The Most Fickle Mistress

I like to play poker once in awhile. That's not particularly surprising, since EVERYBODY likes to play poker nowadays: the popularity of the World Series of Poker should be proof of that.

I'm not bad either. I consider myself an above average player. I'm not about to go spend $10k to take a crack at the World Series, but I play online for small stakes and I've always done pretty well.

I'm also smart enough to know when I need to take a break. This is one of those times.

It's rare to see four of a kind. It's even more rare to see it twice in 5 minutes. I've certainly never been beaten by it twice in five minutes.

In the game in question, I had pocket queens and, naturally, raised the blinds. A guy who had been playing loose the whole game promptly went all in, and I called without hesitation, laughing hysterically when he turned over king-five, unsuited. The odds of victory were very much in my favor.

Until the flop got turned over, showing king-king-king. Three freakin' kings on the flop, giving him four of a kind.

Unlucky, I think to myself. My stack has now been crippled. A few hands later, I get pocket aces, and I call a large bet. Flop comes out ace-six-four with no flush draws. I go all in.

The same guy calls me with seven-four unsuited. He has a lousy pair of fours. Again I laugh, saying to myself: the poker goddess is just. Now I'll get back a good chunk of that money I shouldn't have lost.

Well, by now you've probably guessed what happened. To my annoyance, the turn came up a four. That would have been okay, but the river was a four also, giving that same jackass four of a kind again.

Apparently the poker goddess is a fickle mistress.