David Kaye: I Lost The Biggest Pot Of My Life To 7-2

Could you please rewrite your request?

It is never enjoyable to lose the largest pot you have ever played, but it is even more disheartening when you lose it to a hand as weak as 7-2.

Regrettably, that was precisely my experience when I embarked on a three-day journey to Firekeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek for the Mid-States Poker Tour.

Let me provide you with a summary of the events leading up to that moment, as well as an overview of my entire weekend experience at the groundbreaking event.

Thursday evening turns into Friday morning and brings a tough loss

My trip began by reaching the casino at approximately 4 p.m. on Thursday. The initial plan was to quickly check into my hotel room and immediately join the cash games. Considering the large number of participants in the tournament, I was worried that the cash games might not commence until later. However, I was relieved to secure a seat in a cash game shortly before 5:30 p.m.

I participated in a $2/$5 no-limit hold ’em game. The maximum buy-in for this game begins at $1,000. However, after the first hand, the maximum buy-in adjusts to match the highest stack at the table. Hence, if any player possesses $2,000, I can purchase chips for up to $2,000 as well. Initially, I bought-in for $1,000. As I lost a few smaller pots, I decided to add an additional $300, bringing my total investment in the game to $1,300.

Over the course of the next 10 hours, I gradually gain momentum and increase my stack to a staggering $3,000. At this point, sitting comfortably with $2,700, I find myself engaged in the most significant pot I have ever played.

How the 7-2 got me

When I glanced at my pocket kings on the button, the hand began. These are considered the second-best starting cards in no-limit hold ’em.

In front of me, I witness a player making a $5 bet, followed by a raise of $25 from the player in the cutoff seat. I notice that this player recently joined the game, having been seated for less than 10 minutes. Although I have no prior experience playing with them, I observe that they possess a stack of approximately $2,000 and have earned a reputation for being an active participant, as shared by fellow players at the table. Such information holds significant value, particularly when encountering someone new to the game.

After the action is folded to me, I opt to raise to $85. Subsequently, my opponent in the cutoff swiftly calls.

After accumulating approximately $170 in the pot, the flop reveals T-7-2 with two clubs. Surprisingly, my opponent initiates the betting with a wager of $175. Considering the insights shared by our fellow players at the table, this appears to be an advantageous situation. I possess a higher-ranking pair of cards, and there are several possibilities within our opponent’s potential hands that we can surpass. We currently have the upper hand against hands like top pair, pocket queens, pocket jacks, as well as draws like flush draws or a 9-8 combination that could create an open-ended straight draw.

After careful deliberation, I opt for a call instead of raising, considering our significant chip stacks. It’s crucial to note that our opponent has the potential to hold any of the three available sets. Given the depth of our stacks, I believe making a 3-bet on the flop would be an excessive move in this situation.

After making the call, the pot increases to approximately $520. A favorable card, a non-club two, appears on the turn. All the potential drawing hands fail to improve, thereby reducing the likelihood of our opponent holding pocket twos as two of them are now visible on the board. Furthermore, if our opponent had chosen to call before the flop with T-7, their two pairs are now invalidated, and we possess the superior hand.

Once again, my adversary opts to fold, forfeiting $500. Now, we face a crucial choice between making a call or going all-in. If we decide to call, the pot will increase to $1,500, while our opponent will have approximately $1,250 remaining.

It appears that our opponent has committed a significant amount of their chips, indicating that it may be wise to go all-in at this point. By doing so, we can make it costly for our opponent to continue with their drawing hands, while also putting pressure on them to potentially call with slightly inferior hands like queens or jacks.

After making the decision to go all-in, my opponent promptly called. Regrettably, he informed us that we needed a king to secure a victory. Disappointingly, the river failed to deliver a king, and our opponent revealed a full house with 7-2. Astonishingly, I just lost a staggering $4,000 in the largest cash game pot of my entire life to the seemingly weak hand of 7-2.

