Reality Check
Today started out like many others, I woke up, played a $30 sit&go with some of the leftover profits I had from the previous night, and of course won it, starting the day with a nice $100 profit. I then decided to get some real life stuff done, walked down to the bank and grocery store, smiling the whole way. Up until today, my quest for self-sustaining financial independence had been going great – I had been playing for just over a week showing steady profits every day, which in total added up to more than my daily goal of $200/day. I walked down the street with pride. I thought, “maybe this poker thing is the real deal, maybe I am that good”. And why not? I mean, it’s been a week, that’s long enough to base everything on!
And then; it came.
I got home and sat down to a quick 1/2 NL game for an hour or two before my girlfriend got home for dinner. I played my regular game, but had been pretty much keeping afloat, not really hitting much in the way of hands. I was down a mere $50 when the hand of God struck me down. I almost don’t even want to talk about it. I can’t even think about posting it can I? I mean, as a professional poker player, how can I allow myself to be ridiculed by my peers in such a public forum? I can’t… I mustn’t…
Seat 1: RikkiDee ($152.35 in chips)
Seat 2: hookm05 ($80 in chips)
Seat 3: twpt ($125.80 in chips)
Seat 4: papai50 ($221 in chips)
Seat 5: W.A. Plan R ($68.55 in chips)
Seat 6: DrGreve ($382.50 in chips)
W.A. Plan R: posts small blind $1
DrGreve: posts big blind $2
hookm05: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Jd Ks]
RikkiDee: calls $2
hookm05: checks
twpt: folds
papai50: folds
W.A. Plan R: folds
DrGreve: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jh Kd 4d]
DrGreve: bets $4
RikkiDee: raises $8 to $12
hookm05: folds
DrGreve: calls $8
*** TURN *** [Jh Kd 4d] [5h]
DrGreve: checks
RikkiDee: bets $10
DrGreve: calls $10
At this point I’m thinking, no diamond no diamond no diamond… convinced he was on a draw, which he was, I just had the wrong suit.
*** RIVER *** [Jh Kd 4d 5h] [Th]
DrGreve: checks
RikkiDee: bets $15
DrGreve: raises $343.50 to $358.50 and is all-in
RikkiDee said, "no way you hit a backdoor flush.."
hookm05 said, "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
RikkiDee: calls $113.35 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DrGreve: shows [2h Kh] (a flush, King high)
RikkiDee: mucks hand
DrGreve collected $304.70 from pot
His check raise on the river screamed that he hit that heart backdoor flush, and I even fucking called it in text. Obviously top 2 pair here is not the nuts, but I couldn’t put him on any hand except a flush (straight didn’t make any sense, he would need both cards contributing to the straight, and there is no way he called me down with just a gutshot draw). Here is a hand I can learn a lot from though, since it’s happened to me many times. This opponent wasn’t tricky, solid or skilled. He isn't going to pull this move as a bluff - so why am I calling? He was your typical loose/passive player that can’t lay down fucking top pair to a reraise. I had seen it many times before by this player. I knew for sure he did not have a set since he never reraised me on the flop or turn, and there is no way I could put him on TT since even he isn’t bad enough to call to the river with 3rd pair. The problem I should have figured out is, he knew I was strong – probably very strong since I had been playing my usual tight strategy and barely picked up anything remotely this good in the hour I had been playing, so if he had been watching me at all (probably not) he knew I had something big. Now I should have recognized him knowing that I was strong, because that check raise screams strength as well. He knew I would bet the river (obviously) and he knew that I had a very strong hand, possibly strong enough to call his all in. And because he was playing passively, I should have known that his bet showed even more strength.
Anyways, I knew I made a bad call before I even made it, and that’s something I need to learn and deal with if I am going to make a run at this poker thing. First I need to be disciplined to make this laydown, and I also need to be strong mentally enough to take this beat in stride. After this happened I was steaming for a good 2 hours. It wasn’t the first time I had lost a buyin to a stupid call, but it was the first time I had lost a buyin when it really meant something. $200 goes a long way for me in my young life – groceries, bills etc. I found it very difficult dealing with my first big loss, which will surly be mitigated over time – the more big losses I take. I then played the rest of the night trying to “get even” which is inherently a bad idea for many reasons, but this time it paid off for me. I started up 3 tables and actually played pretty well, showing a total profit of a surprising $238 for the night. So the day ended well, but I don’t think I should ever try to get even unless my head is clear and the loss is gone, since it can get very dangerous – obviously.
The last thing I learned from this hand is that I want to make sure that all my losses are from bad beats not bad calls. I want to realize that I’ve been sucked out and not pay the privilege to actually see it. If I lose a hand I want it to be because I got unlucky, like someone hitting a random two pair to my top pair top kicker, not because they had me beat and I’m the one making the mistake by continuing to bet/call. That is the goal. I want to identify in each loss where I made the mistake, and learn from it, and hopefully never do it again. Considering that if we played this hand 100 times I would win it about 81 times, I don’t feel too bad about my play, just the call. I have to avoid these costly calls.
Wow that was long, and I’m still in pain. Thanks for being a good listener.
And then; it came.
