Don't Worry, Be Happy?

[CrisBrown]

Hi All,

This question is especially for Greg, Bozeman, and the other very experienced players, but I welcome input from anyone. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

It's been a weird week. I hit a bad run early, then went on a really nice rush, pushing my bankroll to an all-time high. Gee ... wow ... pat myself on the back, right?

But ... in my three biggest wins, I made at least one BAD call (e.g.: AQ vs. AK, A3s vs. AJ, AJ vs. QQ) that hit and put me in a position to win. In all but one case, I was comparatively short-stacked and felt like I had to make a move on a hand soon. In the other, I was in a solid 3rd (of five) and misread my opponent's reraise for a steal.

Obviously, I'm not going to give the money back. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

But I do have to stop and temper my satisfaction at my best week ever with the rather sobering knowledge that I caught some incredible luck along the way ... and that had those few hands gone the other way, it'd have been a losing week.

So I guess to the experienced players, how do you handle it when you hit for a handful of very timely long odds draws that made it possible to win a lot of money, but left you not terribly satisfied with your own play? Obviously I get outdrawn sometimes, so it stands to reason that I'm going to outdraw other people sometimes. But every time I do, I'm left with mixed feelings: relief at winning the pot, coupled with the knowledge that I got away with a mistake.

Should I just take this as part of the ebb and flow of the game? Should I "erase" the week's winnings as pure luck (while keeping the money)? Should I figure I free-rolled some of those long-odds draws with better play earlier, so I could afford to lose the pots (in only one case would I have been busted)?

Cris

[sam h]

Cris,

One way to look at this issue is that in poker you're always putting somebody on a range of hands. This is especially true in tournaments where often the money goes in preflop. So while your AQ may run into AK, that does not mean your read was necessarily wrong, especially online. If the same action would have occurred when your opponent held smaller aces or small to medium pairs and you were getting good odds, then you made the correct play. It just happened that in this instance you were beat, and it also just happened that you drew out. So I would just focus upon whether those reads themselves, as determinations of range and likelihood of possible hands given your knowledge of the player and circumstances, were good.

This might not be so true of sit and goes, but in big tournaments very few people win without sucking out somewhere along the way.

[SoCalPat]

[ QUOTE ]
In all but one case, I was comparatively short-stacked and felt like I had to make a move on a hand soon.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't ever apologize for sucking out when you're one of the short stacks. You can't wait around for AA forever, and believe me, I know there have been plenty of players who weren't short-stacked who sucked out on you in the past.

[ QUOTE ]
how do you handle it when you hit for a handful of very timely long odds draws that made it possible to win a lot of money, but left you not terribly satisfied with your own play?

[/ QUOTE ]

If I'm hitting a longshot draw, it's almost always because I'm shortstacked. Again, no apologies for making hands when shortstacked. I rarely get all my money in first as a huge underdog. Being shortstacked is something we all must experience, as is being sucked out on. Don't sweat over your own play just because you might escape a jam having the worst of it going in.

[Guy McSucker]

Cris,

Don't worry about it any more than you already are.

You had solid reasons for making the plays you made. When you feel forced to "take a shot" as a short stack, you're hoping to get lucky. Don't feel bad when you do! Of course it is reasonable to question whether that was the right time to take your shot, but if it was, then it was. How the cards fall is out of your hands.

As for misreads, learn something about that player/the game if you can, but don't worry about it. Nobody reads hands perfectly.

Also, think of the countless times you have been outdrawn by someone who took a shot, misread your hand, or just plain played badly. You are entitled to the same amount of good fortune. Record your wins this week as wins, the same as any other.

You are already reviewing the decisions you made, based on the information you had when you made them. That is all you should do.

Guy.

[Greg (FossilMan)]

I liked Guy's answer.

[ QUOTE ]
You are already reviewing the decisions you made, based on the information you had when you made them. That is all you should do.

Guy.


[/ QUOTE ]

The important thing is whether your decision was good at the second it was made. What happens after is just the luck part.

And when it comes to reading player's online, fuhgedaboutit. You can put them on a range of hands, but not much specifically. There are no (real) tells online. Timing is all there is that could be a tell, and much of the time you can't rely upon the timing anyway (because their timing may be due to many things having nothing to do with the game you're in).

Later, Greg Raymer (FossilMan)

[spike]

They say you have to get lucky at least three times to win a tournament.

You think I should feel guilty about this ?

http://62.232.233.119/KKvAA.jpg

[JohnG]

There are plenty of situations on shallow money where you can often make the right play and end up against a dominating hand.

Re-raising all-in with AQ can be the right play based on the information at hand, and the fact you end up against AK can be considered bad luck as you could just as likely be against AJ or AT for the same action. You often make the right play and not know who dominates who until the cards are turned up. That's the nature of shallow money play. It's one of the reasons shallow money is a crapshoot.