Sensei’s Poker Dojo

Today I invented a new poker term. Well, invented may not be the correct word. I did not actually create the term itself, I simply chose a pre-existing term from soccer that seemed to apply perfectly to a unique situation in poker.

In soccer, stoppage time is the last few minutes of a game¹, added to the clock at the referee’s discretion to make up for time lost by injuries and other delays. So in poker, stoppage time is the short series of hands that you play after the last fish leaves the table but before you have to pay the BB again. Most players probably tighten up during those hands to avoid losing any of their profits, or if they happen to be stuck (but still wise enough to leave the table when the fish are gone) they might loosen up to try and win some of it back. When I have already posted my big blind and the dead money leaves, I’ll post the SB too so that I can see whatever free hands I’ve got coming until it comes back around.

This afternoon I was fortunate enough to win decent pots in both of the 2 stoppage time hands I played, thus inspiring me to coin the term while I was relaying the results to Krantz. Huzzah!

PokerStars Game: Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Limit ($200/$400 USD)
Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: Wrasse ($16796 in chips)
Seat 3: jmonnett ($3165 in chips)
Seat 4: DJ Sensei ($15125 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $100
Wrasse: posts big blind $200
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [As 8s 2c 4d Ad]
jmonnett: raises $200 to $400
DJ Sensei: calls $300
Wrasse: folds
*** FIRST DRAW ***
DJ Sensei: discards 2 cards [As Ad]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [8s 2c 4d] [4s 9c]
jmonnett: discards 1 card
DJ Sensei: checks
jmonnett: bets $200
DJ Sensei: calls $200
*** SECOND DRAW ***
DJ Sensei: discards 2 cards [4s 9c]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [8s 2c 4d] [Jc 3c]
jmonnett: discards 1 card
DJ Sensei: checks
jmonnett: bets $400
DJ Sensei: calls $400
*** THIRD DRAW ***
DJ Sensei: discards 1 card [Jc]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [8s 2c 4d 3c] [Ts]
jmonnett: discards 1 card
DJ Sensei: bets $400
jmonnett: folds
Uncalled bet ($400) returned to DJ Sensei
DJ Sensei collected $2198 from pot
DJ Sensei: doesn’t show hand

Seat 1: Wrasse ($16596 in chips)
Seat 3: jmonnett ($2165 in chips)
Seat 4: DJ Sensei ($16323 in chips)
Wrasse: posts small blind $100
jmonnett: posts big blind $200
*** DEALING HANDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [6h 9c 4s 2d Qh]
DJ Sensei: raises $200 to $400
Wrasse: folds
jmonnett: calls $200
*** FIRST DRAW ***
jmonnett: discards 3 cards
DJ Sensei: discards 2 cards [9c Qh]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [6h 4s 2d] [4c 3d]
jmonnett: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $200
jmonnett: calls $200
*** SECOND DRAW ***
jmonnett: discards 2 cards
DJ Sensei: discards 1 card [4s]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [6h 2d 4c 3d] [Qc]
jmonnett: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $400
jmonnett: calls $400
*** THIRD DRAW ***
jmonnett: discards 1 card
DJ Sensei: discards 1 card [Qc]
Dealt to DJ Sensei [6h 2d 4c 3d] [3c]
jmonnett: checks
DJ Sensei: checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
jmonnett: shows [5d 3h 5h 7d 2c] (Lo: a pair of Fives)
DJ Sensei: shows [6h 4c 3c 2d 3d] (Lo: a pair of Threes)
DJ Sensei collected $2098 from pot
DJ Sensei is sitting out

1. or, more accurately, a half [↩]