Another poker rant

The BBQ Pit
1

It’s not the losing I mind.

It’s the smug attitude.

So I have what in my younger days we inelegantly called Sigfried and Roy - pocket Qs. This is, in Texas Hold’Em, a pretty good start. I’m playing a $0.05 - $0.10 no limit game, in late position. Four seats call the blind before it comes to me. I raise $0.30. Three seats call, one folds.

Comes now the flop: Qd Qc 8h

I’m now looking at four Queens. This is a good development.

I don’t want to scare the birds away, but I want money in the pot, so I bump $0.50. Unfortunately, this does scare two seats away, but one guy bumps back another .$50. I re-raise, and this nut goes all-in to the tune of $6.50 or so.

No doubt I’m going to call.

So now we’re head to head with some $14 in the pot. Not a huge deal, but for a 5-10 cent game, it’s on the large side.

On the turn: 7h

On the river: 6h

Well, I lost. Why? Because my opponent had 9-5 suited. Guess which suit?

Yep, my four queens lost to a straight flush, 9 high.

Hey, it happens. I can live with it.

What BURNS me is the commentary.

“Yeah, that’s how it’s done, Bricker!”

Grrrr.

Yes, I see how wise you were going all-in on a suited 9-5 against pocket Qs. I will watch, and learn.

:smack:

2

Sounds like my kind of game, finances being what they are lately. That third kid will get you every time.

The only game I’m in right now is a $2-$4 game held every month or so with a bunch of lawyers downtown. I’m one of only two guys in the group that isn’t one.

It’s been a good game to get better at hold’em in, though, since the attitudes are in check for the most part.

3

I would have bet the farm on 4 queens, too. It was sheer, unadulterated luck that you came up against a straight flush with that hand. Of the bad kind, mind you.

4

I woulda tossed my pink slip into the pot. Glad it was you and not me.:wink:

5

Next time, ask the dolt if he would like do this 99 more times with the same two hole cards for each of you…him with the 95 suited, and you with the queens. And then ask him if he’s willing to show you “How to do it” the next 99 times.

What a lucky :wally.

6

Worst. Beat. Ever.
Pash

7

Last night (3-6 hold-em) I laid an Ace-high winner. I laid a pair of eights winner.

I finally had a bet the farm hand (flopped a heaqrt flush with the J in my hand and the K on the board). I’m betting into it as hard as I can–fuck slowplaying it, I want to take my pot and get the fuck out.

Turn was a little spade. I’m still going into it. Come on, they had to know I had the flush! But one guy keeps on running with me. Best he could have had was a set.

River card was a heart, and I knew I was beat.

Sure enough, I lost my KJ heart flush to a KQ.

He was sitting on an AQ-off, hadn’t even paired up before the river.

And what does he say?

“I thought that queen was going to be good for something.” smirk

8

Thank the poker gods I’ve never had to face a beat as bad as that. But at such low limits, you’re going to take a ton more bad beats than at the higher limits. At least that’s true in my experience.

As far as the attitudes go, I’m of two minds. The purely analytical, detached me loves to see someone who plays stupidly, but thinks that they’re playing great. Those kinds of players fill your pockets when you get on a roll. But the emotional, external validation seeker in me hates it when someone crows after pulling a miracle hand out of their ass. I just want to follow them around, mocking them incessagntly, until they run away and cry like a baby. Thank heavens for me, the analytical side usually wins.

And, if I may, I’d like to expand on the rant a bit to include the incessant bitchers (excusing you, of course). First, you have the ones who, after getting beat, will proceed to tell the player that beat them how stupid they were. These kinds of players tend to chase away the fish and make the entire table a ton less fun to play at. They annoy the piss out of me. Second, I hate the insecure ones, who feel the need to tell you how good they are and how you should play your cards, like their Phil Fucking Gordon or Mike Sexton. I had one idiot tell me that I folded to the check-raise too much. Lo’ and behold, I took him to the cleaners. That felt good. Finally, I hate the guys who take every loss personally. Yeah, I got lucky and caught my flush to beat you. What do you want from me, an apology? Gee, sorry I got lucky? And they’ll spend their time bitching about it for an hour. God I hate those guys too.

