Shaffer
Friday, January 14th, 2005, 8:21 PM
In one unbelievable night of poker at my home game, I wound up having four-of-a-kind no fewer than THREE hands over the course of a single $20 buy-in tournament with ~15 players. Two of these times, it was quad aces. Most incredible poker night of my life.
The first one happened early, about the 8th hand of the night, the first hand I played, and I'm sitting in the small blind staring at a pair of red aces. It's been raised once already, 3xbb, by the guy two seats to my left, a very loose cannon who has already doubled up, knocking out one of the weaker players. A middle position player (also very aggressive) called, and I decide just to call (based on a physical tell, I felt like a raise would have scared one, if not both, of them off).
The flop comes A:spade:K

6:heart:, and I'm doing cartwheels. I push out a small bet and, as expected, get raised by the loose cannon on my left. The third player folds. I call.
The turn comes: A:club:. I just about poop myself, and check. Loose Cannon bets big into me, about 2x the pot, I go a little Hollywood, and raise him all-in. He immediately calls, and the table gives a collective "woah" as I turn over my quad aces. What did LC have? A measley 6To (he's just that kind of player).
Unfortunately my hands between quads were far from spectacular, and I was crippled in an all-in hand where I had no fewer than 21 outs on the flop (flush draw, open straight draw, two overcards - needed flush, straight, or pair), and missed. I was on the verge of being knocked out when I was dealt 2:heart:8:heart: in the big blind and got to see the flop for free. I was glad that I did, since the flop came out 8:diamond:8:club:8:spade:, and once again I have to work to maintain the illusion that I'm not about to poop myself. I wound up doubling up, having the rest of the table marveling at the luck of someone hitting quads twice in one night.
From there I did well, eventually heading heads-up with even chips against the player who I believe to be the strongest of the group (next to me, of course:), and I raise with A:heart:8:spade: from the small blind, getting a call.
The flop comes A:diamond:A:club:A:spade:, and for the third time that night, I have to make a conscious effort not to poop myself.
Unfortunately, that hand, I was unable to squeeze another dime out of said player's grubby fingers - my minimal bet was answered with a hesitant fold. Maybe he picked up on some kind of tell - it shouldn't have been difficult.
Anyway, the moral of the story is, quads do happen in hold 'em, and I wouldn't get all bent out of shape even when you see them happening twice in a row. Three times in one night of real live poker (for the record, I dealt exactly zero of my quads hands) is unlikely as hell too, but not impossible, as my experience proves.