Credits: Lucky Go Happy by CathyK Designs
Journaling: We support Paws and Whiskers Cat Shelter in many ways and today, just a week after bringing home our new baby, Carla, it was the Paws Texas Hold ‘em Tournament.
I like Texas Hold’em. It’s fun and I’ve played with friends and family a lot. I’m not anything to write home about in my prowess as a card shark. I never expect to play long. I paid my entry to the tournament to support the kitties and socialize with other cat lovers. Imagine my surprise when I just didn’t get knocked out. Ours was the last table finishing up in the first half and David came over to watch our last hand. I think he was as shocked as me that I was still at the table.
I checked my hold cards. I had a pair of sevens. To be honest, I had homework reading and brought my text book to read during the finals, figuring David would make it and I wouldn’t. I was also having trouble seeing the table cards when the dealer was on the other side of the table like this hand and was really ready to be out of the tournament. So I bet on the sevens. I watch enough poker on TV with David that I know you should always bet cards that aren’t worth betting like they are something specific and don’t change it. That’s for a successful bluff; I wanted it to appear that it was a failed bluff so it wouldn’t be embarrassing or insulting to other players that actually wanted to be in the finals. So my sevens were aces to me
Remember I said I couldn’t see the table cards well? I knew there was nothing that would help my sevens and there was a face card, maybe two. SOMEONE had to have a higher pair at least. So I bet my “aces.” Through the flop and turn and watched my opponents fold around me. When the last one folded he asked me, “did you have the flush?” I smiled and said “You needed to stick around to find out.”
When David and I got in the car to go get dinner he complimented me on my play and asked me if I made “the flush.” I told him I had a pair of sevens. “You bluffed a flush with a pair of sevens?!”
I told him I couldn’t even see the cards on the other side of the table. I just played my pair of sevens and got the impression the board wasn’t so great because no one else had anything. I didn’t know there was a possible flush to bluff.
So a pair of sevens got me into the finals, but my blind luck didn’t last all afternoon. After a few hands in the finals I went all-in and went out. It gave me some reading time while David finished. He didn’t take home prize money either. But the important winners today are the cats who still need support while they hope for a forever home.