9

If my math is right, his odds of getting both his outs to beat you were 1080 to 1. Suffice it to say, he did not have the pot odds to go all-in.

I’m trying to figure out how he even could have thought that was a good idea. Did he think he was going to bluff you out, after your preflop raise and your bet out and reraise on the flop?

I guess it’s a fool who looks for logic at the $0.05/$0.10 No Limit table.

10

At the table, I limited my comments to, “Yeah, nice hand.”

I agree that the care and feeding of idiots is essentail to keeping my pockets lined. And I don’t expect anyone to apologize for a lucky flush draw. Or even a lucky straight flush draw.

I just don’t want the lucky guy to offer his wisdom and guidance to me, that’s all…

11

Bricker, wow. If that happened to me I hope all I would do is laugh. I’m just glad this only cost you seven bucks.

[QUOTE=DoctorJ]
If my math is right, his odds of getting both his outs to beat you were 1080 to 1. /QUOTE]
I think the odds are 1 / 990.

Bricker’s 2 cards + idiot’s 2 cards + 3 flop cards = 7 accounted cards
2 possible cards for idiot on turn (7h, 6h) out of 45 left
1 possible card for idiot on river out of 44 left

(2 / 45) * (1 / 44) = 2 / 1980 = 1 / 990.

12

Bricker was just taking into account that idiot did not know Bricker didn’t have 7h or 6h, which gives apparent odds to the idiot of 1/1081.

13

Sadly, I think it’s necessary. That moment is his compensation for playing, whereas your compensation is the other 1080 hands where he stays in. So yeah, annoying, but there can’t be a trade if the other side doesn’t take something which he thinks has value away from the transaction.

14

Winning a pot like that isn’t compensation enough? :smack:

15

Tell me about it.

Excellent. Don’t tap the glass.

I had one of these boneheads a couple weeks ago. Playing .50-$1 NL and I pick up pocket AA in middle position. Everyone folds in front of me, I raise to $2. One caller. Flop is rags. I bet $2, raised to $5, I re-raise to $27, he re-raises all in and I call. Turn is Q, river is rag, he flips up pocket QQ to crack my AA with trips. Sucks hard, it happens, but what pissed me off was some bozo, who wasn’t even in the hand, pops off with “that’s what you get for slow playing Aces.” Um, what? I raised pre-flop, bet the flop and put in a huge re-raise, in what universe is that slow-playing? I have to admit that I went off on him. All I can figure is that, since the mook had lost much money to me previously, he took this as his opportunity to attempt a really pathetic needle.

What the hell are you doing playing .05-.10 anyway?

16

Always remember, you can’t have fish without a river.

17

That’s the only way to go. I’m a crappy player, because I’m always tempted to explain to these mooks why I did what I did and why what they did was stupid. That makes me the real idiot, doesn’t it?

If he does something that stupid once, he’ll do something that stupid again, multiple times, and you’ll clean him out in the long run. Why give him a free education?

18

Mrs. Bricker was off at crochet class, and supervision of Bricker Jr was in my court. I can watch him with one eye and play 05-10 safely. If I’m playing for real, and have to concentrate, it can’t be riding herd on a three year old. I feel safe on the 05-10 table if he’s ensconced and entranced watching “Clifford, the Big Red Dog,” but I wouldn’t risk playing higher stakes.

19

Damn, Bricker, the same set of poker ghods must hate me, too.

I’m dealt a pair of jacks. Reasonable betting, then on the flop comes jack, four, nine. Trip jacks is worth betting, so I start tossing a few coins in. Turn brings up a trey, river brings up another four. Whee, I got jacks full of fours. I bet it bigtime.

Bozo on the other side of the table has got the other pair of fours in the hole and brags about his poker skills. Nausea ensues.

Fortunately, it was just penny ante and I only lost a couple of bucks. I got it back from him over the course of time. Revenge is sweet…

20

I guess it depends who you are playing with, because at my game we are always make those kind of comments. But we know each other and it is more joking than serious. Also, since it is only a $10 buy-in game no one takes any of it too seriously. If I were at a table with strangers i would certainly hold my tongue, except for the occasional “nice hand”.