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16/02/2011 No. 101
he Guardian Poker Column
 
   
 
 
Victoria Coren
Wed 16 February 2011
 
 
 
Banana's winning hand

No apple pie, no burgers, no Coke – and who's got all the aces?

Sometimes, aces aren't the only thing it's hard to find in a poker tournament. Playing the UKIPT event at Dusk Til Dawn in Nottingham (a great club with skilled dealers and a lovely spirit), I watched Jeff Kimber order an apple pie and custard from the menu. The waitress came back twice – once to say they had no custard, then to say they had no apple pie. On the break, I went to a restaurant with Jeff for a hamburger and Coke, only to be told they had run out of burgers, buns and all fizzy drinks. I think the universe is telling the poker scene (or Nottingham) that it should have a healthier diet.
 
At least my curiosity was fed – by Jeff's tale of a mysterious hand he played during a £1k side event at the EPT London, against a chap who wins big online under the name Ugotabanana.

James Dempsey raised to 400 under the gun and an unknown German player called. Kimber, in the cut-off, reraised to 1350 with A J. This Banana, who was playing two events at once and shouting prop-bets across the room at his friends, flat called from the button. The others folded.

The flop came J 8 3. Kimber bet 2100 and Banana called. They both checked the K turn. The river was a blank. Kimber checked, Banana moved all in for 8,000 and Kimber folded.

What could Banana's hand have been? He invested 12% of his chips in a pre-flop call of a double raise. Then he smooth called on a dry flop. With his multi-tabling and noisy side betting, Banana was projecting a gambly image; can this have been a super-gutsy "float" with no hand, and a visionary bluff on the river? Or did he hit the weird flop?

Nah. I think he must have had aces.

 
 
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