Silver bullet
Poker, as much as I laud it, is much like stick of dynamite. When used properly, and handled well it can do great things for you. And while you're blowing holes in the sides of mountains it's easy to begin thinking that no rock can ever hinder you. With enough blasting powder, even the most immutable objects begin to look like rubble to be.
Poker is similar in that when you sit down at a table and just destroy everyone it begins to feel like you're unstoppable. This is reinforced by other players, who lay down hands to you, and worse by hitting big hands even if improbably.
That last part is actually the most important in poker, it keeps the losers coming back. And in truth, you could always win even if you were out played.
Checking the BB with 8s6c off was a good idea. There were only 3 callers, but they did have position on me. The flop comes 8s6dQs. I bet about a third of the pot, which I had set up several times before as a "weak steal attempt" so I was expecting the button to raise if I was lucky, and hopefully someone would call before him. But no such luck, it was folds all around to the button, who predictably raised with a pot sized bet. It was at this point that I made a mistake, having not played any hand for about 40 minutes I was blinded by my own cards and didn't think about his. But intuitively, I couldn't expect him to have trips because he wouldn't have limped with queens and that would mean all of the 8s or all of the 6s were in play. It was possible, but unlikely. I reraised, half the pot attempting to say "I'm re-restealing". It worked, and he re-raised me back. At this point I'm not pot committed but I know I'm all in. He may have hit a hand of some kind, maybe queen shit but I'm thinking he's trying to play high card with me. He's got a K, or an A or maybe 7,9. None of this went through my mind however, because I was being stupid. I reraised all and showed 2 pair to his queen shit. Great, that's very much the sort of hand I want to face. He's got about a 25% chance to threaten, and scared of the 4 I call out to the dealer, "No 4s."
Done. Turn's a queen. I went from the mid 70s to zero with one card. Get your money in with the best hand is all you can do. I was stunned by the suck out, and a little ticked. All was well though, and I was still up. Worse was that I didn't learn anything from it. I didn't need to reraise there, my expected value was still high and I could've strait called and trapped him somewhere else. All of which is really just an idle thought next to "You didn't consider his hand" a lesson I would get telegraphed to me later that night.
That was at about 4 am yesterday (2/24) and after having a very fine day I took a long nap until about 10pm before heading over to another Casino I've never been to. 8 tables playing 1-1-2, 5 playing 2-3-5 (both spread limit 5-200), and some number of 10-10-20 NL games. I glanced only briefly at the NL games because honestly, my bank roll doesn't support it. I was fresh, and didn't feel like waiting around so I put myself on both lists. It turns out I would make 2 mistakes in the next 2 hours. The first is not letting myself take the first hour to relax (I still get a little jittery when I sit down, part of the appeal I guess), the second was getting refocused, and then too focused, on my cards in a fairly tight game with a few wildly aggressive players. I come to a hand where I'm up against a guy I just watched slow roll another player. I have AK off, flop is K99. I make a bet half the size of the pot. Smooth call. Turns comes as an Ace. I raise 60, about half the pot again. Strait call, all business. Check the river, an 8 and no flush for me. He puts in 100, and I never even think about his cards or the fact that that this is only the second hand I've seen him play, or anything about him at all in fact. I call for some reason though after a few moments, without my usual confidence. As Negreanu has said in the past, "What good are these skills if I don't use them, or listen to them." He flopped quads, and I paid him off reasonably well.
Packed my shit, and went home. Out classed? Probably. Out played? Definitively. I let my ego get the better of me walking away with 5x my buy in at the 1-2-3 NL and 2-2-5 NL games at the smaller casinos. Different place, different stakes, different type of player, and a feeling of low grade invincibility. In fact it feels like the first time I ever sat down at a cash game, $100 on the table knowing I wouldn't be taking home any of it. Head in the clouds, or a day in the extremes I can't yet tell. The IRS should be happy though, as my losses for the month bring my winnings down to the petty cash levels of a GM sales rep in Detroit.
Play smart. If you're losing, there may be a reason, you should probably walk away.
Keep your edge. If you dominate certain tables, stay at those tables. A Freeroll is great, even if it is low stakes.
Trust yourself. If it doesn't feel like a good night/hand/casino/player/table/flop/turn/bet then don't. No one is superman, everyone can be knocked down. And even a werewolf in a bloody frenzy wading through the village unopposed can be struck down quite easily when he runs into bullets, so he should always watch for them. Especially when anyone can just pick up a set of Nines (or better) on 2nd street.
