BEATEN by Royal Flush

Happy Halloween!  New granddaughter, Eva & her dog, Lola  (Eva is the one on the right side)

Well, if you are going to get knocked out of a tournament, it might as well be with the mother of all monsters.  Flopping top pair, K/3 in big blind (and a really bad flush draw with the 3), I went all in, being called by A/10 offsuit, the ace was diamonds.  With both a king and queen of diamonds, he "only" needed running 10 and jack of diamonds, which he got.  Sick.

Next online tournament, fairly short stack, about 1/2 of original chips, flop two pair (K/5) in big blind, with 2 spades up I shove.  Called by Q/10 ...there was a 10 on the flop, runners for straight, J, A.  Again, sick.

Now playing in a very weird game, Royal Hold 'Em.  This is a game played 6 handed.  All of the cards below 10 have been removed.  Minimum hand to win, 2 pair , but more common minimum is straight.  You see quads, royal flushes, and full houses beaten by bigger full houses.  It is a very strange game.  Back to back hands won with quads, my jacks vs. queens full, and quad kings by another player.  This is a beatable game, but luck plays a huge part.

Sudden realization:  These online players are awful!  With little or no "skin" in the game ($19.99/mo) they are often playing any two cards hoping to get lucky.

The other game on this site is "No River Hold'em".  You are dealt 3 cards.   In this game you see a flop and turn only.  Like omaha, you can play 2 cards, or one card like hold'em, or you can play all 3. so, in my opinion the strongest hands are in order of strength:  trips (pretty rare, but have seen it), suited connectors (all 3 cards), 3 of a suit (cause you only need 2 on the board to have a flush), and finally big pairs.  Most other hands are garbage, but you can always come up with 2 pair or better.  Both of these games are not for the faint of heart, and luck plays a much bigger part than hold em.