November 8, 2005
He bets into a ragged, unsuited 9-4-2 flop after his two Pacificpoker opponents check. At this point he could have any number of hands, from a set of nines to any overpair, to big cards like A-K, A-Q, A-J A-T, K-Q, or K-J. There's no way to be sure, since he'd probably bet the flop at this juncture with almost any holding. But if an inconsequential turn card falls and the raiser checks after his opponents check in front of him, he almost certainly has overcards rather than a pair.
Step one in making behavioral changes and eliminating bad habits is the irrevocable assumption of personal responsibility for what happens to you at the poker table. If you blame poor results on forces outside of yourself, you have not committed yourself to making changes; you're just denying the problem. And the only solution for that is to come back when you grow up and take responsibility for your own actions! If the shoe fits, steal it! Find a role model, or better yet, a couple of them.
- The raiser fancies himself a very strong Pacificpoker player, is certain he can always put each of his opponents on a hand, but he's not nearly as strong a player as he thinks. He has a weakness for suited cards, and will usually play almost suited hand. The player in the small blind came out betting. I was considering whether to raise or call, when an opponent to the small blind's left beat me to the punch. I knew the small blind frequently overplays his hands and likes to come out betting - or even raising - with mediocre holdings, or sometimes with nothing at all.
- We've never talked ourselves into believing we are superstar chess players, and haven't vested the same chunk of ego into that Pacificpoker.com game. It is demeaning, we believe, to lose at poker. But if we were going mano-a-mano against Kasparov, or anyone even close to his skill level, we'd realize that we had no chance at all, and so there'd be no shame at all in admitting it. But that's only part of the story.
- But for now, let's not concern ourselves with that, and focus our attention instead on the relationship between pot odds and your chances of making your hand. If you figure to win once in three times when the pot is offering you 5-to-1odds, it pays to call, regardless of whether you win this particular hand or not. It's the long run that matters in poker, not the outcome of any given hand.
- Just as an aside, we'll ignore those instances when it pays to bet, or even raise, when the relationship between the pot odds and the odds against making your hand are not justified arithmetically, but you think there's a good chance that betting or raising will cause your Pacificpoker opponent to fold.
So I gave her credit for playing well enough to raise the turn if she had a strong Pacificpoker hand, regardless of what kind of hand she might have started with. The river card was a king. Perfect for me. Now I had top two pair. My opponent could never beat me now, or so I thought. If she had cold called two and a half bets before the flop with a small pair and flopped a set she would have raised on the turn, wouldn't she?
And the only solution for that is to come back when you grow up and take responsibility for your own pacificpoker com actions! If the shoe fits, steal it! Find a role model, or better yet, a couple of them. And make sure you're looking at the right things too. Dangling gold bracelets, nugget rings, buffed fingernails, Rolex watches, and the ability to riffle an entire stack of chips with consummate ease only amount to talking the talk.
