• Chips – ah, Chips! – is 10 again, placing the middle pair on the board. Again, the stakes are checked for me; so, feeling confident in the strength of my hand, I made a huge bet on Chips. Little Blind folds – no surprise there. But then the Big Blind picked me up! That’s a raise. What can he have? I have evaluated him as a pretty loose and deceptive player; he could have bluffed. On the other hand, it is possible that he went on a 10s trip. That will make the mince of my two-partner, Aces and 10’s.

I decided to call. Yes, he did travel on Chips. It’s not a bad beat – the most demoralizing way to lose a hand. There are only two more 10s on the deck – two out visit poker88. But, she’s also got Jack in the hole along with her 10s, so she actually has five outs in all – still a big task. The odds are more than 8 to 1 against it. Before Chips, I was about 90% favorite to take that pot.

It’s funny how long we can remember a hand like this – when we were Chips while holding such a strong hand. But there are two sides to Chips: Right edge and left edge. Being Chips may be the left side of Chips – the “wrong” side but, nevertheless, it is quite real.

But, it also works the other way around: The “right” side of Chips is when you are the lucky person who catches a card in Chips who suddenly raises your hand to the best – the winning hand! Somehow, we’re less inclined to remember that case – even though it could fill another chip rack for you, and put you ahead in the session.

You can scoop out the pot with a big smile on your face, when you announce to everyone, “Wow, I’m lucky!” – and rightly so.