My offline bankroll is diminishing. 3% last Friday, I dropped another 2% this week. Last week, I played bad, this week I had 4 tough spots. A 2-outer and 7-outer smack on the river followed by over analysis that I got wrong twice.
First one I had A2 on a flop of A27r. A LAG bet out and in position I called. Turn blanked and he fired a 2nd bullet, I called again. When the river blanked, he shoved again about $120 into an $80 pot. As there were no feasible draws and 72 was unlikely I somehow managed to put him on 77 or 22. Discretion being the better part of valour, I folded my 2-pair to TPTK, bugga, and a big mistake how could I overlook TPTK or any other 2-pair for that matter.
Other bad decision came on the very last hand. We'd agreed one last orbit and I'd joked that this is the crazy part of the night - usually is. First 3 hands were fizzers, 4 handed. Then the last hand where I was dealt QQ when I'd straddled for the first time of that evening to $5 in a 50c/$1 game.
Call, Raise $10, Call then me to act. I decided to raise to $35 and consider releasing to an A or a K post flop. Fold, call, call. $100 in pot. Flop was sweet for me TT7, 3 handed. Check, check, standard cont-bet $50 to attract skeptics. Fold and a surprising AI for another $140 on top.
I went into the tank and thought of a few things:
- 1st he was not the sort of player to lose his stack on the last hand.
- then I realised that he knew that I could c-bet light, so he may have AK, med pair or similar.
- then I knew that he was risking his original buy-in which had been set to the side for over an hour.
- He looked comfortable but when I asked if he had something he looked genuine in believing that I hadn't even looked at my cards (which he confirmed after was true).
Split 2/2 - but in reality 1 and 3 were the most reliable observations.
Anyway, I reasoned that his range included AK, 99-QQ and the obvious Tx. Curiosity may have got the better of me. Needless to say it was AT and I lost a chunk that I was ahead. In the grand scheme of things, these are just part of the learning process. But it still can be lonely when it happens and you have no-one that understands to discuss it with.
Most pleasing part of the night was a comment after my 2-outer AI for a big stack earlier. When I lost, a few hands later one ex-semi-pro that I respect told the table that the character of a poker player was how he handles bad beats. That made my night as I've never once lost my temper at any table. I can tilt internally like anyone else tho'.
Thanks for being there folks and letting me vent ...
5 years ago
2 comments:
Hand 1 I think you must raise the flop or the turn. There's a very good chance you are ahead of a TPGK, but he has outs - at least 6 on the flop and 9 on the turn (a paired board is a disaster for top and bottom pair). A raise may also slow him down and prevent you from making a bad laydown later in the hand.
Hand 2 is tough, but probably has to be a fold. The fact that he is playing with the money he "set aside" is a big tell, and a subtle enough one that is not likely to be faked. I put him on 99-AA, AT or KT. A shove with AK is possible from a tricky player (and can be a good move), since he has outs against your range and a perfect bluffing board - but your opponent doesn't sound like that sort of player.
All par of the learning process. You are spot on, as always, thanks!
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