The best hand isn't always the best hand, and the best player isn't always going to finish first.

These are two important truths to which all poker players should resign themselves, and two important things to remember if, A) your pocket aces get busted, or B) you're the best player and bust out first.

But to consider yourself the best player at a table is presumptuous at best, arrogant at worst, especially if you play at a table with some friends most of the time. A winning streak might inflate your ego a bit, but for the most part, if you go into a game with the attitude that no one else there is worthy to wipe the deuces off your ace, chances are you're going in there with a good chance to get taken out.

All it takes is one hand, and one bad card, or one bad read.

To say that there aren't some players who are better than others is naive. Of course some are better. That's why professional players exist. They are trained (or have trained themselves, more likely) to pick up nuances in the game, to be able to play mathematical percentages and see into another person's soul to read their cards.

But even they get the right read sometimes, and then the wrong card.

Take for example, a hand I saw when I was in Las Vegas some time ago. A seasoned pro raised before the flop, four times the big blind. A guy, who I later learned was playing in his first tournament, called him from the small blind.

The flop came 6-7-J, rainbow, with the six being a diamond. The amateur checked. The pro bet twice the pot. The amateur called. The turn was a two of diamonds. The cards on the table: 6-7-J-2, two diamonds. The amateur again checked, showing weakness (or fright), and the pro moved all in. Somehow, at that point, the amateur had more chips than the pro. The flop had been a rainbow, and the pro turned over pocket jacks, which gave him a set of the top card on the flop. The amateur turned over a 4-10 of diamonds. He'd called the whole way with nothing, and all he could hope for was a diamond on the river.

Of course, I wouldn't be telling this story if the river card was a spade. Of course the amateur booted the pro, a clearly better player, with an inferior hand with a little bit of luck.

It happens all the time, and it helps to remind some of the better players that sometimes, even with a ton of skill, there is always some luck involved in this silly little game.

One-Eyed Jack is the Sun Journal's resident poker junkie. E-mail him at pokerjunkie@sunjournal.com. This column is for entertainment purposes only. It is not to be relied on for advice on how to win at poker, nor as a recommendation that the reader should gamble.