Despite the unfortunate outcome of this particular hand, our loss was limited to just $165. Fortunately, shortly after losing with a pair of kings, I went all-in with a king-queen on a board of jack-ten-four against the same opponent. Miraculously, I hit a fortunate nine on the turn, winning a substantial pot of $1,800. This marked the conclusion of a highly volatile 12.5-hour session.

Friday gets weird

The following day, I engaged in a four-hour cash game session, which turned out to be quite uneventful, except for one of the most peculiar hands of live poker I’ve ever experienced. Despite the lack of excitement, I unfortunately ended up losing $160 during this session.

The board shows A-Q-T-9-K on the river, and my opponent confidently places a bet of approximately $260 into the pot. With my hand of A-J, I realize that I have the strongest possible hand since there is no chance of a flush. In response, I decide to go all-in. Unexpectedly, my opponent reveals that they also have a Jack. This revelation causes chaos and confusion to ensue.

As I flip the Jack, the card unexpectedly slips from my hand and lands on the stack of discarded cards. Upon witnessing this, the dealer comments on the act of mucking the hand, leading me to initially believe that he is referring to the card’s contact with the muck pile.

After a brief moment, he directs his attention towards the second card, remarking on the necessity of revealing both cards, as per the standard rule. Roughly ten seconds later, the second card is unveiled, revealing a King. It becomes clear to me why my opponent is feeling slightly frustrated; they had a remarkable hand, only to have my fortunate King on the river result in a split pot. We can all empathize with being in our opponents’ situation, which is never an enjoyable position.

Sometimes, you have to count your money at the table (sorry, Kenny)

Once the card is flipped, it appears that we have agreed to split the pot, and the dealer proceeds to push chips in my direction. However, there’s a slight issue as the dealer accidentally sends all the chips to me instead of just half.

Immediately after I neatly arranged the chips, our adversary whispers something to the dealer, and within seconds, everyone at our table is aware of what transpired.

Dividing the pot has become more challenging now that I have arranged the chips. However, I am confident that I can determine my opponent’s share for half of the pot by verbally reviewing the game’s progress. I will pay my opponent the amount he called before the flop and the raise size on the turn, which should encompass half of the pot I received. This calculation assumes that the $5 maximum rake and $2 jackpot drop have been covered by the blinds.

As we sit around the table, I find amusement in the situation and share a laugh with a few companions, believing that we have successfully resolved the issue and can proceed. However, after a brief span of 5 to 10 minutes, as I start shuffling my stack of $100 black chips, I quickly become aware of having an excess amount.

After the previous round, I inquire our opponent if they still consider themselves short, and they affirm. Reflecting on my stack, which ranged from $900 to $1,000 before the hand, I realize I have an excess amount, although I am uncertain of the exact figure. All I know is that my stack contains an abundance of black chips and the total amount of money appears excessive upon counting. Although I don’t recall engaging in any significant pots since the previous hand, I am not entirely certain.

I am aware that my initial stack for this hand was no less than $900. In the game where the buy-in is $1,000, I always add $100 chips whenever my stack falls below $900, ensuring it remains above $900 but never exceeding $1,000. Additionally, I remembered that I began the session with a stack below $1,000.

After some consideration, I inform my adversary that I reckon my initial stack ranged from $900 to $1,000. Consequently, I hand over an extra $150, resulting in my current stack amounting to $950.

The thought lingers

I’m not sure if it was at that exact moment or a little later, but I start to believe that the dealer also took their river bet, which was around $200. This leads me to contemplate that I owed only half that amount, not $150. If anything, I suspect that I may have paid more than necessary, but I’m not too bothered about recovering it since I’m uncertain if my assumption is accurate.

I continued playing for another three hours, but the remaining part of the session didn’t bring me as much enjoyment as it usually does. Despite my efforts to engage in lively conversations and laughter with the others at the table, my mind was preoccupied with analyzing the hand repeatedly. I couldn’t help but ponder over the correct amount and how this entire situation could have been prevented.

