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Playing Poorly When I Should Have Known I Had The Best Hand

In my last post I described how I got $50 free money from Titan Poker by signing up with them through PokerSourceOnline. I also described that I was using this money at $0.50/$1 hold’em tables. When I had written the last post I had lost most of the $50. I was down to about $10, and I had only been playing about 8 hours. And then it happened. The miracle hand.

I was dealt A5 and the community cards were 5 5 A K and some other card that I can’t remember. I don’t remember the suits of the cards, but this too is irrelevant. Another player had K5 for his hole cards. So we each had BOATS! Finally a great hand against another player with a great hand. The betting was fierce from the get go. I had the best hand from the flop and initially I was certain I had it. But then, as it always happens, when the last round of betting occurs, I lose my nerve.

No, I didn’t fold or do anything extremely stupid. But I did make a mistake, one that cost me a few bucks, and for the stakes I was playing, every dollar counts. It was the last round of betting and I think I made the initial bet and and then the other guy raised. I could have reraised, but I froze, and just called. Why? What was I thinking? I kept asking myself over and over again even after I won and should have been enjoying the victory. The other guy would have needed pocket aces (220:1 odds) – the nuts – to beat me. But I didn’t think it through, and I just played like a wimp.

The pot I won was decent – $17 – the best I had seen for the last 8 hours of playing. I was now up to about $27 and feeling like things were about to change for the better. Alas, they didn’t. In about two hours I had lost everything. I attribute some of my losing to stupid playing, and I think that much of my stupid playing occurs in the final round of betting.

Oh well, it wasn’t really my money anyway. And I’m only a beginner. You see, I can always win the game of rationalization.

Now THIS is great gaming news! What do I do now?

1. Subsribe to Gaming Moments!

2. Submit this to Reddit

3. Bookmark this post on del.icio.us

About this Post
Posted on June 2, 2006 by Suber | Filed Under Online Poker, Stories, Strategy
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One Response to “Playing Poorly When I Should Have Known I Had The Best Hand”

PokerMoments » Mistakes in poker: How do I measure them? on June 3rd, 2006 5:02 am

[...] When I read Suber’s post about the mistake he made, I had to think of one of the basic lessons I’ve learned fairly early: [...]