The number #1 thing I hate about the game I love
When this happens: Hate the win, not the winner. I call this, Making the right mistake.
Last night, I was deep, heads up. I have position, and a guy raises. I call with suited connectors. I put him on AK.
I hit two pair 5's and 6's, and there is a King on the board. The guy shoves all in on the flop! I insta call, and am dominated as he shows two pair too-K6 suited! The river is a 5, and I suck out with a full house...When that happens, it gets me nervously thinking
"It's better to be skillful than lucky" Note to self...
These are the nights that I stay too long, and go home broke. I did. Why? Because luck lends but never gives.
Playing 'in the dark': betting that your opponents DON'T have the cards rather than that they do is a strategy, not THE strategy. I couldn't switch gears.
I did a lot of bluffing, and I got called down with bottom pair, even with scare cards on the board.
An Aggressive game is a game of strategy and deception. A passive game is one where money flows from bad to good players. A loose game is a game of money and odds; a tight one is a battle for the antes
It was Ready, Fire, Aim---unloading three bullets--- flop, turn AND river, into a pot, holding Squadush-"nothing", “zilch” or “zero" and , when I first arrived, in the passive game, taking it down.
As the evening progressed, and the game loosened up, the passive players busted out, and the tight aggressive came in It became a game of money and odds. I didn't make the adjustment well, and re bought 3 times.
Tilt, was everywhere in my game--I got AA busted twice, and KK and QQ. That's right.
The AA was with a flop of 743 garbage, he bets big ,I re raise all in, he calls, with a set of 7's.
Granted, too much respect for money makes you a bad NLH player....so I must be a great player, because I didn't think he could have anything.
I walked away from that session with knowledge: First, that my brain is the "most powerful computer." Second, when on tilt, my brain is the most powerful "broken computer .
"Tilt makes us sub-optimal for evaluating rewards, sizing up risks and calculating probabilities. It's like selling the car for gas money.I walked away with a less broken computer, less sabotaging behavior, and more insight into the fact that self-delusion is more than possible in poker - it's highly likely!