Feeling bad about a good pot
Ever have one of those hands where you drag a big pot, but you feel bad doing so? I just had one yesterday.
But first, yesterday was one of those horrendous days at the tables where nothing seems to go right. I was losing, and losing big, no matter what I played or where I played. A lot of people will say that's just the way the cards fall sometimes, but I think that kind of thinking is for suckers, and I would rather take personal responsibility for my bad play. If I were to just ascribe my misfortune to the whims of fate, then I would have no incentive to become a better player. Yes, luck does play a role and sometimes the cards run cold. But I believe the mark of a good player is the ability to minimize luck, so that losing sessions are small and winning sessions are large, and yesterday I was not a very good player. I have my share of bad beat stories I could share, but I choose not to be a victim, wallowing at the injustice of my fortune. I know full well that the day would not been nearly as bad if I hadn't been so loose with my starting hands, if I had given up losers sooner and if I had given potential winners the chance to develop. Hopefully, yesterday will be a lesson that will steer me back on the correct path.
Anyway, I had been taking the worst of it playing 5/10 and 3/6 limit yesterday, losing about $600. My bankroll took such a hit that I could no longer afford to play at those levels, and I headed down to the .25/.50 no-limit tables. As an aside, when it comes to playing the micro-limit games, you better play no-limit. If you're going to play the limit tables at that level, you might as well head for the slot machines, because every hand will have at least six players staying until the very end.
Anyway, I'm playing the .25/.50 NL game and absolutely punishing the players there. I'm playing like my old self, minimizing losses and maximizing profits, and I'm up $13 at a table where the maximum you can bring is $25. Things are feeling good when the following hand comes up. I'm dealt K10s in the big blind and call a minimum raise.
The flop is an AAK rainbow and I'm quite understandably concerned about the A being out there, or at the very least that there's another K that has me outkicked. There are three of us in the pot, with me acting first, and I check. The next guy checks and the button, who raised preflop, makes the minimum bet. I can't put much of a read on this bet, because it seems too small to be the A, but anyone with the A would want to build the pot some and not scare anyone off. I decide to call and see what happens. The guy behind me also calls.
The turn is a small club, putting two clubs on the board. Again I check, the next guy checks and the button bets the minimum once again. This screams weakness to me, but I'm feeling pretty weak myself. I put him on a K or maybe a draw of some sort and call. The other guy just calls as well. Now my concern is starting to shift toward the other guy. I'm starting to feel like he might be slow-playing the set.
The river brings the Kc, and I've got the low full house. I'm honestly ambivalent about this card, because it has given me a hand that might be good enough to win, but is also just good enough for me to lose a lot more with. Again, i check, but instead of checking, the next guy pushes all-in, nearly $20. The button folds and now it's up to me, and I'm an utter mess. I am honestly puzzled about how to interpret this. One, it could be that he also has a K, but I figure that to be the least likely scenario. Two, it could be that he has slow-played the A this whole time, but then again, this bet makes no sense in that context. If he had been slow-playing, he would either have checked to try to get another bet out of the button and another call from me before raising, or he would have bet a smaller amount in order to get a call from anyone holding a K. It could be that he sensed weakness from me and the button and was making an outright bluff, but I didn't place too much credence in that. I was starting to lean toward believing he did have the A, when I looked at the board again and saw that the river had put three clubs on the board. Did this guy actually move all-in with a flush when there were two pair on the board? Surely not.
I cannot tell you why I called this bet. Everything about this bet screamed that it did not want a call, but my hand also screamed that it did not want to call. I was ready to automatically fold as soon as I saw the size of the bet, but I hesitated and considered the possibilities and still wanted to fold, but I called anyway.
The guy turns over his flush. I scoop the pot with my sucker's boat.
I left shortly after that hand and spent about the next 15 minutes in total awe of the sheer stupidity he displayed in moving all-in with a flush, when there were two pair on the board. But later, I started feeling like I exhibited the same level of stupidity in making that call. Sure, I had won the pot, but I felt like I had lost by making that call. I had invested a total of $1.25 in the pot, so it wasn't like I was committed to it. And calling $20 to win $25 is exactly proper pot odds when you're holding the bottom end of a boat.
Anyway, I'm hoping somebody will eventually read this blog and offer their ideas on this hand. I don't really feel justified in making that call, but maybe I'm being a wimp. It did feel good to grow a pair and not have them slap me in the face, kind of like Stu Ungar's famous "I have Q high and I will call" hand, but I just can't get over feeling I got the right result from making the wrong decision. And to get where I want to be in the long run, I need to do a better job of making good decisions.
