Counterfeiting
Has this ever happened to you? I had a 9-8 in my hand, and the flop came out 7-10-J. Flopping a straight is usually a pretty solid deal, but I was on the lower end of things, so I checked. Checking went around, and the next card on the poker table was a King. Hoping that it didn’t help anyone else at the table, I placed a bet, was re-raised, and finally went all in. The river card didn’t help anyone, and we turned over our cards. Unfortunately, my online poker opponent was playing with an A-Q in his hand, so that King on the turn gave him a higher straight than I had.
When you flop or turn a straight or a flush and the next card puts you at risk of losing to a higher flush, that card is known as a ‘counterfeit’. Seeing counterfeit cards after you’ve already made your hand is particularly dangerous because a hand that you had in mind as a winner may now be garbage. If you manage to flop a winning online poker hand, be on the lookout for a counterfeit card to turn up and marginalize your hand. If it does, pay attention to your opponents and watch out for anyone who acts like they’ve their hand.
