Focus!
So I got a chance to go and play poker on Saturday night. Small game, only 7 people playing at the most. We were mostly playing 6 handed through the majority of the night. Still, it's something I haven't done in a while so it felt good to go out and test my old poker skills.
There was one really good player there. He's the one that kept me on my toes. Smart player who's aggressive and loose but you're not sure if he's folding or if he's got a good hand. Admittedly, he's a better player than I am and it's good to play against him or someone like him. They force you to improve your game. And I'm all about improving my game.
The one thing that was failing me was identifing my true hand. Several times that night I thought I lost when I really had the best hand. Case in point - I get pocket 4s (and they seem to work out for me) and the flop comes 2,7,Q rainbow. I bet strong and a guy goes all in over me (another twenty some odd dollars). I call and we flip over - He's got a pair of Qs to my 4s. I'm very behind.
Next card up shows a 4 - giving me trip 4s. Everyone cheers and I'm on cloud 9. Then a Q falls on the river, giving him trip Queens. Everyone cheers again because of the reversal of fortune. We thought I had it cinched up and there was virtually no chance of him winning except if he got that Queen.
For those that haven't seen it yet - neither did I. It was when I was about to clean the cards when I realized that I won the hand. You see, even though the board paired the Queens to give him trips, it also gave me a Full House - 4s full of Queens.
The same thing happened on the last hand of the night when I had Big Slick of diamonds and pulled 1 diamond on the flop, then went runner-runner. I thought I lost because someone paired his 9.
It's strange for me to do that. I'm normally very aware of what I have as well as all the possible hands that can be out there. It's something that I've been training myself to do. Maybe I'm getting too old to concentrate on ..... hey - look at the bird!
There was one move I pulled last night that helped get me money. I started one hand with pocket 8s and the good player I mentioned before only raised $5 prior to the flop. Not a big raise, so I put him on a small pair or suited connectors or two over cards. I put him all in (at near $60) and he immediately called. Bastard had pocket Aces.
The very next hand, I look at my cards and get Pocket Aces myself. I decided to try something new. I tried to act like I was on Tilt. I almost never go on Tilt. I know how it'll destroy a person's game and thus I put any big loss behind me by focusing on what's in front of me and what's going to happen.
Hmmm - that kind of is a good life lesson as well.
Still, I played on Tilt, betting $20 a pop. The guy who just took my money was calling and called me to the river. With that, I showed my winning hand and took back $40 of the $60 he had taken from me. They really bought that I was on Tilt and thought I was just acting tough or so. Guess that's a free lesson to all you kids out there.
I ended up $60 for the night so I was pretty happy.
Not too much happening otherwise. Sun rises and sets (an hour later now - God I hate losing that hour of sleep), and the world spins on.
There was one really good player there. He's the one that kept me on my toes. Smart player who's aggressive and loose but you're not sure if he's folding or if he's got a good hand. Admittedly, he's a better player than I am and it's good to play against him or someone like him. They force you to improve your game. And I'm all about improving my game.
The one thing that was failing me was identifing my true hand. Several times that night I thought I lost when I really had the best hand. Case in point - I get pocket 4s (and they seem to work out for me) and the flop comes 2,7,Q rainbow. I bet strong and a guy goes all in over me (another twenty some odd dollars). I call and we flip over - He's got a pair of Qs to my 4s. I'm very behind.
Next card up shows a 4 - giving me trip 4s. Everyone cheers and I'm on cloud 9. Then a Q falls on the river, giving him trip Queens. Everyone cheers again because of the reversal of fortune. We thought I had it cinched up and there was virtually no chance of him winning except if he got that Queen.
For those that haven't seen it yet - neither did I. It was when I was about to clean the cards when I realized that I won the hand. You see, even though the board paired the Queens to give him trips, it also gave me a Full House - 4s full of Queens.
The same thing happened on the last hand of the night when I had Big Slick of diamonds and pulled 1 diamond on the flop, then went runner-runner. I thought I lost because someone paired his 9.
It's strange for me to do that. I'm normally very aware of what I have as well as all the possible hands that can be out there. It's something that I've been training myself to do. Maybe I'm getting too old to concentrate on ..... hey - look at the bird!
There was one move I pulled last night that helped get me money. I started one hand with pocket 8s and the good player I mentioned before only raised $5 prior to the flop. Not a big raise, so I put him on a small pair or suited connectors or two over cards. I put him all in (at near $60) and he immediately called. Bastard had pocket Aces.
The very next hand, I look at my cards and get Pocket Aces myself. I decided to try something new. I tried to act like I was on Tilt. I almost never go on Tilt. I know how it'll destroy a person's game and thus I put any big loss behind me by focusing on what's in front of me and what's going to happen.
Hmmm - that kind of is a good life lesson as well.
Still, I played on Tilt, betting $20 a pop. The guy who just took my money was calling and called me to the river. With that, I showed my winning hand and took back $40 of the $60 he had taken from me. They really bought that I was on Tilt and thought I was just acting tough or so. Guess that's a free lesson to all you kids out there.
I ended up $60 for the night so I was pretty happy.
Not too much happening otherwise. Sun rises and sets (an hour later now - God I hate losing that hour of sleep), and the world spins on.