After returning to my hotel room later that night, I finally piece everything together. It becomes evident that the initial payment made to my opponent was insufficient, leading to the conclusion that the sum my opponent wagered on the river was added to the pot I received. My previous mistake was not returning all of that money to my opponent, as it should have been given back in full since I didn’t match that specific amount. Thus, instead of owing them an extra $150, I actually owed them the exact amount bet on the river.

Although I couldn’t pinpoint the exact amount, I was aware that it fell within the range of $200s. Therefore, I still owed them some money as I hadn’t fully reimbursed them yet. If this assumption holds true, I must have lost a small sum of money between the occurrence of the hand in question and the moment I noticed my stack was incorrect.

Luckily, the person I was playing against in the current poker hand was someone I had already encountered earlier in the day. We frequently engage in online poker matches, so I recognized them immediately. During our conversation, they mentioned their participation in the upcoming tournament on Saturday, which prompted me to make a mental note to seek them out at that time.

I managed to meet up with them and provide an explanation of my perspective on the situation. I also inquired about the exact amount they had wagered on the river. To my surprise, he mentioned it was $270. If my assumption is correct, I owed him $120 (subtracting the $150 I had already paid). Without hesitation, I promptly handed him the $120, and we proceeded to participate in the tournament.

Even though the hand seemed to dampen my enjoyment to some extent last night, I now felt much better and confident that we had finally reached the correct number. Reflection reveals areas where everyone involved could have improved.

• I should have been more attentive when the confusion began, particularly during the division of money and pot.
• Had I taken the initiative to confirm the stacks by counting my own chips and requesting my opponent to do the same, I would have promptly discovered the error in my stack size after realizing that I had received the entire pot and attempted to repay my opponent.

Despite the craziness of the hand, I must acknowledge my opponent’s commendable response upon realizing the mistake. Although I observed his initial frustration and irritation upon discovering the incorrect stack (which is understandable), he remained courteous throughout our discussion of the hand and patiently listened as I tried to determine the correct amount owed.

I should have made sure to clarify the exact number with my opponent rather than simply confirming that the stacks were incorrect, if anything.

Tournament time

After leaving everything in the past, the moment to seize our opportunity in the $1,110 Mid-States Poker tournament had arrived.

While my main focus lies in cash games, I find great pleasure in participating in tournaments, particularly in live settings. The electrifying atmosphere and the sense of eager anticipation that fills the room are unparalleled in comparison to cash games.

On the last day of the event, which marked the third and final day, the tournament was set to surpass a remarkable $2 million in prize money! My luck kicked off on a positive note, as I managed to transform my initial stack of 25,000 chips into an impressive 45,000.

Regrettably, I found myself involved in a hand where my pocket jacks were defeated by pocket queens, resulting in a loss of 29,000. This unfortunate setback greatly affected my gameplay, and despite my efforts, I was unable to recover any momentum. Eventually, approximately five hours into the tournament, my pocket nines were no match for Ace-King when I went all-in preflop, resulting in yet another defeat.

Even though I didn’t achieve much success in the tournament, I had a fantastic time. The evening was filled with drinks and food, shared with fellow players, making it even more enjoyable. Meeting numerous online poker players from Michigan was one of the highlights of the weekend. Since poker can sometimes seem like a niche hobby, it was delightful to engage in conversations with others who share the same love for the game.

In summary, my overall loss for the trip would amount to $1,435. As a professional poker player, it’s always disheartening to conclude a trip with a negative balance, but it’s a common occurrence, particularly when participating in tournaments.

We are hopeful that the Mid-States Poker Tour will bring us greater success on the tables when it returns to FireKeepers in October.

David Kaye, an esteemed poker content creator hailing from Mason, has been contributing a consistent column to Playinmichigan. To stay updated on David’s poker ventures, one can conveniently track his social media presence via the username “DavidKayePoker” across various platforms including YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, and Instagram.

Please rephrase the following sentence:<br><br>”The cat is sitting on the mat.”