Best online poker games on Launchpoker.com

  I bet you haven't met many poker players that have ever laid down a full house in a cash game or a tournament. Earlier this week during a 20K guarantee tournament on Party Poker I laid down a full house to a possible strait flush. It was a very tough decision but it was the difference between 1050th place and 32nd.



  I began the hand with pocket 6's in late position. The blind was not raised so I limped in with hopes to see a cheap flop. The flop rolled out 5S-6S-7S. I had about 8500 in chips and the only other caller in the hand had about 7900 in chips. My opponent had position on me and played typical strong-weak/weak-strong poker. I knew this because the hand prior to this, I busted him with Q after he pushed all in to a pot with 400 in it. He was amazed I called with only Ace and commented after that hand that he was going to bust me. I checked my set of 6's to him and he checked back. Right away I knew he had something big because he only checked when he had a big hand. I was not about to start betting into a flush so I was cautious and hopped for the board to pair.



  The turn came and I couldn't be happier. A 5 fell giving me 6's full. I knew I had to milk this so I bet 500 which was roughly the size of the pot. He immediately smooth called my raise which made me even more cautious. I thought to myself that he may have put me on a PP and was fearful of the full house. The more I thought about this the more I concluded to myself that he was not sophisticated enough as a poker player to think this out in this sort of manner and was trying to slow play a big hand.



  The river brought my nightmare card which was the 8S. I was fearful of this because I knew my opponent had a flush and knew that he was holding a weak card. Because he did not raise pre-flop I immediately eliminated the possibility he had an AK, AQ, AJ, AT, or even 77. All of these hands are raise worthy in my opponent's eye and I knew this. I immediately thought to myself that he could be holding the AS 4S or maybe a KS 9S. I threw out a tester bet of 1K and he immediately went all in. Now I know what you may be thinking based on what I said earlier but this case scenario made me think. I added up everything that had happened up to this point in my head. I knew he was mad about a previous call earlier and was dying to catch me slipping. I also knew that he did not immediately push back me on the flop and the turn: a play in which he made when he was not very strong. I also knew that he knew I was capable of calling his all-ins when he made them. With all this built up in my mind I decided to make one of the hardest plays I have ever made in my poker career. I folded the 6's full and he showed his hand.



  Not only did he have the strait flush but he flopped it with the 4S 3S. I couldn't believe that I made such an accurate read on my opponent and to this day no one at that table believes that I folded 6's full. I continued to play this tournament with more confidence than I have ever had at the poker table. I ended up taking 32nd to a bad beat when another opponent (who ended up getting first by the way) tried to steal my BB on the button with an A 5 while I was holding QQ. I called his all in and he spiked an ace on the river. Plays like this give me confidence in my game to hang with the big boys and be able to compete with the best this summer. Hopefully I make a smooth transition into the professional world of poker and will continue to stay focused and play to the best of my ability.