Don't be a whiny kid and take it like a man (or a woman)! (for poker players)
By DawGwath
@DawGwath (1042)
Romania
October 8, 2009 7:20am CST
For all you hold'em poker players (especially online poker players), you may recall this situation. You are sitting at a table, playing poker, a tournament, ring game or whatever, and somehow you end up playing your pocket Sixes or Sevens like they are the best Aces in history. And of course someone ends up chasing you with some pocket Kings or even Aces. But after the flop you hit a set and you win. Now, a real player would just move on without a word, but most egocentric players who feel they played good, that they feel they are professional players and that they should have won (notice the word "feel"), might attack you with names like donk or fish or even worse, just for the simple reason that you didn't play by "the rules" (and by "the rules", I mean playing by the odds). But just a reminder people, poker, with all it's complexity, is still a gambling game, and as long as you do not know what the flop is going to be or you do not know your opponents cards, you'll be gambling with a pair of aces as much as you will gamble with 6 7 offsuit. Of course your chances increase with the power of your hand, but there is still a chance that I might win with a poor hand, and if I'm willing to take that chance, then I deserve the money I win as much as you do if you hit the best hand.
It may be annoying to lose with a great hand and your ego might get bruised, but being neutral about it is the best way to go, as it will not affect your style, nor will you bring "the curse" of being hit on and chased till you are out of the game by the players you have offended. In some creepy way, we should all be like Negreanu used to say "Oh, if I lose a million, I go 'meh, it's just a million, I'll make another one'" [citation needed]*
I do not recommend being all loose in your play and taking such a chance against a monster hand, but that doesn't mean that playing some hands is out of the question or that you do not deserve to play poker. As long as you don't cheat, a pot won is a pot won. After all, a tight player never reached the last table in the WSOP, am I right?
*wikipedia style!!
3 responses
@benhilo (871)
• Tripoli, Libya
8 Oct 09
Thank you for your advice. However, playing poker is like what we say about football -- on any Sunday. To be more specific, any hand can win at any time. Frankly play poker is more luck than skill no matter how you slice it. Take it from me, I have won (and loss) several tournaments in my life time.
@DawGwath (1042)
• Romania
8 Oct 09
Well I have won and lost many tournaments, many games, but in the end I don't thank to good luck for it. Mike Cairo said that the profit in poker comes from players making bad decisions and you taking advantage of those bad decisions. And if it would depend on luck more than skill, I wouldn't see familiar faces everytime at the final table.
@Chrisdude (75)
• United States
23 Oct 09
You obviously dont get that
many bad beats
Maybe I should introduce you to
pokerstars.net
@DawGwath (1042)
• Romania
1 Nov 09
I assure you I get many bad beats, especially on nopaypoker. I used to play on pokerstars and players were usually making a clean play, until some maniac got to sit at the table . But even as it is, let's say you can't manage your anger and feel the need to curse (like Phil Hellmuth) and other stuff, I don't mind, but don't bash other players, no matter how bad they play. After all, would you prefer to play against a bad player or a pro, eh? Who brings the most profit?!
@burrito88 (2774)
• United States
8 Oct 09
Poker is part luck and part skill. I've been lucky and taken 3 large pots in the past few weeks, starting with pocket twos. (In one case, I was dealt pocket twos in 4 out of 5 hands. After the 4th time, I figured what the hell and went all in, taking out one of the better players in the area.) Then again, when I started playing, I lost slow playing pocket aces. One thing you always have to be careful of is to not fall in love with your hand, because the other guy's hand just might be better.
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