The first hand you are dealt split 3’s with a 6 in the hole. You have one three as your upcard and are the bring-in. There are 4 limpers and you see 4^th for free and immediately catch trip threes. You bet out and get called in 3 spots. Fifth comes an 8 and you bet out and get called in three spots. Sixth is a 10. You bet and are raised by a player with a 10, A, 7, K board, with a 10, A, K of hearts. You call and one other player calls. You fill up on the river with a 6. You have 3’s full of 6’s. You bet, one player folds, and then you get raised by the player who raised on sixth. You then reraise, only to have another raise put in by your opponent. Heads up, the betting is unlimited. How would you proceed?

The second hand you get to the river with an A, 8,6, 4, 3, Q,10, facing a board of 7, 6, A, Q with 3 spades. You bet on 4^th, and 6^th, and checked the river. Your opponent bet out on the river. What do you think was the result and how would you proceed.For the first scenario with the full house, how many of you put the player on a flush? How many of you would continue to raise with your full house? Remember you have a pair of 3’s showing with an 8, 10 on board. Any astute player seeing that you bet all the way is going to put you on a minimum of trips and when you bet out and reraise, they know you have a full house. When the player put in the 3^rd bet so quickly, the first thing that came into my head was ROYAL FLUSH. I actually just froze for a second when that realization hit me. This time, I went with my gut, stopped raising, and called the 3^rd bet. My opponent flipped over the Royal Flush. Paying close attention to what was going on saved me several bets. I would have probably put in another 2 or 3 bets if I thought I was getting raised by a normal flush, but with the way the hand unfolded, I figured I was beat, and I was. (I realize that there were other potential hands that could have possibly won. I just happened to guess the exact hand that had me beat.)

How many of you would have folded in the 2^nd scenario on the river? How many of you put the player on a flush, a better low, or at least a pair. Your best hope is that you 8 low somehow is good right? To my shock and amazement, I had a scoop hand. You read that correct, I scooped. I had AQ10 for high with an 8, 6 low. My opponent would up showing AQ8 for high with an 8, 7 low.

Poker is a funny game at times. I went from losing with a Full House to a Royal Flush to scooping with AQ10 and a crappy low in the span of three hands. Poker is funny that way. If you play, hopefully you have a sense of humor.