Bad nights make you want to swear off forever. I was in a table game many years ago. Five card draw. I pull a natural 4-J hand, draw a card to fake a straight, and finesse into the betting. Eventually, I smack down a substantial raise and one guy not only stays, but comes back at me. So confident am I (because of his three card draw), that I come back again. When it finally comes to call time, he turns over four queens.
Bad, right? Well, hold on. Three hands later, I’m dealt four nines and stand pat, which should send a strong signal around the table. The same guy stays with me into the same betting war, only there’s a third player staying with us. There’s finally a call: number three guy turns four deuces, I turn my four nines with an incredulous guffaw…and the same guy who beat me with the jacks, turns four tens!
Was in New Orleans playing a bit of hold 'em. I catch 10-10 in early position and raise. The guy immediately to my left calls, and the big blind calls. Flop comes 10-8-8. I bet, call, fold. K. Bet, fold. 3. Bet, raise, re-raise, re-re raise and cap it. Guy to my left, a local, had flopped quad 8’s. I lost a lot of money on that hand. And I still have my suspicions…
I don’t know how much you know about Texas Hold 'Em poker, so I’ll start from the beginning. Each person is dealt two cards, then five community cards are flipped over, the winner is whoever makes the best five card hand out of the seven available cards. The five community cards are dealt in different stages: the first three are flipped over at the same time and this is called the flop. Then one more community card is dealt, this is the turn. The river is the last community card to be dealt.
Betting is done right after each person is dealt two cards before the flop comes. This is betting pre-flop. Then, there is another round of betting after the flop, after the turn. After the river, the final round of betting occurs.
There usually isn’t an ante, instead, Texas Hold 'Em uses blinds. This is where the two people to the left of the dealer put set amounts into the initial pot. There’s the short blind, who is immediately to the left of the dealer and the big blind, who is to the left of the small blind. Small blind is half the big blind. In order to stay in the game, everyone must call the big blind. This means you can’t check in the initial round of betting, except for the big blind if nobody raises.
Ranibow just means that all the cards are of different suits.
Yeah, no shit. The stakes weren’t terribly high, but it wiped me out. For some reason, it really shook my confidence, probably because everyone in the room laughed their asses off. Prior to these two hands, the cards had been running somewhat in my favor. The guy who won came in late to the game, which changed the card order, but even so…Day-amm!
I don’t mean to irritate anyone (even though it’s the Pit!).
But surely you play poker for the excitement and to win money.
And you know that until the cards are turned over, there is still some luck / guesswork.
So even if you are a 2-1 favuorite, you can still lose.
If these unlucky chance results bug you, shouldn’t you play chess?
See, you’re right, but you’re also missing the point. The main reason for rants like this is just to get a bit of frustration of your chest.
Every poker player knows that he or she is going to take a bad beat every once in a while. It’s an accepted part of the game. But knowing that it’s going to happen doesn’t make it any less frustrating when it does, especially when you know you’ve played the hand well and have been beaten by someone who has played poorly and who got lucky on the turn or the river.
What we also know, however, is that the bad players who keep drawing when the odds are stacked against them will, in the long run, lose more pots than they win. It’s like what i suggested to Maureen earlier (which is something she already knows): every time some guy with 5-7 calls her KK, she is a strong favorite to win the hand. I’d be happy playing against someone who called a pre-flop raise with 5-7os because, even though he might get lucky occasionally, most of the time i’m going to take his money.
Same with the OP: if someone keeps calling you every time you flop top pair with an A kicker, then you’re going to take that person’s money in the long run. But you’re also going to cop a few bad beats, and when that happens you’re probably going to forget all the hands you’ve won and cry about how unfair life is. Poker players tend to remember their losses more clearly than they remember their wins.
'Zactly. Also, it’s nice to get reinforcement that yeah, you did exactly what you should have in that hand. And if you didn’t, or if there’s some other way you could’ve played it, someone will make a suggestion.
To an extent, glee, you’re right. We know we’re not going to win 100% of the time. That’s not the way poker works. So we work hard to minimize those times we lose. What adds insult to injury, is losing to some moron who got all his technique from watching World Poker Tour when you’ve been developing your skill for several years.
Plus, I’ve noticed the only people who brag about winning and never complain about losing are really bad poker players.
