Funny luck

In poker, it helps to have a sense of humor about luck, not least because sometimes luck is quite humorous. In the third and final tournament I played last night, I should have hit the felt on hand 4, but didn't. Why not? Because of funny luck. I'd been dealt 4d 2d, and the flop came 8d Tc Jd. An opponent who had me covered went all in for $870. I figured him for top pair, or possibly two of a kind, or possibly a straight. If I hit my flush, I'd have all three of those possibilities beat. I decided to take a risk, and called. When he turned over 9d 6d, I had to laugh. My read had been completely wrong, and I was a huge underdog. If I hit my flush, I'd lose to his uberflush. If I didn't hit my flush, my 4 would likely lose to his 9. As it turned out, the turn came 2c and the river came Jc, giving me a two pair of jacks and deuces and winning me a pot worth $1,400. I knew I didn't deserve any more luck that tournament; I ended up just out of the money in third.

buy_in entry_fee num_players num_hands place winnings

 50000       800           6        83     1   195000
 50000       800           6        32     4        0
 50000       800           6        53     3        0

delta: $42,600
tournament balance: $1,052,090
balance: $6,182,821