A couple of weeks ago my friend Dr. Phil commented that he thought I was a "great player". This took me by surprise because I think Dr. Phil is a damn good player and that I am only competent and trying to catch up.
Shortly thereafter, I ran into Matt, the guy who told me months ago that I play so bad and get so lucky. He told me the exact same thing again on the night I last saw him after I beat him in a hand. (He only seems to get irked with me when this happens.)
As for me, I think I will stick to what I know and think. I know that I try to learn something every time I play. I think I am competent. I know that I get lucky now & again. I know that I play bad sometimes, but definitely not very often & usually when on "tilt". I think I can get better every day.
So, am I wrong about Dr. Phil? Is Matt right about me? Who decides who is great and who is terrible? I think ALL players are, at various times, great players, donkeys and/or extremely lucky.
So, my identity crisis continues. Am I a great player or a lucky idiot or a little of both? Hmmm.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
One Mistake Is All It Takes
I played in the deep stack at the Island last Tuesday. At the beginning I couldn't lose. I was playing a lot of low suited connectors because they were hitting & hitting big. My first hand (not raised by anyone) was a 2-3 spades in the cut-off seat. The flop had 4 spades and a 2. A bet was made and I raised & got several callers. On the turn I added a gut-shot straight draw. They all checked to me & I bet again. I got 2 callers. The river brought a spade. Two players called my river bet and I won a nice pot early. I couldn't believe no one had a bigger flush.
This continued for the first 2 hours. I even made what I think was simply a "feel" call holding A-K. One player had been getting beat up pretty bad by me and some of the other players. You could just look at him and tell he wasn't happy. I raised on the button with A-K and he re-raised before the flop. I just called & then I called him all the way to the river because I just knew he was trying to buy it and didn't have anything. Is this woman's intuition or what? He just shook his head when I called and mucked his cards. The player to my right asked me how I could call with A-K and I indicated that I simply didn't know. It was just a "feeling". Good grief.
So then I got stupid or maybe cocky. I honestly don't know. We were down to 3 tables (from 5) and there was a guy (Tim) who raised every other hand and we didn't see a lot of what he was raising with. I've played with him in live games & I know he plays loose-aggressive, but I guess he plays tighter in tournaments because he got me good. This was another of those "feel" situations. I just "knew" he was raising light. I was sick of it because it was really starting to annoy me and therein lies my problem. I get annoyed too easily.
He raised again and I just lost it. I went all-in with A-5 suited and I HAD NO REASON TO DO SO except that I was annoyed and didn't believe him. He insta-called with A-K and knocked me out. This was my ONLY mistake all night and it was the one that did me in. OMG how can I be so stupid? I had plenty of chips. I need to just shake off my annoyance and get over it. This is a problem I really need to work on. I could have easily folded and moved on to the next hand.
This continued for the first 2 hours. I even made what I think was simply a "feel" call holding A-K. One player had been getting beat up pretty bad by me and some of the other players. You could just look at him and tell he wasn't happy. I raised on the button with A-K and he re-raised before the flop. I just called & then I called him all the way to the river because I just knew he was trying to buy it and didn't have anything. Is this woman's intuition or what? He just shook his head when I called and mucked his cards. The player to my right asked me how I could call with A-K and I indicated that I simply didn't know. It was just a "feeling". Good grief.
So then I got stupid or maybe cocky. I honestly don't know. We were down to 3 tables (from 5) and there was a guy (Tim) who raised every other hand and we didn't see a lot of what he was raising with. I've played with him in live games & I know he plays loose-aggressive, but I guess he plays tighter in tournaments because he got me good. This was another of those "feel" situations. I just "knew" he was raising light. I was sick of it because it was really starting to annoy me and therein lies my problem. I get annoyed too easily.
He raised again and I just lost it. I went all-in with A-5 suited and I HAD NO REASON TO DO SO except that I was annoyed and didn't believe him. He insta-called with A-K and knocked me out. This was my ONLY mistake all night and it was the one that did me in. OMG how can I be so stupid? I had plenty of chips. I need to just shake off my annoyance and get over it. This is a problem I really need to work on. I could have easily folded and moved on to the next hand.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Why Can't I Win This Tournament?
