Big Slick and basketball shtick

SCOTT JACOBSON
The Kansas City Star

After six months of playing free tournaments at bars, I finally decided to find out once and for all if the games were actually legal.

Turning to the attorney general offices of Kansas and Missouri, I not only got a good answer but a good question as well.

First the legal findings.

Yes, the tournaments are legit. If you don't pay, you can play. There's more detailed legal language of course, but we saved that for Sunday's Star Magazine

and our Tour de Flop chronicles.

Now for the question.

Jim Gardner, the press secretary for the Missouri attorney general's office, made a smooth transition from legal lingo to pondering poker.

“As an individual who enjoys a good game of poker,” Jim said, “I am curious if you would agree with something I read recently.

“In a nine-handed game with a better-than-average player raising the blind under the gun (pre-flop), and you're on the button holding ‘Big Slick,' you should fold.”

For those of you just tuning in, Jim is in the dealer's position and is holding ace-king. He wants to see the flop — the first three community cards — but his book tells him that the “better-than-average player” raised with a solid hand.

“I understand the logic on this,” Jim said, “but this is a hand I have problems folding pre-flop!”

He should be flustered.

Ace-king is one of the strongest starting hands in poker. In fact, some pros prefer Big Slick to a high pair of pocket cards.

So a few factors come into play. The respective chip counts. Whether Jim's opponent has been playing many hands or waiting for the right cards. Is that player trying to steal blinds, or finally holding the goods?

Personally, I'd have a lot of trouble folding ace-king before the flop. But I'm sure that many of you have thoughts on the matter.

Should Jim fold the ace-king after a strong move? Or do we all agree that you can't trust anything you read, and Jim should stick around? Let us know, and we'll print the advice for Jim.

Tournament time

I can't waste a once-in-five-years opportunity to pay homage to the Big 12 basketball tournaments' return to KC.

So just for fun, here are five pieces of poker jargon that you might hear uttered this weekend and some possible context.

• A pair: What players hope to make at the free-throw line.

• Flop: Overacting after some contact in hopes of drawing a foul.

• Flush: What teams do to their postseason dreams by losing in the first round.

• Full house: Municipal and Kemper during the championship games.

• All-in: Iowa State fans at Kelly's in Westport.

Contact Scott and Jocelyn Jacobson at lowstakesjake@kcstar.com