Old Habits and Penance

[Festus22]

I'm posting this for public ridicule in an effort to crack out of the dreaded weak tight brainlock I experience in the heat of battle.

Dealt As Ah in CO.

Two limpers, I raise, BB re-raises, I cap. One limper calling.

Flop Ks Ts 4s

BB bets, limper folds, I raise, BB re-raises, I CALL (OMG, he has KK!!!). Never mind I have the nut flush draw.

Turn - Brick. Bet, call.

River - Another brick (in my wall). Bet, call.

The chips are then shoved my way as he shows QsQ?.

I was so disgusted with myself I quite the session right then and there.

What's a good strategy to try to break out of this without becoming a maniac?

[Dynasty]

You need to practice reading hands because you certainly weren't doing it here.

[Lost Wages]

How do you think the BB would have played it differently with KK? I think a read of KK is more logical than QQ here.

Lost Wages

[Lost Wages]

I think you played this hand perfectly. When he 3-bets the flop after you capped preflop you have to believe you are behind to a flush or set of Kings. Just call him down unless another spade comes. He overplayed his hand.

Lost Wages

[Dynasty]

When he 3-bets the flop after you capped preflop you have to believe you are behind to a flush or set of Kings.

No, you don't. And you shouldn't. It's very easy to see him playing AK (or any King) this way.

An overpair AA with the nut flush draw is a huge hand. You shouldn't play it like a Nancygirl.

[TBone]

He could have lucked out and had two spades in the pocket, (not very likely, but still a possibility) a gutshot with AQ, (given the betting pattern, I'd doubt this as well since he capped pre-flop) Qs, (or any spade for that matter, given it's heads up and his aggression pre-flop would indicate a good hand, so likely a high spade) giving him the now second nut flush draw, or even possibly big slick. There's a lot of things here that he could have that would cause him to bet in this manner, especially considering some of the yahoo's playing online.

I think 3 betting the flop would have given you a better read on his hand.

T

[J.R.]

What's a good strategy to try to break out of this without becoming a maniac?

Pick a micro-limit game (if you play online) that is aggressive or weak-tight. Treat your buy-in like the price of a therapy session. Don't play poorly, play your normal tight preflop game but try to avoid calling. Either bet/raise or fold. You might be suprised with your results, and will hopefully begin to recapture the aggression in your game.

[Festus22]

Thanks for your usual eloquent response.

As soon as the hand was over I thought I should have capped the flop and raised the turn. If he then 3-bet, I would call and call a river bet if another spade didn't drop.

Judging by the responses, perhaps I'm being too hard on myself for not being aggresive enough. There's most likely 2 hands I'm behind after the flop, KK or QsJs. The QJ hand MIGHT be 3 bet after a late raise, especially from the BB. Given the Ks and Ts were on the board and I had the bullet, any other made flush was unlikely given the PF 3 bet.

Would you agree with the 2nd paragraph?

-Nancygirl

[Dynasty]

Are you considering the possibility that your opponent 3-bet pre-flop with AcTh, 7s7d, Ac4d, 4c3h, or Tc9d and is thinking "I have a pair. I must be winning". There are many players out there like that. You can't just focus on the hands which your opponent might have which have you beat.

If you were beat on the flop, you have a hand which is drawing very live against anything your opponent could have. Even if your opponent flopped a set of Kings, you will outdraw him more than 40% of the time.

[onegymrat]

Festus,
Can you see why your opponent reraised your flop raise? He had to get you out with his weak holding. Also, your cap preflop showed him that he may be up against AA, KK, or AK. I feel he played his hand just right and you should have been a bit more aggressive.

[Homer]

Flop Ks Ts 4s

BB bets, limper folds, I raise, BB re-raises, I CALL (OMG, he has KK!!!). Never mind I have the nut flush draw.

Cap the flop.

Do you think BB would play AK the same way as KK? I certainly do. Note that there are 6 ways for him to have AK and only 2 ways for him to have KK, so odds are you have the best hand. And if you don't, you still have lots of outs.

What's a good strategy to try to break out of this without becoming a maniac?

Determine the likelihood that you have the best hand and take it from there. In this hand all I would think is -- "I most likely have the best hand and if I don't I have a bunch of outs. Therefore, I'm going to cap." I realize I'm not saying anything particularly enlightening, but really that's all there is to it. Sometimes we tend to unneccesarily complicate things.

-- Homer

[Mike]

Fear is healthy and normal. A little fear is natural. If yu never had any fear you wouldn't be posting this, you would be dead. Along with the other excellent suggestions, I am sure as you play more you will become more certain of the strength of your holdings and the fear will subside all by itself.

FWIW - I really like the dropping down in limits advice, very good advice!

[Mike Gallo]

BB bets, limper folds, I raise, BB re-raises, I CALL (OMG, he has KK!!!). Never mind I have the nut flush draw. Why must he have EXACTLY KK? Has this player ever seen you over play a hand before? Perhaps he thinks you are weak tight and will lay down a better hand.

Turn - Brick. Bet, call. Did you even consider raising?

The chips are then shoved my way as he shows QsQ?. Even though you won the hand, your opponent won in theory. Do you see why?

What's a good strategy to try to break out of this without becoming a maniac?

Bet when you have the best hand, and if not pretend that you indeed do have the best hand.