Playing Live Poker Continues
Posted on March 28, 2008
Filed Under Personal, Tips and Advice
Well, I just busted for the first time in a week and a half tonight at my friend’s game. Such a bad feeling too, I was on a pretty steady win streak until tonight. I played one hand terrible and lost my entire stack on it.
I had Q8s at the cutoff. My friend who’s a rather loose-aggressive player makes his standard pre-flop raise. I called and the flop came Q103 rainbow. I bet out $6.50 and he re-raised $10 on top (blinds are .50/$1). I’ve seen him make this move several times so I felt that a re-raise would make him fold. So I raised $20 more. He thought for a long while. I rarely re-raise a raise on a bluff or marginal hand, so with my image, I was confident I could pull it off. He proceeded to go all-in, and at this point, I was pretty much pot-committed. He turns over AA and it holds up. I hate blowing my stack on just top pair, it’s something I always try to advise others, including myself NOT to do.
I don’t think I would have normally played that hand had I not been up and down all night. I was playing strong for the first hour or so until I made a good call, but the weaker hand ended up sucking out. That kind of ruined my mood for the night and made me play off my typical game. I think next time I get frustrated, I’m just going to get up and take a break.
So the lessons to be learned:
1.) Don’t blow your stack with just top pair. Top pair is only a pair. It’s not a hand you want to win a big pot with. You win big pots with your sets, boats, flushes and straights. Unless you’re sure your top pair is good, don’t get too involved with it.
2.) If you lose a big pot, get up and take a 5-10 min break. Take your mind off it. You might find yourself trying to play differently or more hands to try to make up for th money you just lost. You can’t change your game because you just lost a big pot. You’ll find yourself playing more hands or too scared and tight. Take a break if you have to.
Well, I need to get off here and get some sleep. Good night!
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