I don't know why it is, but for some
reason I seem to be more sensitive to criticism at the poker table than in most
other aspects of my life. I know
intellectually that if someone criticizes me at the table for how I played a
hand, I should just laugh it off, perhaps say, "I'm sorry, as you'll find
out, I'm a really bad player," and use the fact that the critic thinks I
don't know what I'm doing to my advantage.
But for some reason when someone
suggests I played a hand incorrectly, I take it way too personally. I always want to defend myself by explaining
why what I did was correct. Now, I
always stop myself from doing that, but the frustration of holding back my
response makes the annoyance with the original comment last longer.
This was a night where things were
going decently until four Queens (but not The Four Queens casino) and an
obnoxious jerk put a damper on things.
In the small blind I had pocket Jacks
and someone opened to $5 and got a couple of calls. I made it $31. The original raiser was the only one who
called. The flop came 7-2-2 and I bet
$50. He folded.
The very next hand I had pocket 6's
and limped in with a few others. The
flop was 10-9-6, the first two cards were diamonds. A guy bet $15 and there was a call. I made it $60. The first guy shoved for his last $65 total
and the other guy folded. The turn was
a blank and the river was an Ace—no more diamonds came. The guy who shoved showed 10-8, so all he had
was a pair of 10's (and a missed gutshot).
Here's the crazy part. The guy
who called the flop and then folded said he had King-Queen of diamonds. Huh?
He had the second nut flush draw and a gutshot to a straight flush? How does he fold that? I wasn't sure I believed him.
I opened to $6 with pocket 6's but
there was a raise to $19 and then a shove for $49. I folded.
The other guy called. Of course
there was a 6 on the flop! The guy who
made it $19 had pocket Queens and the guy who shoved had pocket Jacks. The guy who won with his Queens left a few
hands later and I told him that I would have had a set if I had stayed in. He looked to the sky as if thanking god. What about me? I'm the one he should have thanked.
I opened to $10 with King-Queen of
diamonds and only had one caller. The
flop was pretty nice: Jack-10-9, rainbow.
I bet $15 and he made it $30.
OK....so I made it $65 and he shoved.
I had him covered and of course I snap called. The turn was a Queen, and the river was a
Jack. I was worried about the paired
board but it turns out he had.....pocket Kings.
Yeesh. Damn Queen on the turn
counterfeited me and made it a chop. But
I did find it interesting that he didn't three-bet with his Kings. Could have gotten rid of me preflop with a
three-bet.
Then I got the dreaded
pocket Queens. Yes, I
said Queens. It's been awhile since I've referred to them
like that but you'll see why. I opened
to $10 and got two callers. The flop was low, two diamonds. I bet $20.
The next guy shoved for $67 and the other guy called without any
hesitation. He had me covered. Well, I
had to figure my Queens were no good there—they sure didn't seem to be worth
another $47 against two players who really liked their hands. I folded.
The turn was a King and the river was a blank—no diamond appeared. Well, the guy who called the $67 had King-4
of diamonds and took it with a pair of Kings. Someone commented on his calling
such a big bet on the flop and he said, "I had a monster draw." The other guy shocked me by saying he had a
straight draw. I hadn't seen him bet a draw
all evening. BTW, he was the same guy
who hadn't three-bet his pocket Kings in the previous hand. That's one of the reasons I was so sure he
was really strong there.
Just several hands later I got pocket
Queens again. A new player had taken
over for the guy who busted out with his straight draw a few hands earlier. He was, well, "rough" looking. I mean, I wouldn't want to run into this guy
in a dark alley. Or even a bright
alley. He bought in for $160. And this was either the first or second hand
he'd played. He was under-the-gun and
straddled for $5. Two players called the
straddle and now it was on me.
What am I supposed to do there? I've mentioned before, I'm never quite sure
what to raise when there's a straddle—how do I take the straddle into account?
I mean, if it was three limps in front of me, I'd make it $14. But that's too little, obviously.
To me, you can look at the straddle in
one of two ways—as a small raise, or as a third blind.
If I look at it as a small raise, well
I'm three-betting so I would normally triple the amount of the raise (the total
bet). So that would be $15—but I would
also add the amounts of any calls. Two
calls, $5 each, and I come up with $25.
If I look it as a blind, well, I'm
raising usually 4X, plus the amounts of any calls. So 4 times $5 is $20, plus the two $5 calls
and I come up with $30.
Does anybody think I should have
raised less than $25? Or for that
matter, more than $30?
I was using the first method so I made
it $25. It folded to the new guy, the
straddler, and he thought about it for a bit and then called. Everyone else folded. The flop was King-high, rainbow. The other two cards were something like 8-3,
9-4, or similar. He checked. I c-bet $35 and he immediately announced
"all-in."
I know, the over-shove screams of a
bluff, and I was sure thinking that. On
the other hand, I didn't know this guy from Adam. Did I really want to risk most of my stack
with Queens on a King-high flop? My
answer was, no, I didn't. I folded. It was late, this was already going to be
my last orbit so I didn't really have time to get it back if I lost
I'm sure some (most?) of you will
think that's too weak. But against an
unknown opponent, I didn't feel like making the call. If I was planning on playing longer, I might
have been more tempted to call, if only to see if he was really bluff-shoving
for $160 on his first hand. That
information would have been useful. But
under the circumstances, I'd likely never get to use it.
Anyway, here's the payoff. When the pot was pushed to him, he said to
me, in a pretty nasty tone, "Ace-King doesn't raise like that,
buddy."
That irritated the hell out of
me. I didn't say a word, but I so wanted
to set him straight.
I wanted to tell him, "I would
have raised to $25 with any hand that I thought I should raise with, including
Ace-King, buddy."
I wanted to say, "Since you
straddled and there were two callers, that $25 was the least I should have
raised to, buddy. What would you
have raised to in my position, buddy?"
I also wanted to say, "Don't call
me buddy,
buddy. I'm not your buddy. And I never will be."
Yeah, I don't really like it when
someone I don't know calls me "buddy." We're not buddies. It always sounds like an insult to me. Note: It's totally different when someone I
know—someone who is my buddy—calls me that. I have no problem with that at
all. It's only when it comes from a
stranger.
But again, I said nothing. I hated that I couldn't explain the logic
behind my raise—as if it would have made a difference. But like I said at the outset, I took the
criticism of my play personally.
And what did his comment suggest? In my annoyed state, I initially assumed it
confirmed my suspicion that it was a total bluff. He was pissed at me for raising "so
much" and so he would get his revenge by bluff-shoving to steal a pot off
of me.
It was only later, when I was
discussing the hand with my poker buddy pal Don that I considered
another possibility. Don heard my story
and immediately said that for sure he had a King, just not a very good one. But
that he wasn't worried about me having Ace-King because "Ace-King doesn't
raise like that."
Well buddy, what does raise
like that? Pocket Aces? In fact, a lot of folks raise bigger the
bigger the hand. But if he put me on
Aces, he wouldn't check-shove against me—unless he'd gotten really lucky and
caught a set. Even then, he'd likely
slow play it, at least on the flop. And
if he did put me on Aces, is he gonna bluff me there?
Or, people tend to bet bigger with
pocket Jacks, everyone hates those.
Would he shove there if he put me on Jacks and he had a crappy
King? I'm not sure why he would have.
Well, I'll never know what he
had. As I intended, I left a few hands
later, having lost a few bucks. It
wasn't Kings this time, it was Queens that did me in.
Queens and my new buddy—the guy who gave me
instruction on how much not to bet with Ace-King.