I'm not complaining . . . maybe a little. I took second place (for the second time) in Steve Stark's home game gone wild last Sunday. I have been the donkey once and I've taken 3rd or 4th once (can't remember which), but I can't seem to win. I really want my name on that damn wall!
As always, it was a fun tournament. I had a crazy little hand where Paul came in to deal and we were just talking about how he had given me some big pots recently with his favorite hand (J-9) and at the same time I looked down at my cards and had J-9. Go figure.
The blinds were 50-100. There were no raises and I was in the cut-off. Yippee. I raised to 400 just because I thought it was a good omen that we'd just been talking about the hand. Isn't that silly? Nonetheless, I got one caller and the flop gave me a gut shot straight draw needing an 8. The other player checked and I bet about half his stack (700). He called. Oops.
The turn was an 8. I couldn't believe it. He went all-in. Yippee again! I was so pleased to turn over my J-9 and Paul just smiled. The other player naturally wasn't too happy, but I've noticed that nobody ever seems to get too upset with anything in this tournament. It truly is just for fun and that's definitely what it is. Also, for 2nd place I got a nifty little pocket poker odds calculator with games on it to boot. Gotta love those prizes!
As always, it was a fun tournament. I had a crazy little hand where Paul came in to deal and we were just talking about how he had given me some big pots recently with his favorite hand (J-9) and at the same time I looked down at my cards and had J-9. Go figure.
The blinds were 50-100. There were no raises and I was in the cut-off. Yippee. I raised to 400 just because I thought it was a good omen that we'd just been talking about the hand. Isn't that silly? Nonetheless, I got one caller and the flop gave me a gut shot straight draw needing an 8. The other player checked and I bet about half his stack (700). He called. Oops.
The turn was an 8. I couldn't believe it. He went all-in. Yippee again! I was so pleased to turn over my J-9 and Paul just smiled. The other player naturally wasn't too happy, but I've noticed that nobody ever seems to get too upset with anything in this tournament. It truly is just for fun and that's definitely what it is. Also, for 2nd place I got a nifty little pocket poker odds calculator with games on it to boot. Gotta love those prizes!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Chopping at Jokers
The 12:30 tournament on Saturdays at Jokers is one of my favorites, as it is a deep stack with 20 minute rounds. One actually gets to play a bit of poker.
I couldn't lose during the first round except for one notable hand when I played 8-4 suited on the button against a raise (hello Dr. Phil) simply because I was on fire. I think anyone who was on the heater I was on at that point would have done the same thing. I flopped 2 pair and slow played it to my detriment as Dr. Phil got 2 bigger pair on the river. However, I didn't end up losing a lot on that hand, so it worked out OK.
In the end, I chopped 3 ways with Phil and Kim (a dealer at the Crazy Moose). We were trading chips back & forth for a little while & finally decided on the chop. It's always fun to make a profit.
The main thing I liked about this specific tournament was that (despite the 8-4 fiasco) I think I made pretty good decisions throughout. When a person consistently tries to make good decisions on each and every hand, I think the outcome is always better. I must work much harder on this so that my results improve.
I couldn't lose during the first round except for one notable hand when I played 8-4 suited on the button against a raise (hello Dr. Phil) simply because I was on fire. I think anyone who was on the heater I was on at that point would have done the same thing. I flopped 2 pair and slow played it to my detriment as Dr. Phil got 2 bigger pair on the river. However, I didn't end up losing a lot on that hand, so it worked out OK.
In the end, I chopped 3 ways with Phil and Kim (a dealer at the Crazy Moose). We were trading chips back & forth for a little while & finally decided on the chop. It's always fun to make a profit.
The main thing I liked about this specific tournament was that (despite the 8-4 fiasco) I think I made pretty good decisions throughout. When a person consistently tries to make good decisions on each and every hand, I think the outcome is always better. I must work much harder on this so that my results improve.
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