL?

I almost fell out of my chair.  What does the 2s know that the rest of us wish we knew…maybe the damn Card Fairy’s at work again…