New Orleans -- When the Saints Go Marching In (and take my money)

NEW ORLEANS -- "I have to call," I tell Morpheus in the Sham Seat (Seat 10) after he makes it $15 from the small blind and three other people call his pre-flop raise before it reaches me (Seat 9) at the button.

And the flop: KQA, two clubs (the king and queen). Morpheus makes it $60, one guy folds, this old guy who I called "Carolina Dolly," since he had the same facial features as Doyle Brunson, except he was all decked out in a Carolina blue shirt, jacket and hat, calls. This Asian guy to my right also calls the $60.

I have A9 of clubs.

"Hmmm," I say, bouncing my head from side to side as I re-check my cards, doing my best Daniel Negreanu imitation.

"I think I'm all in," I say, as I shove $179 into the pot.

Then the pot takes on a dreamy quality. Morpheus calls. Carolina Dolly is all-in for $600 more. Asian guy calls. Morpheus calls for $600.

After my terrible move last night online where I folded top boat thinking I was beat by quads in a $1/2 pot-limit O8 game on Poker Stars, I wandered across the street to Harrah's New Orleans where I quickly found an open seat in a NL$1/2 game. I figured I might as well play until Kelley was free.

The casino, as can be expected on a Thursday night, was lively and loud. A full-on band of trumpeteers and trombonists came right by the rail of the poker room blasting that local favorite, "When the Saints Go Marching In." It was lively and basically a good time.

I thought my reraise was going to do a few things. My equity was really good, but I wanted to make sure that I would be able to see both turn and river cards. I thought there was a chance that I could push Carolina Dolly and the Asian guy out of the pot since they only called with a very real flush draw threat on the board. I put Morpheus on a good ace.

When everyone called, I was excited that this would be a defining hand of the trip, just like the nice all-in draw I made at the Excalibur a week ago with 45s to win a huge pot.

The turn card came a Q. The river a K. No help.

Carolina Dolly flipped over JT, for a flopped straight. No help, since Morpheus had aces up on the flop with AQ and ended up with queens full of kings. Carolina Dolly tried to say that he never said he was all-in preflop (which is what someone would do with a flopped straight) but everyone disagreed. He counted out $600 in chips for Morpheus.

But Morpheus wasn't the only winner. The Asian guy had KJo, for kings full of queens.

Breaking it down on the flop:

Carolina Dolly: 45 percent chance to win, 6.95 percent chance to tie with flopped straight
Morpheus: 13.29 percent chance to win, 1 percent chance to tie with flopped aces up
Asian player: 1.22 percent chance to win, 6.95 percent chance to tie with pair of kings
Kurokitty: 33.05 percent chance to win, 1 percent chance to tie with top pair, nut flush draw.

My all-in bet (called by so many people) was less than a quarter of the pot. It would have been really nice to win the $800 pot but I was glad I made the right move.

Later the table broke when both Morpheus and the Asian player left with pretty much everyone's money. I left feeling like the Falcons at the SuperDome. It's so hard to win on the road, especially when it's New Orleans' week.