You can see in the blurb to the right, that I am a horrible poker player. Thing is, I don't know if I am THAT bad of a player, or if I make smart plays at the wrong times. I prefer to think that I am just cursed with bad luck at the table. I feel I have a good understanding of the game and the strategies used by most players. I have played for nearly 5 years and have read a few books, including Super System, Super System II and Hold'Em Poker for Advanced Players. Still, I find myself in bad spots or making bad plays constantly.
I admit, there are times when I try to trap an opponent too often. This usually ends with him/her catching up and beating me. I can't seem to remember the "little pot" philosophy. Take lots of little pots, or one big pot every hour. Also, I will take a huge bad beat and play too aggressive to try and recover the money I just lost. In other words, I go on tilt. I was playing in the $1/$2 No Limit game (high roller over here) at the Hawaiian Gardens Casino last night and had 3 brutal bad beats. For your reading pleasure:
1. - I was dealt A-J off suit in the big blind. A pretty tight player raised it to $12 and everyone folded to me. I didn't like my position, but put him on a middle pair 7-9's (6x the big blind is a large raise which usually means he doesn't want any callers). I call. Flop comes J-10-J. I check so I can trap him, and he bets out $6. Very small bet considering he raised to $12 pre-flop. I raise to $18 and he thinks for a good minute and finally calls. This SHOULD have sent a red alert in my mind but I still felt I had the best hand. Turn is a blank, 4d, so I push my remaining $32 in the pot and he quickly calls. He had pocket 10's and flopped a boat. I guess this isn't so much a bad beat, as he just out played me. Figure it belongs here anyways =)2. - I bought back in the game and slowly started building my stack to a breaking even point. I'm about $15 away from being even when I am dealt A-Q off suit on the button. I raise to $8 and get one caller from the person who was under the gun. Flop comes 2-Q-5. Awesome flop. He bets $20, which is basically the pot size. I raised to $60 hoping to end it right there. He goes all in and he has about $75 in front of him, so its only another $15 for me to call, which I did. Turn comes Q and he gets all excited and shows his cards, Q-6 off suit. Out of position, he called my pre-flop raise with Q-6 off suit! I turn over A-Q and he lets out a "Awww!!" Next card? Of course, a 6. He made a boat on the river. Lady luck, why do you hate me?
3. - Now I am left with about $25 left. I am dealt Q-Q on the next hand. Guy directly to my right raises to $10. I push all in and only he calls. Of course, he has A-A. To make it worse, the guy across from me says "Ohh, I threw away A-Q" which realistically leaves me with 1 out. Now, I catch a huge break on the flop. It comes as 6-K-Q! Woah, the case queen! I couldn't believe it. The guy with the rockets says "Hey, you deserve it after your beats tonight!" and I couldn't agree more. Turn is a 2, so there is only 1 card left in the deck that can beat me and that is the case Ace. River? Ace of fucking spades!! Hah, I can laugh about it now, but I promptly shook the guys hand and wished everyone luck and left. Needless to say, I was fuming!
How many times must I say "I will never play poker again!"? My wife thinks I have a problem, but the tables always call me back. Damn that poker muse and her voluptuous body that keeps me coming back for more abuse. So, I'll probably stroll into the HG or Commerce tonight. See ya there!