I was watching PPT on the Travel Channel… actually, I’m still watching it. Has anyone noticed that when someone goes out, when there’s a showdown, there is a clapping noise? I didn’t even think about it at first, but then I was like, “Hey, there’s no audience there!” Did focus groups like it better with the fake clapping?

Anyway, this guy with the second best hand smooth calls on the river. (I apologize. If you don’t know anything about poker, you should probably stop reading.) That’s not what my title refers to, though. The way he played the hand reminded me of something I’ve been meaning to write about.

I caught a flush — an Ace-high flush on the turn. I was playing the hand such that my opponent definitely had no idea I had a flush. (Forgive me for forgetting the details.) Then, my opponent bets on the river and all I do is call. Horrible, horrible move! I should’ve looked at the cards and realized that there was no hand out there that could beat me. I had the “nuts”, so to speak. In that position, I definitely should’ve raised.

I still went on to win that small little tournament with some friends (with a little luck at one point beating pocket 9’s with pocket 8’s after going all-in pre-flop), but that’s no reason to be complacent about the way I played that night.

I hope to turn this into a regular feature on my blog, talking about the worst hand I played.