By Piccadilly Station I Sat Down And Wept

There is an advert on TV at the moment for Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's an interesting advert because it's a semiologist's dream. Ostensibly, it's an advert for the KFC "Mum's Night Off" Bucket, costing a mere £12.99 (that's about $25 in your quaint monotone money).

But dig deeper and you see that, far from being a "Mum's Night Off" BUcket, it's a "lazy fucks family" bucket. Because the KFC Mum's Night Off Bucket doesn't so much emphasize the "finger lickin' good" aspect of KFC, as the fact that there is no cutlery to wash up. Yep, this is not just food for the family too-lazy-to-cook, it's food for the family too-lazy-to-wash-up as well. It's an advert of true despair.

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A brief hand history. It appears the epitome of simplicity, but it's a hand where many players seem to go wrong.


Table Pine Meadow
Seat 1: jkbergu ($19.00 in chips)
Seat 2: PhilEdmond ($67.50 in chips)
Seat 3: Alfred2006 ($64.00 in chips) DEALER
Seat 4: Hero ($216.00 in chips) Small Blind
Seat 5: liana211 ($100.00 in chips) Big Blind
Seat 6: sacavinasse ($111.50 in chips)
Seat 7: curryninja ($200.50 in chips)
Seat 8: megaacess ($112.50 in chips)
Seat 9: stubbie ($56.00 in chips)
Seat 10: skreppo ($107.50 in chips)

*** HOLE CARDS ***

Dealt to stubbie [D4 DK]
Dealt to Hero [D8 C9]
Dealt to sacavinasse [C8 CQ]
Dealt to PhilEdmond [HA D7]

sacavinasse: Call $2.00
curryninja: Fold
megaacess: Fold
stubbie: Call $2.00
skreppo: Fold
jkbergu: Fold
PhilEdmond: Call $2.00
Alfred2006: Fold
Hero: Call $1.00
liana211: Check

A limp with 98o is okay here.


*** FLOP *** [C7 D5 D6]

I would say that nine out of 10 $2-$4 players would check here. Indeed, in the past, I have done so myself. But it's a mistake. People think that, the more oppomemts you have, the more likely it is that there will be a bet into you, but in cases where all players have limped in (indicating, per se, a lack of aggression) you will frequently get it checked round. Then some donkey card comes on the turn. Now you bet, no-one is getting odds for their hand, and they all fold.

As Gary Carson observed, a check here is a big mistake made in the vague hope that your opponenets will make a bigger one later on. If you bet, and all players call, then some of your opponents might be getting correct odds to call on the turn that they would not otherwise have been getting. But, hell, so what? Their mistake has already been made, on the flop.

Hero: Bet $2.00
liana211: Fold
sacavinasse: Call $2.00
stubbie: Call $2.00
PhilEdmond: Call $2.00

One player is drawing to a flush and the idiot end of the straight. Another player is drawing to tie, and the third player is virtually drawing dead.

*** TURN *** [S3]
Hero: Bet $4.00
sacavinasse: Call $4.00
stubbie: Call $4.00
PhilEdmond: Call $4.00

One opponent has hit his idiot end of the straight. To be frank, I'm surprised that stubbie didn't raise here. He effectively has the second-nut straight and a draw to a flush. But, well, it was one of those weak-passive games that you see so rarely these days. The other two players are still showing strange optimism. Clearly their call on the flop has got them emotionally involved.

*** RIVER *** [SQ]

I'm still sitting on the nuts.

Hero: Bet $4.00
sacavinasse: Call $4.00 (I've hit top pair. It might be good).
stubbie: Call $4.00 (I still have the second-nut straight even though I've missed my flush.)
PhilEdmond: Call $4.00 (I'm the last to bet. If I fold and I'm winning, I'll be on tilt for the next three days.)

*** SUMMARY ***

Total pot $47.50 Rake $2.50
Hero: wins $47.50

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