Posted by Dr Fro 4:05 PM
"It's a luscious mix of words and tricks that let us bet when you know we should fold" - The Shins

We played cards at my house last weekend. It was the usual group. My odds of winning are typically pretty high, as I count on Kleckner & Higdon to make large donations, Cameron to get drunk / loose and my lucky chip to carry me to victory. Higdon no-showed, Kleckner went on a tear, Cameron was sober due to spending most of the evening at a first communion and my lucky chip was nowhere to be found. That was a recipe for disaster.

Actually, it was a recipe for a break-even night, assuming no poor decision making on my part. Being the liberal Democrat that I am I prefer to not take responsiblity for my decisions. So rather than saying I played poorly, I will say that I was the victim of several green bottles that forced me to make bad decisions.

I started out good enough, but kinda lost it when Kleckner's 22 hit a 2 on the river to beat my 2-pair. I started to tilt. Then, I made a call that I later realized I completely miscalculated the pot odds (basically I counted my outs to hitting the nut low in O/8 and multiplied the percentage by the expected TOTAL pot, not by the 1/2 pot that I stood to win) I actually won that hand (or the low end of it at least) but when I figured out my mistake a few minutes later I put myself on a little more tilt. I shouldn't be so hard on myself.

When I tilt, it usually isnt that bad. I typically play the same but semi-bluff more (a bet before the river that represents a made hand, but needs a fold or to hit outs on later streets to win). Of course, when the bluff works you win a small pot. When you get called and lose, you lose a medium sized bet. If you get called an make your draw, you can win a monster pot. Problem was, I never won that monster pot.

At one point I asked the table if they could remember showing down and losing on the river to me at all. I think we came up with 2 instances. When you play shorthanded and only win a couple showdowns over 6 hours, you can't have a good night. When you get drunk and play stupid, you have a horrible night.

Anyway, I never sweat a loss (especially at those stakes) for too long. So when everyone left, I sat down at Party Poker. I bought in for a little more than I lost at the game in the $2-$4 NL HE game. First hand I get AKo. I saw 4 hands prior to being dealt in and noticed one guy playing like a maniac. I raise, he re-raises. Usually, I would consider that I may be up against AA or KK and slow down a bit, but this guy would play 92o like the nuts. So, we have a raising war and I end up getting 75% of my stack in pre-flop. When the flop comes up undercards, I had no choice but putting my remaining chips in. He of course calls. His J9s hit a straight freaking flush. Oh God.

I tell you, if you want a piece of me, this is the time to do it. Without my lucky chip, I am easy pickings.

2 Comment(s):

Posted by  Anonymous, at 10:42 PM, May 06, 2005  

When you mentioned that you couldn't find your lucky chip, I actually thought about commenting but for the fear of jinxing myself. I thought about the lucky chip afterwards and thought I saw Kleckner tossing something up and down as we left that night.....

__________________________________________________

Posted by  Dr Fro, at 10:33 AM, May 07, 2005  

Yeah - I think Kleckner melted it down and drank it up. The mojo is running through his veins...

__________________________________________________

Post a Comment