But first, yesterday was one of those horrendous days at the tables where nothing seems to go right. I was losing, and losing big, no matter what I played or where I played. A lot of people will say that's just the way the cards fall sometimes, but I think that kind of thinking is for suckers, and I would rather take personal responsibility for my bad play. If I were to just ascribe my misfortune to the whims of fate, then I would have no incentive to become a better player. Yes, luck does play a role and sometimes the cards run cold. But I believe the mark of a good player is the ability to minimize luck, so that losing sessions are small and winning sessions are large, and yesterday I was not a very good player. I have my share of bad beat stories I could share, but I choose not to be a victim, wallowing at the injustice of my fortune. I know full well that the day would not been nearly as bad if I hadn't been so loose with my starting hands, if I had given up losers sooner and if I had given potential winners the chance to develop. Hopefully, yesterday will be a lesson that will steer me back on the correct path.
Anyway, I had been taking the worst of it playing 5/10 and 3/6 limit yesterday, losing about $600. My bankroll took such a hit that I could no longer afford to play at those levels, and I headed down to the .25/.50 no-limit tables. As an aside, when it comes to playing the micro-limit games, you better play no-limit. If you're going to play the limit tables at that level, you might as well head for the slot machines, because every hand will have at least six players staying until the very end.
Anyway, I'm playing the .25/.50 NL game and absolutely punishing the players there. I'm playing like my old self, minimizing losses and maximizing profits, and I'm up $13 at a table where the maximum you can bring is $25. Things are feeling good when the following hand comes up. I'm dealt K10s in the big blind and call a minimum raise.
The flop is an AAK rainbow and I'm quite understandably concerned about the A being out there, or at the very least that there's another K that has me outkicked. There are three of us in the pot, with me acting first, and I check. The next guy checks and the button, who raised preflop, makes the minimum bet. I can't put much of a read on this bet, because it seems too small to be the A, but anyone with the A would want to build the pot some and not scare anyone off. I decide to call and see what happens. The guy behind me also calls.
The turn is a small club, putting two clubs on the board. Again I check, the next guy checks and the button bets the minimum once again. This screams weakness to me, but I'm feeling pretty weak myself. I put him on a K or maybe a draw of some sort and call. The other guy just calls as well. Now my concern is starting to shift toward the other guy. I'm starting to feel like he might be slow-playing the set.
The river brings the Kc, and I've got the low full house. I'm honestly ambivalent about this card, because it has given me a hand that might be good enough to win, but is also just good enough for me to lose a lot more with. Again, i check, but instead of checking, the next guy pushes all-in, nearly $20. The button folds and now it's up to me, and I'm an utter mess. I am honestly puzzled about how to interpret this. One, it could be that he also has a K, but I figure that to be the least likely scenario. Two, it could be that he has slow-played the A this whole time, but then again, this bet makes no sense in that context. If he had been slow-playing, he would either have checked to try to get another bet out of the button and another call from me before raising, or he would have bet a smaller amount in order to get a call from anyone holding a K. It could be that he sensed weakness from me and the button and was making an outright bluff, but I didn't place too much credence in that. I was starting to lean toward believing he did have the A, when I looked at the board again and saw that the river had put three clubs on the board. Did this guy actually move all-in with a flush when there were two pair on the board? Surely not.
I cannot tell you why I called this bet. Everything about this bet screamed that it did not want a call, but my hand also screamed that it did not want to call. I was ready to automatically fold as soon as I saw the size of the bet, but I hesitated and considered the possibilities and still wanted to fold, but I called anyway.
The guy turns over his flush. I scoop the pot with my sucker's boat.
I left shortly after that hand and spent about the next 15 minutes in total awe of the sheer stupidity he displayed in moving all-in with a flush, when there were two pair on the board. But later, I started feeling like I exhibited the same level of stupidity in making that call. Sure, I had won the pot, but I felt like I had lost by making that call. I had invested a total of $1.25 in the pot, so it wasn't like I was committed to it. And calling $20 to win $25 is exactly proper pot odds when you're holding the bottom end of a boat.
Anyway, I'm hoping somebody will eventually read this blog and offer their ideas on this hand. I don't really feel justified in making that call, but maybe I'm being a wimp. It did feel good to grow a pair and not have them slap me in the face, kind of like Stu Ungar's famous "I have Q high and I will call" hand, but I just can't get over feeling I got the right result from making the wrong decision. And to get where I want to be in the long run, I need to do a better job of making good decisions.
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