Good Idea - Terminal Outcome

Thomas Cromwell was a genius. Methodical, detached, calculating - he was the thought tank behind much of Henry VIII’s reign, and revolutionised government in England. Already popular with his ruthless King, he sought to cement his position following the death of Jane Seymor, by securing a 4th wife for ‘ol Henry.

This is where his ingenuity came into play. English wives were out of the question - Cromwell had already hacked off the English noblemen with his streamlined new government (clearly he did not want to strengthen an enemy’s position). Catholics where not an option either, as his boss had already stuck his fingers up at the Pope during the Katherine of Aragon debacle. Eureka! “If I marry him into the Protestant German nobility” mused Cromwell “it will forge a diplomatic alliance against the European Catholic powers. The boss will be most pleased”.

Undoubtedly a fine plan, but Cromwell hadn’t factored in the painting style of the artist he sent over to “capture the beauty” of Anne of Cleves. It seems he adopted a bit of creativeness in his work, and happy Henry finalised his marriage on the basis of the painting. Upon meeting her face to face, it seems Henry experienced the medieval version of “who the hell is that lying next to me?”. It was the beginning of the end for Mr Cromwell and he was executed within a year. Cromwell had come up with an idea that could have benefited England on a global scale, but it ended up costing his life.

And so on to the Better Poker tournament last night - £50 freezeout, and 3k guaranteed so not to be sniffed at. 55 runners, so Better only just fell short of their guarantee, but the field contained several beginners and the action was fast and loose.

I had already suffered a bad beat with QQ v K9 all in preflop in a 1800 pot, when my “Cromwell Hand” occurred:

I am back up to 2800 (from a 3500 start) after winning a few small pots after the QQ nonsense. I am UTG and get dealt A♣K♣.

I decide to limp for 200, and the person next to act raises to 800. Now, normally I’d flat call him here when it is folded round to me, because if an Ace comes on the flop, if he has a weaker Ace, it is virtually impossible for him to put me on AK, and I will likely win all his chips.

However, I am forced to change the plan when THREE other people call the raise to 800. Since there is now 3700 in the pot before I have decided what to do, a unique opportunity has presented itself. I actually have to chance to execute a squeeze play with a premium hand. Make no mistake, when I push for 2000 more I don’t want any callers, because of the size of the pot. However, my actions certainly look like AA or KK rather than AK, and it is pretty hard for people to call without really strong hands, even given the size of the pot.

I give it a little thought and decide to push (I really think there is no other option here given the way the hand has played out), but unfortunately I am called in two spots by JJ and AQ. In fairness, they both give it a bit of thought before doing so, and incredibly it’s the AQ with scoops the 10k plus pot as two Queens rain down on the flop to bust me and the JJ holder.

Good idea, terminal outcome.