What An Embrassement!

[Scooper]

Yesterday was my third time to play poker at my local racetrack cardroom. 7-card stud $1/2. I bought in for $60 and was up about 8 bucks after 3.5 hours of play. We had three new players come to my table.

I had two low card pairs and was chasing a full house. I missed on the river but thought I might win with two pair.

The pot was won by a full house. A guy(one of the new players) yelled across the table to me "Why did you call($2) when I had you beat on the board?" He had two higher pairs than my two pairs and of course there was no way I could beat him much less the full house. I wanted to crawl in a hole. I told him that I could not see across the table(I wear bifocals) and I guess he and the others bought my lie. The dealer even said "If you can't see the cards just ask me and I'll tell you what they have".

Anyway, I feel like a dog and are determined to find a way to find a way to not make those dumbass mistakes again.

Is there a way, like practise, to train oneselves to read the other player's board?

7-card might seem easy but when you are trying to remember the folded cards, remember your own hole cards, and figure out if you can win if you can catch, it is quite a task.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Scooper

[ThinkQuick]

I think losing like that is the very best way to learn that you'd better keep an eye on what other people are showing or drawing to. It only cost you $2 for that very valuable lesson.
On any betting round its fine if you need to take a minute and look around, try to figure out why people are betting/calling/ or raising based on what's showing.
Take your time and take your stud to the next level.

[slavic]

Probably the best line you can come up with here, is you did it for information. Though I wouldn't even say that. I would muck without showing anything or saying a word, and I would thank the heavens that I was only playing 1/2.

You aren't the first and you won't be the last so play on. Above all don't be ashamed when you play, have a purpose for what you do but if you make a mistake move on.

[RydenStoompala]

Hey poop happens. I doubt you'll do it again, so it was a cheap lesson. There is no drill other than playing every other live hand before making your betting decisions. Of course, you absolutely must keep track of the cards you need because they can get folded quickly. Take your time and stick to good starting hands. Read Sklansky's book on stud if you want some cool strategies.

[uuDevil]

[ QUOTE ]
Yesterday was my third time to play poker at my local racetrack cardroom.

[/ QUOTE ]

Third time? Don't worry about it! If you can play, your opponents will be making more mistakes than you are and you will be making money when they do-- your mistake happened under the spotlight, which is unpleasant, but not something to beat yourself up over. It might even be to your advantage if your opponents think you are a poor player.

If you are a tight player, you can practice reading boards on hands where you have already folded.

I saw T.J. Cloutier, who has as much experience as anybody, misread his hand in a televised Hold'em tournament. He didn't realize he had a flush when 4 of a suit came on the board. He thought he had lost! His opponent (Phil Helmuth) thought he deliberately slowrolled him and came unglued. Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY makes mistakes. You just have to make fewer than your opponents.

[Homer]

When I can't see another player's cards at a stud table, I stand up to get a better look. I end up doing this pretty much every hand I'm in if I'm at an end of the table, so I try to get a seat in the middle if I can.

[Scooper]

Thanks for your advice and encouragement.

I'm going to have to figure out an easier way to remember discards so I can FOCUS on the boards and reading the hands. Seems to me that memorizing the discards is an integral part of 7-stud because without this you can't accurately know your outs or read your opponents hand.

Thanks again,

Scooper

Thanks again for your help.

Scooper

[Wyrm2]

Don't worry about it... my first time in a B&M I proudly showed my ace high with the following hand in Hold 'em...

A /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 4 /images/graemlins/heart.gif with 3 diamonds on the board... I bet what I thought was the nut flush pretty hard /images/graemlins/smile.gif I got a lot of grief about it for about 15 minutes and then it was forgotten. The important thing is that you never forget that it's important to pause and take a look at your cards and what's going on around you.

[LargeCents]

Switch to Texas Hold 'Em, unless you enjoy memorizing all of the discards and hands involved in stud. Just my humble opinion...

[Scooper]

Hey Large,

You make a good point. I have noticed that a lot of the top pros come out of very different games.

For example, Howard Lederer is a chess master. I don't know if you have ever played chess, but to obtain the Master level you got to be one smart cookie.

Old Sammy Farha(cs), is an Omaha player.

Several of the guys on Wednesday night's WPT, played backgammon or baccurate, I can't remember which, and were pretty damned good NL Hold'em players.

I could be wrong, but it seems that being able to have a good memory of cards and/or of other things, might give one a pretty good edge in any game.

Scooper

[hutz]

As long as we're on the topic of what beginners should be aware of, here's my story:

The very first time I played cards in a casino I sat down at a $1-5 stud table. I played pretty tight poker and was proud of myself for paying attention to the other players' hands, not hopelessly chasing without good odds, etc. Well, the very first hand I won taught me a valuable lesson. I was drawing to an ace-high spade flush and peeked at my seventh street card to see a beautiful /images/graemlins/spade.gif staring back at me. The action got to me and I calmly looked at the dealer and asked "how much may I bet?" Everyone bullet mucked.

The moral? Know your betting limits/structure ahead of time. Don't be too intimidated, as I was, to ask questions of the dealer before you start playing. That mistake probably only cost $10 or so, which made it a really cheap lesson in the grand scheme of things, but it was painful at the time. I hope this helps someone avoid the same mistake.

[Lottery Larry]

he is the one that should be embarassed for harassing you.