Found out on Sunday night we had lost a legend. Yes, Doyle Brunson, the Godfather of Poker, is gone. I think about the original WSOPs, the big Texas hat, and of course, ten and two. Who could forget his “go-to-junk hand”… the one that won him the WSOP back in the day. Do you ever play that hand?
I was reading some stuff about him, and how many times opponents have tried to play that hand against him… and how much money he had won off them… haha. 10 and 2 is NOT a good starting hand; not that far off from the worst starting hand of 7 and 2. Yet, it’s that hand that brought him a bracelet. If you succeed on a hand like that, you may end up playing it, again, and again, and again. Although you may not hit on it every time, because it’s your hand, you play it… and you do win on it. After all the poker that I have played over the years, I’m still looking for that hand… I thought I had found it at a midnight tournament at Caesar’s last year.
The night before I had won; I was part of the 8-person split of the pot, which was fine with me. I think I may have been 3rd in chip count, but walking away from a tourney with some profit… I’ll take it. The next night, I was back at that midnight Caesar’s tourney; I was back in the running, sitting at one of the final two tables. I was dealt 8-5. I wouldn’t mind 8-5… 85 Bears and all; I’d thought 7-6 would also be good, because it’s my birthday year. When the flop came 8-A-5, and a guy bet into me pretty large, I thought… this could be the hand. I believe I went all in, unless he had already done that. He flipped over his ace; I flipped over my 2 pair. Had a stranglehold on the hand; I thought… I finally found my hand!!! Well, then came the turn, and he found a 2nd pair… unfrickingbelievable. I was basically knocked out of the tournament, and more importantly, my junk hand had eluded me once again. I’m trying to remember that straight flush that I hit way back in the day at Monte Carlo; it gets tougher and tougher to remember details from Vegas trips. I hit the wheel in spades… I think I had 3-4 of spades, which would serve me well as a junk hand… 34 Sweetness… and flip it, 43 would turn out to be my son’s birthday… did I have my junk hand already established? Have I been missing playing this hand my whole life since then??? Have I been searching for something I found a long time ago??? WTF…
Last time I played I was in the Catskills Mountains in New York. I felt like I was in a shark pool there, surrounded by guys with years and years of experience who seemingly all knew each other. I dipped and dodged my way through that tourney, but eventually came up short; I believe I was in one of the final two tables. Guy told me there his junk hand… 5-3; he called it “The Yonkers”, because that’s where he was from. He told me, and showed me on his phone, instances where this hand paid him off in a large way; obviously, he always plays it. Another guy back in the day at work always played Q6; to this day I remember that. Did I really find my junk hand all those years ago?
As I read stuff about Doyle, I started thinking about poker, and all of my experiences. I started thinking about this whole 10-2 junk hand business. Now that I’ve talked my way through this… did I have 3-4 that hand? I know I didn’t have the ace. Was it 2-5, or 4-5, or 3-5? Which 2 rags did I have in my hand that night, when I got paid cash for that big hand, plus the pot. This is going to torture me. Only one way to find out… play this hand again. Maybe 3-4, or 4-3 is MY hand… I hope to be playing in that midnight tournament at Caesar’s again next month. Maybe I’ll confirm it. Maybe the search will officially be over. Maybe I will have my 10-2. RIP Doyle!
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