The Rooster vs. Al Can't Hang

The Cowboys vs. The Eagles
Arsenal vs. Chelsea
Crown Royal vs. SoCo
Country vs. Metal
Short Hair vs. Long Hair

Now There Is:
The Rooster vs. AlCan’tHang???

Through the halls of human competition there have been epic battles that have been fought and won. Some battles so intense that a distain for the other side has lingered for years to come...but this my friends is what hatches new rivalries. One such new rivalry was born at the Venetian Hotel and Casino on December 8th, 2007. Between two warriors known to the blogger and poker world as The Rooster and Al Can’t Hang.

Sure there was the back and forth all day battle that took place between Otis and myself. And yes, that will be spoken about for many years to come in our community. Yet, those were more of the jostling type with each man giving and taking all day. And that is for my next post.

But if you wanted to see an all out war, a pissing contest, a self check of ones manhood, then please step to table number 17.

The shenanigans started early as I sat at my table and found Geek and Proud and F-Train to my right. To my left in the 1 seat was none other than Al Can’t Hang. In the North East he goes by more names than Apollo Creed did in Rocky Four...some are as follows: The Funny Hippie, The SoCo Basher, The Big Tipper, and of course Al Can’t Hang.

The table looked solid so I figured my best chance of doing any damage was to win a big hand and quickly. There was the usual back and forth at the table with everyone getting their legs under them more or less. I say more or less because The Rooster was going to draw the line in the sand.

The Line:

On what appeared to be a routine hand Al came out with a 3x the blind raise. The Rooster just called being that he was in the big blind. The flop came out all hearts and The Rooster checked. Al bet out strong. The Rooster came over the top for an all in. Al sat in the tank...thinking and pondering. The Rooster told Al that he would show the hand if Al were to fold. Was this a tilting device The Rooster was employing? No, actually it was a method to get someone to sucker bet into you taught by none other than Derek from Poker In The Weeds. Strong quick over-the-top bet to get a quick reaction. Al wasn’t biting. What did Al have under? He sat alone in the tank as everyone at the table watched...this was the first all in at the table. Was it Aces or Kings? The Rooster sat in silence and Al folded. The Rooster quickly showed Kh-2h to hit the flush on the flop.

There was silence at the table. The hand didn’t make sense to those at the table. Then Al let out the words, K-2? You called with K-2? Those words my friends will be carved in the monument built to this great rivalry.

Al Draws The Line:

Two orbits later after The Rooster took it upon himself to raise Al’s blind...Al drew the line. He looked over at The Rooster with a very serious tone and serious cadence, “Rooster, you keep raising my blind and I’m coming over the top next time.”

The Rooster let an orbit go by and raised Al’s blind again. Since there were two other people to act after him Al couldn’t do what he said. This is when The Rooster chimed in with, “Al, I thought you were going to go over the top on me?”

On the next deal as the cards are coming out Al looks over at The Rooster and states...All in blind?

It was a line that The Rooster in all his years had never encountered. Sure he had battles with Spaceman in the past...but this was an all in challenge without seeing the cards. The Rooster is not known to gamble much. There he stood with Al announcing it to the table. The Rooster was either going to crow or whimper. OK all in blind, The Rooster stated with his chest out.

All In!! The Rooster crowed.
All In!! Al Yelled!!

Low and behold what did he find under? Could that be KK? The Rooster peeked again...yep, KK.

A few at the other tables came to watch. The Rooster was feeling cocky about his KK hand. Al was quick to show his 8-8 and he felt good for those at the table let out an Ohhhh! Then The Rooster turned his cards and the table let out a bigger Ohhhhhh! Yet, as we know, all The Rooster’s KK went down in flames when the second card on the flop was an 8. The damage was done and very few chips were left for The Rooster to work with.

Al went out a few hands later when he got into a three handed all in...his AA ran into KK and a QQ with a K hitting on the flop.

The score is what you want it to be in this rivalry. The Rooster has it 1-1 at this time. It was short lived, intense and I’m sure these two warriors will call on one another soon enough for a battle of the blinds, a battle in the trenches, and a battle to see who has mas cajones. Until then, for those that were there, know that you witnessed an epic battle that is far from over and will be talked about amongst internet dweebs for years to come.

(As a side note: Al did rail me at the final table and was very happy for me. This was no way to say who is a better poker player or that we are not friends..it was just something that was fun that I wanted to write about.)

posted by Joaquin "The Rooster" Ochoa @ 2:01 PM