A-Rod likes to play poker

[JasonEvans]

MLB is investigating A-Rod for participating in a high-stakes poker game. Apparently, A-Rod has been warned about this in the past as it puts him in contact with big-time gamblers who, baseball fears, could seek to use A-Rod to influence the outcome of games. Some are comparing this to Pete Rose, though I think that is a big stretch. Still, there is talk he could be suspended.

-Jason "he is on the DL, would they suspend him now or wait for him to come off the DL?" Evans

[OldPhiKap]

MLB is investigating A-Rod for participating in a high-stakes poker game. Apparently, A-Rod has been warned about this in the past as it puts him in contact with big-time gamblers who, baseball fears, could seek to use A-Rod to influence the outcome of games. Some are comparing this to Pete Rose, though I think that is a big stretch. Still, there is talk he could be suspended.

-Jason "he is on the DL, would they suspend him now or wait for him to come off the DL?" Evans

There is obviously a direct correlation between wanting to play in the WSOP, and being willing to throw games for money.



I'm not smart enough to figure it out, mind you, but it's obviously there.




-- OP "I shouldn't have drawn out this long on a gut-shot straight, and now I'm dead meat" K

[JasonEvans]

Totally random note about poker--

I was playing in AC a couple nights ago, 1-2 NLH'M, and just cleaned up. Sat down with $100 and left an hour later with more than $300. Big hand went down like this --

Me - I've got pocket Kings and have been playing fairly tight. I want max value from my Ks so I limped from early position for $2
A couple callers and then the small blind raised to $8
I called as did several other players, putting about $40 in the pot

Flop comes 2D, 4C, 8D

Small blind checks, big blind bets $10. I wait a while, hem and haw a bit (I'm a lousy actor), and decide to call.
Player in middle position raises to $26. Fold, fold, and around to me. I hem and haw a bit more (more lousy acting). I did not want to risk the rest of my stack, but I only had about $85 left at that point and the pot was now sizable enough so that going all-in would not even be me making a pot-sized raise. With 2 more streets of betting left, I am gonna be all-in no matter what in this hand if I decide to play it.

What hands am I afraid of at that point? Well, I figured the guy could be on a diamond draw and I did not want to call and give him a free card. I also figured he might have gotten really lucky and caught trips with a low-mid pocket pair. But I figured that a good player would probably flat call with trips, trying to keep folks in and get max value from their hand, not shoved in a large bet designed to scare everyone out of the pot. Then again, I was not sure this guy was a good player. Finally, I put him on the diamond draw and figured the only way to get him out of the pot was as big a raise as I could muster.

All-in for about $70 more.

The guy called me fairly quickly -- he had about $200 in his stack. I figured a quick call meant trips and I was sunk.

He turned over an unsuited A-8 for top pair, top kicker.

Board did not give him an ace or 8 so I won a very nice pot.

I talked a bit about the hand to a couple good players next to me. None of us could figure out what the guy was thinking with his quick call. We could not figure out what he put me on to make a quick call. I mean, what hand could a fairly tight player have that would push all-in that was not better than 8s with an ace kicker?!?!

--Jason "Easy money " Evans

[OldPhiKap]

Totally random note about poker--

I was playing in AC a couple nights ago, 1-2 NLH'M, and just cleaned up. Sat down with $100 and left an hour later with more than $300. Big hand went down like this --

Me - I've got pocket Kings and have been playing fairly tight. I want max value from my Ks so I limped from early position for $2
A couple callers and then the small blind raised to $8
I called as did several other players, putting about $40 in the pot

Flop comes 2D, 4C, 8D

Small blind checks, big blind bets $10. I wait a while, hem and haw a bit (I'm a lousy actor), and decide to call.
Player in middle position raises to $26. Fold, fold, and around to me. I hem and haw a bit more (more lousy acting). I did not want to risk the rest of my stack, but I only had about $85 left at that point and the pot was now sizable enough so that going all-in would not even be me making a pot-sized raise. With 2 more streets of betting left, I am gonna be all-in no matter what in this hand if I decide to play it.

What hands am I afraid of at that point? Well, I figured the guy could be on a diamond draw and I did not want to call and give him a free card. I also figured he might have gotten really lucky and caught trips with a low-mid pocket pair. But I figured that a good player would probably flat call with trips, trying to keep folks in and get max value from their hand, not shoved in a large bet designed to scare everyone out of the pot. Then again, I was not sure this guy was a good player. Finally, I put him on the diamond draw and figured the only way to get him out of the pot was as big a raise as I could muster.

