Off topic: The smartest, most idiotic poker move ever.

As most of my classmates already know, I love poker. I wrote a story about it for Karen's class (which she did not hate, surprisingly) and have a neat little app for my phone called Live Hold'em Pro. Though many people have questioned why I use the app, I still find it fun. There are downsides, however.

1. You are not playing with any kind of legitimate transferable currency.

2. The app does not reward skillful play.

3. It's terribly addicting.

As far as I know, there are no real money poker apps yet. My girlfriend will confiscate my phone the minute they are ever released.

Anyway, back to the actual subject here. Those of you who understand poker, know that pocket aces (being dealt two aces) is the best possible hand pre-flop (before any cards are turned over). Usually when a player is dealt aces, he/she will make a massive raise. This is because (a) you don't want someone calling you with a 5-7 and catching a 6 - 8 - 9 (or other hands of the same nature), giving them a straight (five cards in numerical sequence), rendering your aces useless, and (b) if they are going to play poorly and call, the odds are greatly in your favour.

So, from what I just said, why would you ever fold pocket aces? The short answer is, you wouldn't. Which brings me to my next question: why did this man do it, and why was it the correct play?






If your too busy to have watched the video, I'll briefly explain. This guy basically says that he's going to fold every single hand in this tournament (a joke of course, because it would be impossible to win), and gets dealt aces. Phil Laak is dealt pocket sixes, a considerably worse hand than aces. Laak raises, this guy folds. One guy calls with pocket fours and the flop comes down: 6 - K - 6. Laak just flopped the nuts (best hand possible on the table at the current time).

I had a brief conversation with my brother about this play. Pre-flop, it was extremely stupid. You have just been dealt the best hand possible and haven't seen the flop yet, why on earth would you throw them away? He also could have made a HUGE raise and might've scared Laak away from the pot. But he didn't. He threw away the aces and saved himself from losing (possibly) a massive amount of chips.

I'm really torn on this one. I honestly don't know if what he did was genius or stupidity. Maybe he figured he'd just throw away the aces because he said he was going to and the universe would reward him for being truthful. Or maybe he just had a gut feeling that he had to get rid of them. Who knows? It's definitely the strangest play I've ever seen.