Focus

Playing limit hold'em, three players are in the pot and I'm in the middle. The board on the turn is Ad-9h-8h, Qh. I have AK of clubs, giving me top-pair top-kicker, with no flush draw and no straight draw. Joe is first to act. He bets. Joe has been playing aggressively and loudly. The range of hands I put him on is everything from the nuts down. He could have a flush, a straight, a set, two pair, one pair, a flush draw, or a straight draw. As he bets, Joe says something to me intended to agitate me, and it does. Meanwhile, Moe, on my left, inadvertently and prematurely reaches back to grab a stack of chips to raise with. I've seen him do this before and it is not an act. Another thing about Moe - he is ever-worried that someone has a monster. He would not raise the turn into a board like that in a situation like this without a made hand. Most likely he has a flush, or maybe a straight with JT, both of which beat the best hand I could make. So I'm drawing dead. I should fold.

Just one problem. I missed it. I didn't see Moe reach for the trigger. While Moe was revealing his intentions, my sensors were pointing at noisy Joe. Interesting that the correctness of folding versus not folding on this hand depends entirely on which way I look when Joe bets the turn. If I look right, I should stay in. If I look left, I should get out.