When a poker player is seen leaving the gaming room, clutching their mobile phone and dialling a number with their fingers in a blur, there is usually someone somewhere on the other side of the world who is about to hear a bad beat story. Especially if that player had more than 20,000 chips last time you checked.

Sorry to say that Sharon Goldman just made one of those calls. "I'm toast," she said, this particular tale going from Copenhagen to the Isle of Man, where it connects with husband Dan. "Pockets kings versus six-four."

Ouch.

Sharon Goldman: calling home

I dared to ask some more details. There are three limpers and Sharon looks down at the cowboys on the button. She makes it 1,200 to go and finds a customer in Hans Rognlien, a PokerStars qualifier from Norway. The flop comes six high and also includes a five and a three. That's good enough for Hans; he moves in with his top pair and an up-and-down straight draw. That is soon turned into the winner when the seven drops, leaving Sharon with no outs except the one marked exit.


Hans Rognlien: calling pre-flop raises with 6-4

She had Hans covered at that point, but was crippled and got her final 3,000 in with ace-jack. It lost to ace-seven. Of course it did.