My Early Knock Out

For me there is nothing more embarrassing at a poker table than an early knockout. What is an early knockout you ask? I'm glad you asked. Let me give you an example.

One Friday evening I had an itch. Not the kind that requires a medical cream but the kind of itch that could only be soothed by a poker room. So I grabbed my life savings of $40 and headed out the door to Morongo. From my house Morongo takes about 25-30 minutes. That doesn't seem too bad but when you go on a Friday night you are looking at another 25 minutes of circling around the parking structure looking for a parking space. Then when you find one there is the walk. I am the type of person that doesn't like riding in a crowded elevator so I hike down the 3600 or so flights of stairs to the bottom. Hey maybe this is why some poker players claim they are athletes (once again this is a whole other discussion which I am currently writing about). Even though by now it is around 1:00 in the morning the poker room is completely packed with people. I tell myself (for not the first or last time) how stupid I am to come here on a Friday night. I push my way to the front and put my name on the list. I have to wait about 45 minutes before my name is called. I sit down at the table and bust out my $40 which, as I already know, is the minimum buy-in. I have so much confidence in my game that $40 is all I need. Finally I am ready to play! On my first hand I get dealt pocket Kings and I can hardly contain my excitement when my opponent raises. I decide to take it slow and just call him. The flop comes and now I have 3 of a kind and at that moment the best hand possible. Yippee! So it goes down like this. He bets, I raise, and then he calls me all in to which I immediately call. Long story short he beats me with a flush on the river and other than another 25 minute drive home my night is at an end. That my friends is an early knock out. I guess I could have just said in the beginning that an early knock out is losing everything on your first hand but then we wouldn't have gotten to spend this time together and where is the fun in that?

Now that you know about my early knock out your next question is probably "was it worth it?". Well, lets recap: 30 minute drive + 20 minutes for parking/3600 (or so) flights of stairs + 45 minute wait for a table + 30 minute (angry) drive home = 2 hours and 5 minutes. All that for one $40 hand of poker….yes it was worth it.