Kicker Problems

5 OCT 05

Coffee-housing is talking to your opponent in order to:

- Get information
- Create confusion

So, I’m playing heads up with my wife (okay, we’re poker geeks - got it). The specifics of the hand are a bit fuzzy now, but I had something like A 9 off-suit. The board comes A 10 2 rainbow, and she bets.

Now, you have to know my wife. She is not an aggressive player. It’s fair to say that when she’s betting, she has something. She has a couple of tells, and one of them said that she got a piece of that flop.

But, so did I.

Sometimes I can get information just by looking, but I decided to try a little coffee-housing. She’s looking at her chips (tell) and I say, “I got an Ace. You got an Ace?” She pauses ever so briefly (tell) before the tiniest smirk (tell) comes, and she says, “yup.”

I believe her.

“What’s your kicker?” I ask deviously. “You’ll have to bet to find out,” comes her smooth reply (TELL!!)

I go all-in (moron). She calls.

She had the Ace. Her kicker – another Ace.

Thank God we were playing for honor only.

Final thought: I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him. - Mark Twain