Skill. Knowledge of statistics and odds. Luck is a minor factor in poker. Hold 'Em has the highest amount of luck involved (IMO). Which is why I mostly stick with stud.
$1/$2 NLHE cash game on PokerStars, we’re 7-handed. I’ve got AKo in early position and raise it to $7; guy on my left calls, button calls, blinds fold. About $22 in the pot, the flop comes A74 rainbow: perfect. I bet $12, call, call. Turn is a 9 (A74), completing the rainbow. You generally shouldn’t go to the mat with top pair top kicker, but if ever there was a time this is it. I’m sure at least one of my opponents has an ace that he’ll bet, so I check the turn. The guy on my left bets $20, button calls $20, I raise all-in to $180. Guy on my left insta-calls (about $120 more, his whole stack), button folds. With the quick call, I figure I’m up against a set of 4s or 7s.
Turn is a J. Villain has AJ, and I want to fucking kill him. Because he hit his 14-1 miracle on the river, I am $400 poorer than I ought to be. sigh Nothing to do but say “nh” and add the guy to my buddy list. . .
MaxThe Vool:
Early on – with big stacks and a full table – I’d suggest being much more circumspect w/ AJ. Unless this was a 6-handed SNG, you’re preflop raise is going to do a pretty good job of limiting the hands that call to those against which you’re in trouble (case in point, your villain had AQ). Just limp in – or even fold in early position – and don’t call any raises with it.
I’d also suggest being very careful with this flop. You bet $500 into about a $200 pot, yes? Normally (that is, not accounting for batshit crazy maniacs like your villain), that bet will only be called by hands that are way ahead of you. JcTc7c is an awful flop for a guy with one pair.
Was this a play money table? If so, all bets are off and you should disregard this advice.
Played a bit online this afternoon. Every single time I caught a hand someone else caught a better one. The only pots I could take down were button bluffs, which when you’re dropping five times the amount on solid hands only to be crushed from the start is not a recipe for success.
Went to a live multi tonight and played like an idiot and got knocked out early. Sat in a side game and got pocket AA in the BB. Could not get this one guy out of the hand and the board was so ugly. 664 on the flop with two diamonds (I didnt have Ad). Another small diamond on the turn and another small diamond on the river. Every possible draw this guy could have been playing to hit so I let it go, and to add insult to injury he flips up pocket QQ with no diamond. I don’t think I’ve ever gone on tilt before but I sure as hell did then. At least I went out on a legitimate hand, middle suited connectors against A2s.
Came back home and stupidly decided to play online some more. First hand my software FUBARs and suddenly I can’t bet or raise more than the minimum. I have top pair on the flop and I’m stuck betting the minimum to calls. Turn pairs the board, at which time I’d normally move to take the pot down but I can’t bet more than the minimum. River is a 3, which gives my caller playing her pocket 33 because hey, I can’t have much if I’m only min betting right? a set to take down what should have been my pot.
Change tables and things start working again. Sitting in the BB with 63os. No raises so I get to play for free. Flop is A63 rainbow so I have two pair. I bet, one caller. Turn is 2. I bet, caller raises big. I simply can’t wrap my mind around the possibility that anyone would be dumb enough to call pre-flop and on the flop with 54 so I call. Well guess what, someone was dumb enough to play 54os.
Change tables and caught a lot of 2nd pairs, with which I could not bet anyone off their hands. Except of course when I had hands like AKs, then they couldn’t fold to a small raise fast enough. Dropped another chunk of cash until finally I got QJ spades. Raised it, one caller. Flop comes AK spades and a rag. The site I play on has a royal flush bonus and I can almost taste it. I check, caller checks. Turn is Jc. I check, caller bets the pot, I call. River is a 10 but a red 10. No royal bonus but I have the nuts. Check, caller bets, I raise, he calls and I finally take down a good sized pot, breaking even for that table but still down a buy-in from the last table and down more from the afternoon session. I decided that a third of my bankroll gone in a day was enough and left.
Last night my pocket aces lost to pocket 4’s… via a flush.
I was short stacked, and I was afraid going all-in before the flop would rob me of my best opportunity to double up, so I maybe didn’t raise as much as I could/should have, but my opponent seemed to indicate that going all-in pre-flop would’ve been met by a call anyway, but still, it’s a lousy feeling.