Wednesday, March 30, 2005
"You're an idiot..."
Ahhh, the musings of a man on tilt. I'd raised his big blind at least seven times before and about half the time with an actual raising hand. I knew sooner or later he was going to have to pop me back and the eighth time I raised him I had QJ offsuit on a four-handed table. The blinds were at 80/160 and I took it up to 480. Just as I had expected he finally popped me back and went all-in for about 1600 more. As I had been expecting his play, I called his all-in immediately and he had A4 offsuit. I immediately caught a Queen on the flop and then a Jack on the turn and he was drawing dead. Let the shouting begin...
"You're an idiot..."
"You called with the worst hand..."
"You were behind, there's no way you should have called an all-in..."
Okay, sir, since I was playing three tables I didn't have much time to explain to you my thoughts other than to wish you a good evening, thank you for your chip donation and let you know that poker was a game of odds and unfortunately another five cards after the deal.
So what did I think he had? I didn't even give him credit for an Ace, though seeing the Ace-rag didn't really surprise me. In fact, I think his re-raise is the foolish decision here, though exactly the right play. How can it be both? Well, my limited poker experience probably makes this the wrong idea but here's my thinking. Even though I had raised him many times before, any big ace from my position is a possibility on a raise. So if you're re-raising into me, you only have three outs. Same if I have medium pairs. Hell, if I only had a pair of two's or three's, you're still an 11-10 underdog. Those are all the reasons to think you're behind from the start and at best to call my raise, not re-raise me.
Now, for why it's the right play from him. I've raised you at least seven times while you're in the big blind and you've laid it down to me each and every time. If you don't pop me back, hand or not, I'm gonna keep running over your big blind since I know you'll succumb to pressure. So you have to pop me back on a re-raise at some point to slow me down. You look down and find an Ace and figure I'm just popping your blinds again and decide to make your move. All-in. I make the call and we're racing.
Ace-four offsuit versus Queen-Jack offsuit, you have a 56-44% advantage pre-flop. Very nearly coin flip odds and you ended up on the wrong side of the coin. Welcome to poker. Your comments as you left the table, "Well, at least I got my money in with the best hand," does hold some validity (though I think someone's been watching a little too much Celebrity Poker Showdown).
That was my lone success of yesterday. Won a satellite token in that sit n' go on FTP. Other than that I lost $280 between tournies, SNG's and the tables. You might think, "Wow, that's some awful playing, Rossi," but it wasn't all terrible decisions by yours truly. Without exaggerating even a single iota, I lost $180 of that total to pocket Aces. Six (expletive deleted) times. I was bullet riddled by the end of the night.
I tried to find some solace in my now beloved 2am $20 tourney on FTP and I doubled up on the first hand. Chip leader on the second hand of the tournament and from my experience the previous day I knew I was surely screwed. Made a play at a hand a few minutes later when I had come in with small suited connectors and the flop came King high. Put a lot of pressure on the guy that stuck it out and after much debate he finally re-raised me on the turn. My honest opinion was that he was bluffing as well, but his crappy hand had to be better than my crappy hand. I had basically pissed away the money from the double up on hand one, and then I got AQ on a queen high flop and played right into my opponent's hands. How did play right into his hands you ask? Ace-Ace. Two more bullets are enough to kill me for the night....
"You're an idiot..."
"You called with the worst hand..."
"You were behind, there's no way you should have called an all-in..."
Okay, sir, since I was playing three tables I didn't have much time to explain to you my thoughts other than to wish you a good evening, thank you for your chip donation and let you know that poker was a game of odds and unfortunately another five cards after the deal.
So what did I think he had? I didn't even give him credit for an Ace, though seeing the Ace-rag didn't really surprise me. In fact, I think his re-raise is the foolish decision here, though exactly the right play. How can it be both? Well, my limited poker experience probably makes this the wrong idea but here's my thinking. Even though I had raised him many times before, any big ace from my position is a possibility on a raise. So if you're re-raising into me, you only have three outs. Same if I have medium pairs. Hell, if I only had a pair of two's or three's, you're still an 11-10 underdog. Those are all the reasons to think you're behind from the start and at best to call my raise, not re-raise me.
Now, for why it's the right play from him. I've raised you at least seven times while you're in the big blind and you've laid it down to me each and every time. If you don't pop me back, hand or not, I'm gonna keep running over your big blind since I know you'll succumb to pressure. So you have to pop me back on a re-raise at some point to slow me down. You look down and find an Ace and figure I'm just popping your blinds again and decide to make your move. All-in. I make the call and we're racing.
Ace-four offsuit versus Queen-Jack offsuit, you have a 56-44% advantage pre-flop. Very nearly coin flip odds and you ended up on the wrong side of the coin. Welcome to poker. Your comments as you left the table, "Well, at least I got my money in with the best hand," does hold some validity (though I think someone's been watching a little too much Celebrity Poker Showdown).
That was my lone success of yesterday. Won a satellite token in that sit n' go on FTP. Other than that I lost $280 between tournies, SNG's and the tables. You might think, "Wow, that's some awful playing, Rossi," but it wasn't all terrible decisions by yours truly. Without exaggerating even a single iota, I lost $180 of that total to pocket Aces. Six (expletive deleted) times. I was bullet riddled by the end of the night.
I tried to find some solace in my now beloved 2am $20 tourney on FTP and I doubled up on the first hand. Chip leader on the second hand of the tournament and from my experience the previous day I knew I was surely screwed. Made a play at a hand a few minutes later when I had come in with small suited connectors and the flop came King high. Put a lot of pressure on the guy that stuck it out and after much debate he finally re-raised me on the turn. My honest opinion was that he was bluffing as well, but his crappy hand had to be better than my crappy hand. I had basically pissed away the money from the double up on hand one, and then I got AQ on a queen high flop and played right into my opponent's hands. How did play right into his hands you ask? Ace-Ace. Two more bullets are enough to kill me for the night....
