Playing the Drunk Maniac on his Lucky Day

Went to AC this weekend, and once again had a very long poker session... playing straight for 24-25 hours is an experience unlike any other, and I am happy to find out that I don't get as tired as you would think... may be I have chance to play in the WSOP some day...

There was a guy at our table that had the luckiest streak I have ever seen so far... (don't ask me why I didn't switch tables, probably should have at some point... but there was easy money on that table also...)

Anyway, this guy was drunk and raised every hand for about 7-8 hours... and I am not kidding... he would raise it pre-flop, bet about 75% of those hands on the flop and the turn, and pretty much move all-in on the river on about 60-70% of the hands he was in... what's surprising you ask... ? the surprising (and while it was happening, very frustrating) part is that he would always have the nuts... or close to that... and I am not talking just flush draws and straight draws coming through... I am talking hands like this...

the guy raises from middle position

flop comes A , K, 8 rainbow

he bets pot

turn comes 4 (making a flush possible)

he bets 50+% of the pot

river comes 6 (no flush)

he bets pot

now the other guy in this hand was a very conservative player and was calling his bets... pretty much everyone on the table knew he had atleast two pair or probably a set on the flop... so he calls... the lucky, drunk guy flips over 5-7 off-suit.... don't ask me how....

and this was just one example...

another hand...

on a board of A-Q-7, he pushes all in... one guy calls with his A-7... the drunk guy has Q-5 in his hand... guess what the turn and the river were... 5 and yes, another 5...

so anyway, this guy keeps making stupid bets and calls all night long, and kept getting lucky pretty much everytime... I called him with some good hands but the flops were just not coming my way... I kept thinking to myself, how long can this possibly go on... after all, how long can one person defy mathematics and laws of statistics...

and so he would raise, I would call with what seemed like a very good hand at the time, A-Q, A-J, A-10 suited, 9-9, J-J.... whatever.... but nothing, I was down almost $500 at one point without losing more than $15-20 in any particular hand against that guy... and for a while I kept on trying playing good poker against him... and was getting baffled as to why I just kept losing against him...

but then, I realized something that is actually obvious and I guess pretty much everyone knows it, but you forget it in the heat of the battle...

poker, has a factor of luck in it, a big factor... and the difference between a good player and a very good player is that the very good one knows when to get out of the way of a falling tree and just lay low for a while... after all, there are always other people on the table who are weak and you can simply play against them and make the night profitable...

so, lesson for the future... if you are up against a lucky, drunk guy... stay out of his way... poker is not a game of going head on against the biggest raging bull you find... it's a game of trampling little sheep that are always around....