From: jfr@RedBrick.COM ()
Subject: Re: Is 4-of-a-kind a Pat Hand?
Organization: Red Brick Systems, Los Gatos, CA
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 04:33:22 GMT

In article <1992Nov9.015743.25990@walter.bellcore.com> Jonathan Rosenberg <jxr@thumper.bellcore.com> writes:
>I wrote:
>>  Every book I have ever read on the subject says that if you hold this
>>  remarkable hand, you should randomly (yeah, sure, like I am going to
>>  hold this hand several times in the next few weeks so I will decide
>>  randomly :-) draw or not draw the fifth card solely to confuse the
>>  other players.  Right :-)  My guess is draw and have a 6-gun ready
>>  in case it turns out you needed the high kicker you pitched :-)  
>
>>  If you 4-of-a-kind pat is beaten in a draw game, you might consider
>>  giving up poker for life.  Or entering a monastary (oh, same thing :-)
>
>Oh, come on, JR.  4-of-a-kind ain't that rare.  Last trip to LV I had
>three 4-of-a-kind's playing Omaha hi-lo, all within a few days.

  Uh, "young" JR, we WERE talking about draw poker here :-)  Today in
  the Garden City Omaha tournament, I had one and in one hand at another
  table, TWO players had quads (4-Ks beat 4-treys).  The worst part was
  that some schnook played Aces full of Kings to the end on the same
  hand (board was K-3-K-A-3).  Big pot, to be sure :-)
>
>(My favorite was when I was dealt 4 10's as my Omaha hole cards.  Those
>of you familiar with Omaha will appreciate the irony in this.  Also, you
>will realize that I REALLY only two 4-of-a-kinds.)

  Yeah, Omaha is the answer to the trivia question, "in what poker game
  would you get dealt four Kings and immediately fold"!  <snicker>

  For those who don't understand Omaha, you get four cards down and
  then five cards up in the center, but you MUST play two cards from
  your hand and three from the board.  Four kings is essentially useless.
  It gives you a pair that can be beaten quite easily, no chance to get
  trips let alone quads from the board, and no low possible.  It is 
  the essence of a losing hand (while in draw it would be a virtual
  guaranteed winner, 99.9 percent of the time).  
>
>If you haven't been beaten with 4-of-a-kind, you've still got your poker
>cherry.

  I have never been beaten with 4 of a kind, although I got beaten in
  Omaha holding a straight flush (by a higher straight flush, of course).
  That's actually more likely to happen in Omaha or Holdem then getting
  beaten with quads.

  In 7-card stud, once, I was dealt rolled up quad kings, and found my
  self in a raising war between two other guys!!:-)  This was $1-4 limit,
  and I just blithely called every raise up to the $16 max per round,
  without ever once raising.  At the end, the guy on my left resignedly
  turned over Aces full of Jacks (he had a set of Aces to start) and said
  something like "I wish I was in Gardena" (this was at the Maxim where there
  were no bad beat jackpots, or at least at that time).  The guy on my
  right confidently turned over his four ladies and was a bit pissed when
  I made some smart aleck comment like "not so fast, I have two pair,
  kings and kings". (I probably should have realized that this would not
  be taken too well :-) ah, I was in my youth, then :-)  He looked pretty
  shaken when he got up and left the table for good.  Nice pot :-)
>  
>>  Jon Rosen
>
>JR
>
JR :-)