Poker is similar in that when you sit down at a table and just destroy everyone it begins to feel like you're unstoppable. This is reinforced by other players, who lay down hands to you, and worse by hitting big hands even if improbably.
That last part is actually the most important in poker, it keeps the losers coming back. And in truth, you could always win even if you were out played.
Checking the BB with 8s6c off was a good idea. There were only 3 callers, but they did have position on me. The flop comes 8s6dQs. I bet about a third of the pot, which I had set up several times before as a "weak steal attempt" so I was expecting the button to raise if I was lucky, and hopefully someone would call before him. But no such luck, it was folds all around to the button, who predictably raised with a pot sized bet. It was at this point that I made a mistake, having not played any hand for about 40 minutes I was blinded by my own cards and didn't think about his. But intuitively, I couldn't expect him to have trips because he wouldn't have limped with queens and that would mean all of the 8s or all of the 6s were in play. It was possible, but unlikely. I reraised, half the pot attempting to say "I'm re-restealing". It worked, and he re-raised me back. At this point I'm not pot committed but I know I'm all in. He may have hit a hand of some kind, maybe queen shit but I'm thinking he's trying to play high card with me. He's got a K, or an A or maybe 7,9. None of this went through my mind however, because I was being stupid. I reraised all and showed 2 pair to his queen shit. Great, that's very much the sort of hand I want to face. He's got about a 25% chance to threaten, and scared of the 4 I call out to the dealer, "No 4s."
Done. Turn's a queen. I went from the mid 70s to zero with one card. Get your money in with the best hand is all you can do. I was stunned by the suck out, and a little ticked. All was well though, and I was still up. Worse was that I didn't learn anything from it. I didn't need to reraise there, my expected value was still high and I could've strait called and trapped him somewhere else. All of which is really just an idle thought next to "You didn't consider his hand" a lesson I would get telegraphed to me later that night.
That was at about 4 am yesterday (2/24) and after having a very fine day I took a long nap until about 10pm before heading over to another Casino I've never been to. 8 tables playing 1-1-2, 5 playing 2-3-5 (both spread limit 5-200), and some number of 10-10-20 NL games. I glanced only briefly at the NL games because honestly, my bank roll doesn't support it. I was fresh, and didn't feel like waiting around so I put myself on both lists. It turns out I would make 2 mistakes in the next 2 hours. The first is not letting myself take the first hour to relax (I still get a little jittery when I sit down, part of the appeal I guess), the second was getting refocused, and then too focused, on my cards in a fairly tight game with a few wildly aggressive players. I come to a hand where I'm up against a guy I just watched slow roll another player. I have AK off, flop is K99. I make a bet half the size of the pot. Smooth call. Turns comes as an Ace. I raise 60, about half the pot again. Strait call, all business. Check the river, an 8 and no flush for me. He puts in 100, and I never even think about his cards or the fact that that this is only the second hand I've seen him play, or anything about him at all in fact. I call for some reason though after a few moments, without my usual confidence. As Negreanu has said in the past, "What good are these skills if I don't use them, or listen to them." He flopped quads, and I paid him off reasonably well.
Packed my shit, and went home. Out classed? Probably. Out played? Definitively. I let my ego get the better of me walking away with 5x my buy in at the 1-2-3 NL and 2-2-5 NL games at the smaller casinos. Different place, different stakes, different type of player, and a feeling of low grade invincibility. In fact it feels like the first time I ever sat down at a cash game, $100 on the table knowing I wouldn't be taking home any of it. Head in the clouds, or a day in the extremes I can't yet tell. The IRS should be happy though, as my losses for the month bring my winnings down to the petty cash levels of a GM sales rep in Detroit.
Play smart. If you're losing, there may be a reason, you should probably walk away.
Keep your edge. If you dominate certain tables, stay at those tables. A Freeroll is great, even if it is low stakes.
Trust yourself. If it doesn't feel like a good night/hand/casino/player/table/flop/turn/bet then don't. No one is superman, everyone can be knocked down. And even a werewolf in a bloody frenzy wading through the village unopposed can be struck down quite easily when he runs into bullets, so he should always watch for them. Especially when anyone can just pick up a set of Nines (or better) on 2nd street.