Luck box is a Poker (read, Gambling) term that refers to someone who always seems to get exactly the card they need, precisely when they need it. No matter how bad their decisions may be, the universe will make them the victor.
I remember playing a $2/$5 No Limit Hold ‘Em (NL HE) game at Star City in Sydney (NSW, Australia) maybe 5 years ago, and going all in with pocket Kings. Two people call my bet. I already know I’m dead in the water before they turn their cards over. The first guy turns over Aces *gulp*. The other player turns over two Tens (meh). Out comes the Flop (cards), and a Ten lands putting our friend ahead of the two Aces and myself – I step away from the table thinking I have no chance. Then the last card (the River) comes down, and it’s a King, I won. With only two Kings left in the deck it’s the only card that could save me. I walk away with about $1800. The player with Aces calls me a “f*cking luck box” and walks away from the table in a huff, the guy with the tens pulls out more money and buys back in.
It’s not a nice thing to be called, Luck Box, it inspires a weird sort of survivors guilt. I have stopped gambling since then, but I still think of this concept. I think it can be the same thing in life, where we hate the victor instead of the game. We might hate the person who gets that opportunity, or who gets that choice part, or wins the lottery. But what we really hate is the roll of the dice, that chance is a factor.
A more experienced player would later tell me that he loves the Luck Boxes, god bless them he told me. He says “I just hope they keep making those bad choices.” And don’t leave his table. I don’t think I like that rationale, it has a sort of predatory feel that I can’t dig. Rather, I think the great thing about the Luck Boxes is the proof that any of us can win as long as we are willing to give it a shot, even if it’s a long shot. We all have chance, as long as we’re prepared to get in the ring. How good is that?
Bad luck, Joey. You only face Pocket Aces about 1 in 44 times at a full table.Some advice I pkecid up from Phil Gordon occasionally helps:The 4th re-raise means aces!If I can, I try to arrange the betting to see if my opponent will make the 4th re-raise while I still have enough chips to lay down my kings.For example, if the blinds are 50/100 and my stack size is 3000 i would make my normal raise to 300. If my opponend raised to 900 (the standard re-raise amount), I would raise by 600, leaving me 1200 chips. If my opponent raised me all in after that, I would strongly suspect aces, and might lay down my hand.Practically speaking, however, opponents in online play are more aggressive than live play. They may act like this with as little as AK or TT, so your call was reasonable.