Bad beat tonight that's really got me steamed. It's (probably) my fault. I don't know what I'm going to tell my wife or how I'm going to handle things when I run into the villain tomorrow. Could use your advice...
I was doing some reading in the living room when my seven year old walks in. I tell him he's supposed to be in bed. He says he can't sleep. Asks if we can play cards. I say 15 minutes and then back to bed. We start 5c/10c heads up. He's playing fairly nitty...limping in if it is a cheap call but folding quickly in the face of any sizable bet. One hand he uncharacteristically raises on the turn, so I fold. He's disappointed because he had a high pair and an open-ended straight draw against my low pair. I laugh in his little face for being so transparent. He gets a couple lucky wins in there, eliminating my stack lead, but I figure the price was worth it: I have his style of play pretty well figured out by now. I start slowly but surely chipping away at his stack.
Then it all falls to pieces.
The last hand I start with
. Villain is on the button. I call. He checks. The flop hits 
. I check. He checks back. The turn hits 
. I'm thinking, I may have nothing, but so does he and at least I have Ace kicker for the pair of tens. Possible flush draw for him (this kid loves to play flush draws) but my blocker reduces his odds. I test the waters with 25c. The villain goes into the tank! Looks really worried. Checks and re-checks his cards. Stares at the board. Motions like he's going to muck his hand. Hesitates. Then calls! I remind him he does not have to call...he is allowed to fold. He says, weakly, "but I have the best hand." Obvious bluff, I'm thinking. River hits 
. Flush draw for villain is off the table! Pot is sizable enough that I want it. On the off chance he paired the eight or five, I decide to bully him out with a 50c raise. The villain insta-raises 
"all in" and slides his stack of quarters forward. My heart drops. I tell him if he's all in, he needs to put in his nickels too. Without missing a beat he says (stone cold) "I don't have to. You don't have enough." Quick stack count later and I realize he's right: the kid has me covered! I'm sweating bullets, now. Is this a continuation bluff? Or did I really misread it this badly? Villain is just staring at me. I'm not sure what to do, but I really want to see his hole cards...so...I hero call.
He immediately flips over
. That son of his mother (and my wife) had flopped trip 10s! And checked it all the way to the river!
The worst part is how smugly he tells me, as I'm tucking him back into bed, that I owe him "$3 tomorrow". My wife has no idea what just happened - she slept through all of this! Not sure how I'm going to tell her in the morning that I lost $3 tonight. There is a way I may be able to get out of it, though. You see, my wife has some leverage over the villain - he really likes her breakfasts. He just might be willing to forgive the debt in exchange for an extra piece of cinnamon toast. Not sure it is fair to put my wife in that compromising position though. And I'd also have to admit to her my loss. I am also considering just denying the whole thing and accusing the villain of cheating. Might work if I can get to his siblings before he does.
If you were me, would you have played this hand differently? And how would you handle tomorrow? I'm really torn. Help!
I managed to get a photo of the final board:
I was doing some reading in the living room when my seven year old walks in. I tell him he's supposed to be in bed. He says he can't sleep. Asks if we can play cards. I say 15 minutes and then back to bed. We start 5c/10c heads up. He's playing fairly nitty...limping in if it is a cheap call but folding quickly in the face of any sizable bet. One hand he uncharacteristically raises on the turn, so I fold. He's disappointed because he had a high pair and an open-ended straight draw against my low pair. I laugh in his little face for being so transparent. He gets a couple lucky wins in there, eliminating my stack lead, but I figure the price was worth it: I have his style of play pretty well figured out by now. I start slowly but surely chipping away at his stack.
Then it all falls to pieces.
The last hand I start with
. Villain is on the button. I call. He checks. The flop hits . I check. He checks back. The turn hits . I'm thinking, I may have nothing, but so does he and at least I have Ace kicker for the pair of tens. Possible flush draw for him (this kid loves to play flush draws) but my blocker reduces his odds. I test the waters with 25c. The villain goes into the tank! Looks really worried. Checks and re-checks his cards. Stares at the board. Motions like he's going to muck his hand. Hesitates. Then calls! I remind him he does not have to call...he is allowed to fold. He says, weakly, "but I have the best hand." Obvious bluff, I'm thinking. River hits . Flush draw for villain is off the table! Pot is sizable enough that I want it. On the off chance he paired the eight or five, I decide to bully him out with a 50c raise. The villain insta-raises "all in" and slides his stack of quarters forward. My heart drops. I tell him if he's all in, he needs to put in his nickels too. Without missing a beat he says (stone cold) "I don't have to. You don't have enough." Quick stack count later and I realize he's right: the kid has me covered! I'm sweating bullets, now. Is this a continuation bluff? Or did I really misread it this badly? Villain is just staring at me. I'm not sure what to do, but I really want to see his hole cards...so...I hero call.He immediately flips over
. That son of his mother (and my wife) had flopped trip 10s! And checked it all the way to the river!The worst part is how smugly he tells me, as I'm tucking him back into bed, that I owe him "$3 tomorrow". My wife has no idea what just happened - she slept through all of this! Not sure how I'm going to tell her in the morning that I lost $3 tonight. There is a way I may be able to get out of it, though. You see, my wife has some leverage over the villain - he really likes her breakfasts. He just might be willing to forgive the debt in exchange for an extra piece of cinnamon toast. Not sure it is fair to put my wife in that compromising position though.
And I'd also have to admit to her my loss. I am also considering just denying the whole thing and accusing the villain of cheating. Might work if I can get to his siblings before he does.If you were me, would you have played this hand differently? And how would you handle tomorrow? I'm really torn. Help!
I managed to get a photo of the final board:
