Kevin Schaffel talks about his pocket aces
The odds of getting dealt pocket aces are 220 to 1. But Kevin Schaffel was blessed with the best starting hand in poker twice within an hour.
It was one time too many.
Schaffel’s aces were cracked Saturday in the World Series of Poker by Eric Buchman’s four kings, knocking out the Coral Springs resident in eighth place in Las Vegas.
Schaffel, 51, isn’t cursing the fates, although when he went all-in with his pocket rockets he was an 80 percent favorite.
“You might as well get used to it because if you keep playing you’re going to have these kind of beats,” he said Tuesday. “It was still a phenomenal experience. Not just good. Phenomenal.”
His tough-luck elimination also has elicited plenty of sympathy, because poker players love bad beat stories.
“There is no training manual on how to make that long walk to the rail, but if you need an example of how to do it proudly, you can look to Kevin Schaffel,” says Brad Willis, of PokerStars.net.
Now Schaffel says he’s going to get some rest, play some golf and get ready to pay more poker.
“I’ll be back,” he said. “Absolutely.”



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Comments
"A note to stats freaks: They say the best all-in you get is when you have pair-over-pair. You're an 80 percent favorite"
Really?
Odds of winning hand pre-flop with over pair against another (under) pair: Roughly 80%
Odds of winning hand pre-flop with over-pair against non-paired/non-connected/unsuited under cards: Roughly 90%
So I would say the latter situation is what'd you'd want to go all in against vs. an under-pair.
Posted by: soccerman | November 11, 2009 12:43 PM
Er, yes. Fair point.
Sure, I'd love A-A over K-10-off or better.
I'd also like to be at the table with players who'd call with K-10 off.
Posted by: Nick Sortal | November 11, 2009 1:51 PM