Carpe Datum

Down 300

Oh, last night's poker game was one of those nights. I really only played a few hands. Everyone at the table was playing every kind of hand, even raised up pre-flop. So the smart thing to do is sit back, wait for a hand, and see who wants to pay you. That works fine as long as they don't draw out on you.

About the 5th hand of the night, there are 6-7 limpers along with me in early position, and I've got Q-10 suited. Flop comes Qxx unsuited, so I bet the pot. Everyone folds except for a guy I know to be a smart, tight player, and he knows that I play tight and can be chased off of some hands. He raised me up 40 (all-in for him at that point), and luckily, I read that he had crap, so I called. He had A-5 clubs with one club on the board. He got runner-runner for a 6-high straight.

I rebought for another 100, knowing that when my hand came later, I would want to have plenty of ammunition. Sure enough, I got KK and got three callers with my big blind raise of 15 (this is a 1/2 game). When the flop came out Q-9-6, I went ahead and raised it up another 20 or so and got one guy to push his last 35 or so into the pot. I called, and he just had a pair of 9's, and I won that hand.

By the time it got around to my big hand, I had about 190 in front of me, so I was almost back to even, and I got KK again. The flop came 10-6-2 unsuited, and I was on the button. One really loose guy bets 40 at a pot that was probably about 60 dollars. I pushed, putting him all-in. I'm willing to risk a set here because this guy has been calling with everything.

Against about half the table, I would very likely muck my cards against that bet, fearing a set. Pushing with overpairs against a low board is a recipe for lots of little wins and a few big losses to sets. Fortunately for me, all he had was 10-7 unsuited. That's what he called my 15 dollar pre-flop raise with, mind you.

So the turn is a 7, giving him two pair, and I'm now down 200. Couldn't even got another pair on the board to win with a higher two-pair. I was steaming and probably should've left at that point, but I bought in for my last 100, figuring if I could just play tight, surely I had a good chance of catching someone. The very next hand, I was dealt KJ, and the guy two players in front of me pushed all-in for 75. I was sorely tempted to call, but I recognized I was on tilt and so mucked my cards. Good thing, too, because he had AK and would've beaten my ass.

Then it went into Omaha, and I made kind of a stupid bet on the river with a big flush against a paired board, but no one else was betting much, so I figured no one had made their boat. Wrong, my brother had made a small boat and was tentative about betting into a bigger boat, so that was the end of my chips and the end of my night. I easily could've finished up 500 if I had won those two hands where I was way ahead post-flop, just because I would've had more ammo to play other hands.

It sucks to lose that much, but I really did play it ok except for the last hand (the boat was made on the river, of course). The two hands I lost, I was better than a 3:1 favorite, and if I can get all my money in the middle with 75% or better odds, I'd be stupid not to do it. That doesn't change the fact that it really, really sucks to get busted.

Oh well, I've got a book review to work on now that's going to pay me 400 when I'm done, so that'll cover my loss and give me the next buy-in. I just have to be sure not to spend that same money four or five times mentally. This is a big, big reason why it is critically important to never gamble with something you can't afford to lose, even if you are a good player with the odds heavily in your favor.

That's just the way poker is, and I've read enough to know that. It's just the first time I've had to eat a big shit sandwich rather than reading about someone else doing it. I can only imagine what it must feel like to lose like that when you can't afford it.

Posted by Observer at November 12, 2007 07:05 PM