All-in for about $70 more.

The guy called me fairly quickly -- he had about $200 in his stack. I figured a quick call meant trips and I was sunk.

He turned over an unsuited A-8 for top pair, top kicker.

Board did not give him an ace or 8 so I won a very nice pot.

I talked a bit about the hand to a couple good players next to me. None of us could figure out what the guy was thinking with his quick call. We could not figure out what he put me on to make a quick call. I mean, what hand could a fairly tight player have that would push all-in that was not better than 8s with an ace kicker?!?!

--Jason "Easy money " Evans

Maybe he though you were drawing diamonds, or that you were trying to buy the pot with nothing.

Maybe you're a better actor than you think.

Maybe he should have passed on the last cocktail.

[snowdenscold]

That's what he gets for playing A8.

(Of course, the rare times I play is almost exclusively Limit Holdem, so take my remarks w/ a grain of salt)

[dukebsbll14]

If this was pre-2009 playoffs I would definitely say I hope A-Rod bluffs better than hitting in the clutch!

[JasonEvans]

Maybe he though you were drawing diamonds, or that you were trying to buy the pot with nothing.

Here's the thing, if I was trying to draw out a diamond flush but I had 2 cards higher than an 8 (like if I was Q-10 of diamonds), I am still a favorite to beat him. Not a big favorite, but around 55% or so. I guess pot odds would say he should call -- it was about $60 more for him to call and the pot would have been at 120ish prior to the call -- but that is about the best case scenario he is in unless I am 100% bluffing. If I have an overpair, which I did, then I have like a 75-80% chance of winning.

Aside from a stone cold bluff, and I had represented thus far that I was a fairly tight player, he was likely an underdog to any hand I had. I mean, unless he thought I would move all in if I had hit second pair, like if I had an A or K and a 4. But what kind of fool would make that play? Heck, even a stone cold bluff has a decent chance of beating him as 2 overcards have about a 25% chance of besting his 8s and 2 undercards are likely to be in decent position to draw out a straight on a 2-4-8 board.

The 2 very good Asian players on either side of me talked with me about it quietly for a while because none of us could come up with a sense of what he possibly thought I had (one guy put me on a high pocket pair, the other put me on a diamond draw with 2 overcards -- like J-K of diamonds). In the end, we concluded that he was a player who did not think about what other players might have... and we all enjoy playing against folks like that.

The sucker had been separated from his stack about 20-30 minutes later. I was just bummed I never got the cards to do it to him again

-Jason "the poker gods were cruel to me at one point, giving me pocket 9s and then flopping a 9... but everyone dropped out after I put out a measly $6 bet so I got no value from my trips" Evans

[OldPhiKap]

Here's the thing, if I was trying to draw out a diamond flush but I had 2 cards higher than an 8 (like if I was Q-10 of diamonds), I am still a favorite to beat him. Not a big favorite, but around 55% or so. I guess pot odds would say he should call -- it was about $60 more for him to call and the pot would have been at 120ish prior to the call -- but that is about the best case scenario he is in unless I am 100% bluffing. If I have an overpair, which I did, then I have like a 75-80% chance of winning.

Aside from a stone cold bluff, and I had represented thus far that I was a fairly tight player, he was likely an underdog to any hand I had. I mean, unless he thought I would move all in if I had hit second pair, like if I had an A or K and a 4. But what kind of fool would make that play? Heck, even a stone cold bluff has a decent chance of beating him as 2 overcards have about a 25% chance of besting his 8s and 2 undercards are likely to be in decent position to draw out a straight on a 2-4-8 board.

The 2 very good Asian players on either side of me talked with me about it quietly for a while because none of us could come up with a sense of what he possibly thought I had (one guy put me on a high pocket pair, the other put me on a diamond draw with 2 overcards -- like J-K of diamonds). In the end, we concluded that he was a player who did not think about what other players might have... and we all enjoy playing against folks like that.

The sucker had been separated from his stack about 20-30 minutes later. I was just bummed I never got the cards to do it to him again

-Jason "the poker gods were cruel to me at one point, giving me pocket 9s and then flopping a 9... but everyone dropped out after I put out a measly $6 bet so I got no value from my trips" Evans

Maybe he put you on Ad and 3d -- flush draw with a wheelhouse draw. Of course, that wouldn't make much sense either (although if an Ace came off he might draw you out on a bad beat).

I can't figure it, either. Just a mistake I guess.

[johnb]

I was much more concerned about this allegation about A Rod:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...e-books-author

And as for Poker, I think it just goes to show that Jason has a good memory.