Poker? I hardly Know Her!
Last night’s home game reaffirmed the fact that I just do not have any luck. Seriously. Texas Hold’em is about 40% skill, 60% luck. Well, I take that back, it’s about 40% skill, 110% luck.
There were 12 people last night, an awesome turnout. We had two tables and I was put at the smaller “kiddy” table. I was up against Dealer Mike who won both home games last month and as his name denotes, he’s a professional dealer. Next to Dealer Mike was a new girl Tana. Next to Tana was Jodi, a girl from my office whom I invited (this will come back to haunt me later in the evening). Next to Jodi was Chris who had been at our meetings once or twice before, and was completely cute and totally married. Sigh….
It was a $5 buy in and two optional re-buys of $5.
I started out kicking ass. Every hand I got was awesome. Even when the starting hand wasn’t that great I managed to make something out of it with the flop. I even managed to bust out Dealer Mike, which was a silent victory for me.
I played good, solid poker. I knew when to get out of a hand and I knew when to raise when I thought I had the best hand.
But I was up against damn beginner’s luck. I truly believe there is such a thing. I’ve seen it first-hand too many times to disregard it.
Jodi would call anything. It didn’t matter how much someone raised or re-raised. It actually knocked her out early in the game so she used one of her rebuys.
She was able to get a lot of money out of me just by hanging out with crap hands and sucking it out at the river. It was her constantly recalling that made it so difficult to know if she actually had anything. My final hand was when I started with pocket aces. I fucking hate poket aces. I played it by the book though, I raised before the flop, on the turn, on fourth street and when the river brought a third Ace I raised again. Unfortunately that third Ace was a club and gave Jodi her flush.
But looking at the flop there was absolutely no reason for her to stay in with the cards she had. The clubs didn’t come ‘til fourth street and the river. She didn’t even have a pair, straight draw or even a freakin’ face card!
I was livid! Now I truly know how those old geezers at Commerce felt when I would go all-in with A2 off suit with three over cards showing, then make a pair on the river. I would hate me too.
My only consolation is that Jodi went on to take second place overall. I’m glad I was able to contribute to the victory.
But I don’t know if I’ll invite her to the next home game….nah I will. Her beginner’s luck is officially over.
There were 12 people last night, an awesome turnout. We had two tables and I was put at the smaller “kiddy” table. I was up against Dealer Mike who won both home games last month and as his name denotes, he’s a professional dealer. Next to Dealer Mike was a new girl Tana. Next to Tana was Jodi, a girl from my office whom I invited (this will come back to haunt me later in the evening). Next to Jodi was Chris who had been at our meetings once or twice before, and was completely cute and totally married. Sigh….
It was a $5 buy in and two optional re-buys of $5.
I started out kicking ass. Every hand I got was awesome. Even when the starting hand wasn’t that great I managed to make something out of it with the flop. I even managed to bust out Dealer Mike, which was a silent victory for me.
I played good, solid poker. I knew when to get out of a hand and I knew when to raise when I thought I had the best hand.
But I was up against damn beginner’s luck. I truly believe there is such a thing. I’ve seen it first-hand too many times to disregard it.
Jodi would call anything. It didn’t matter how much someone raised or re-raised. It actually knocked her out early in the game so she used one of her rebuys.
She was able to get a lot of money out of me just by hanging out with crap hands and sucking it out at the river. It was her constantly recalling that made it so difficult to know if she actually had anything. My final hand was when I started with pocket aces. I fucking hate poket aces. I played it by the book though, I raised before the flop, on the turn, on fourth street and when the river brought a third Ace I raised again. Unfortunately that third Ace was a club and gave Jodi her flush.
But looking at the flop there was absolutely no reason for her to stay in with the cards she had. The clubs didn’t come ‘til fourth street and the river. She didn’t even have a pair, straight draw or even a freakin’ face card!
I was livid! Now I truly know how those old geezers at Commerce felt when I would go all-in with A2 off suit with three over cards showing, then make a pair on the river. I would hate me too.
My only consolation is that Jodi went on to take second place overall. I’m glad I was able to contribute to the victory.
But I don’t know if I’ll invite her to the next home game….nah I will. Her beginner’s luck is officially over.
1 Comments:
At 8:40 PM,
Anonymous said…
I think that poker is significantly more skill then you give it credit for. Calling stations are the primary money maker for professional players. But you have to make sure your not overbetting against them. If you have someone whose always going to call you. Then just bet the strength of your hand. If you just have top pair then bet modestly. Wait untill you have a strong hand to bet heavy. And when you catch a strong hand dont go all in unless you have the Nut hand or very close to it.
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