Thanks to tribefan9 (no, he doesn't post anymore but some people know who he is), I've learned a terrific new term: The A$$hole Card. Evidently it originated in Chicago, but I think we should spread it, for if nothing else it will shorten the length of bad beat stories.
The a$$hole card is the one card in the deck that can come to cost you the maximum. Maybe you're currently ahead, hit a card to improve your hand, but it gives someone else the nuts and you lose the max. Or maybe you're behind, you hit your hand, but it hits someone else's hand harder and you lose the max. There are all kinds of ways to suffer the fate of the a$$hole card, and for some reason I've seen almost all of them over the past few weeks. Hopefully this thread, like the "hand where you ruin someone's life" thread can flourish for months and months to come. So please, post that special hand you just played where the a$$hole card bent you over backwards.
Some examples from my recent sessions:
Your typical ass hole card happens like so. I open A
8
in the hijack and the button cold-calls me with J
T
. The flop comes K
Q
8
. I bet, he calls. What's the ass hole card? You guessed it -- an Ace! Boom right on the turn. I bet, he raises, I call down. No other card in the deck costs me 3 big bets.
Here's a fun one. I open UTG with K
Q
. One guy cold-calls, another guy cold-calls OTB with the Q
9
, and the SB calls with the Q
9
. The flop comes down A
9
5
. OK, easy flop for me to get away from. I check intending to fold. It checks around. What's the ass hole card? That's right, the Q
. One outer. I'm 42:1 against seeing it hit the turn, but once it does, boom. I lose two BBs. Coulda come a brick and I just fold. Coulda come a K and I win. But no, it comes the a**hole card.
Sometimes the a$$hole card is really creative and you don't even see it. Some LAG opens. You 3-bet TT in MP. The SB decides to take 2.5 to the face. The flop comes J82r. You bet, SB calls, LAG folds. Turn T! Huzzah! Except he has 97s and you lose many chips.
Tonight I also saw the a**hole
flop in a 3-way pot. Of course I was involved. UTG open-limps with the Q9s. Folded to me in the SB and I complete Q8o. Passive BB knuckles 97o. What's the a$$hole flop? Q97. Not as bad for me as for the 97, but I bet, BB raises, UTG 3-bets, I fold, and BB calls down.
Just once I'd rather just miss my flush. But no, I open A
K
and get cold-called by 5
5
. The flop is J
2
2
. What's the a**hole card? That's right, it's the 5
. Now I get to lose at least 3 more BBs.
Or how about this? Say you open K
Q
and get cold-called by the A
9
. The flop obliges you with the delicious K
7
3
. How can you lose this hand? You're gold! But no, alas, thanks to the ass hole card, which of course is another diamond, you lose the max. He can't hit his ace, because then you don't go nuts. But no, you improve to the second nuts and get raped.
The ass hole card isn't just a bad beat; it's not just getting cold-decked. It's that one card -- often literally one specific card -- that makes sure you not only lose the pot, but lose as many bets as possible. My 2008 has been one a$$hole card after another.
Let's hear yours...
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