I got home and sat down to a quick 1/2 NL game for an hour or two before my girlfriend got home for dinner. I played my regular game, but had been pretty much keeping afloat, not really hitting much in the way of hands. I was down a mere $50 when the hand of God struck me down. I almost don’t even want to talk about it. I can’t even think about posting it can I? I mean, as a professional poker player, how can I allow myself to be ridiculed by my peers in such a public forum? I can’t… I mustn’t…
Seat 1: RikkiDee ($152.35 in chips)
Seat 2: hookm05 ($80 in chips)
Seat 3: twpt ($125.80 in chips)
Seat 4: papai50 ($221 in chips)
Seat 5: W.A. Plan R ($68.55 in chips)
Seat 6: DrGreve ($382.50 in chips)
W.A. Plan R: posts small blind $1
DrGreve: posts big blind $2
hookm05: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Jd Ks]
RikkiDee: calls $2
hookm05: checks
twpt: folds
papai50: folds
W.A. Plan R: folds
DrGreve: checks
*** FLOP *** [Jh Kd 4d]
DrGreve: bets $4
RikkiDee: raises $8 to $12
hookm05: folds
DrGreve: calls $8
*** TURN *** [Jh Kd 4d] [5h]
DrGreve: checks
RikkiDee: bets $10
DrGreve: calls $10
At this point I’m thinking, no diamond no diamond no diamond… convinced he was on a draw, which he was, I just had the wrong suit.
*** RIVER *** [Jh Kd 4d 5h] [Th]
DrGreve: checks
RikkiDee: bets $15
DrGreve: raises $343.50 to $358.50 and is all-in
RikkiDee said, "no way you hit a backdoor flush.."
hookm05 said, "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
RikkiDee: calls $113.35 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DrGreve: shows [2h Kh] (a flush, King high)
RikkiDee: mucks hand
DrGreve collected $304.70 from pot
His check raise on the river screamed that he hit that heart backdoor flush, and I even fucking called it in text. Obviously top 2 pair here is not the nuts, but I couldn’t put him on any hand except a flush (straight didn’t make any sense, he would need both cards contributing to the straight, and there is no way he called me down with just a gutshot draw). Here is a hand I can learn a lot from though, since it’s happened to me many times. This opponent wasn’t tricky, solid or skilled. He isn't going to pull this move as a bluff - so why am I calling? He was your typical loose/passive player that can’t lay down fucking top pair to a reraise. I had seen it many times before by this player. I knew for sure he did not have a set since he never reraised me on the flop or turn, and there is no way I could put him on TT since even he isn’t bad enough to call to the river with 3rd pair. The problem I should have figured out is, he knew I was strong – probably very strong since I had been playing my usual tight strategy and barely picked up anything remotely this good in the hour I had been playing, so if he had been watching me at all (probably not) he knew I had something big. Now I should have recognized him knowing that I was strong, because that check raise screams strength as well. He knew I would bet the river (obviously) and he knew that I had a very strong hand, possibly strong enough to call his all in. And because he was playing passively, I should have known that his bet showed even more strength.
Anyways, I knew I made a bad call before I even made it, and that’s something I need to learn and deal with if I am going to make a run at this poker thing. First I need to be disciplined to make this laydown, and I also need to be strong mentally enough to take this beat in stride. After this happened I was steaming for a good 2 hours. It wasn’t the first time I had lost a buyin to a stupid call, but it was the first time I had lost a buyin when it really meant something. $200 goes a long way for me in my young life – groceries, bills etc. I found it very difficult dealing with my first big loss, which will surly be mitigated over time – the more big losses I take. I then played the rest of the night trying to “get even” which is inherently a bad idea for many reasons, but this time it paid off for me. I started up 3 tables and actually played pretty well, showing a total profit of a surprising $238 for the night. So the day ended well, but I don’t think I should ever try to get even unless my head is clear and the loss is gone, since it can get very dangerous – obviously.
The last thing I learned from this hand is that I want to make sure that all my losses are from bad beats not bad calls. I want to realize that I’ve been sucked out and not pay the privilege to actually see it. If I lose a hand I want it to be because I got unlucky, like someone hitting a random two pair to my top pair top kicker, not because they had me beat and I’m the one making the mistake by continuing to bet/call. That is the goal. I want to identify in each loss where I made the mistake, and learn from it, and hopefully never do it again. Considering that if we played this hand 100 times I would win it about 81 times, I don’t feel too bad about my play, just the call. I have to avoid these costly calls.
Wow that was long, and I’m still in pain. Thanks for being a good listener.
posted by RikkiDee at 8:22 PM
3 Comments:
Bout time u lost a buy In you pro nerd....Would say a good rule of thumb is if your ahead before the turn and someone bet's allin to u on a harmless turn there bluffing...?
hmm what a fish. maybe u shoulda raised more... I mean if im correctly reading it there was about 30 bucks in the pot on the flop, so why not make a pot size bet on the turn, i mean im assuming u knew he didnt have trips and he was on a draw.
dont hate me cause im not pro
and dont hate the player hate the game.
lil p
Jose,
its a decent rule of thumb but I can't say they would always be bluffing. Usually they are but chancing your whole stack on a uncertain guess can't be good strategy.
Lil P,
Yea my turn bet was a bit weak, but I knew I was so far ahead, and wanted him to call with a weak king or a diamond draw. By betting more I may have chased him out, which ultimately would have won me the pot, but in the long run I should bet there so he calls, not so he folds.
Post a Comment
<< Home