Got Socked For 2 BB/hr (Long)

Folks,


I had to make this title to catch your attention.


This story is not about big bets per hour but BAD BEATS/HR! This happened in my 4.5 hrs of 5-10 at TAJ last night on 2 different tables where I counted a total of 9 bad beats! I apologize if I had to cite 3 of the most horrendous ones - not to gain sympathy as all of us have had our shares of those teeth-gritting experiences but just to air out the steam out of my system and keep my poker mentality in check:


BB#1


Raised preflop UTG with AA. UTG+1, a semi-aggressive player (SAP) with decent starting requirements but lately have been playing passively because of his losing streak (ha, ha)called, everybody folded to CO who 3 bets. Both blinds folded, I capped, SAP and CO both called.


Flop K T 4 rainbow, I led out, both called.


Turn 5, I led out again, both called.


River X. I bet, SAP called, CO folded.


Turned over my rockets and SAP showed 4 5os!!


I couldn't believe my eyes because he is quite a decent player. I just nodded but can hardly hide the disgust in my face.


BB#2


Transferred to a second table as the first one deteriorated from loose-passive to tighter than a clam's ass when a couple of rocks and solid players replaced the loosies. In addition, I was not getting enough hands worthy of playing.


In this hand UTG called, MP1 raised, MP2 called. I looked down to find black Ks on the button and 3 bets. Both blinds and UTG folded, MP1 called, MP2 capped and we both called.


Flop J 4 x two-toned. Checked to me, I bet, both called.


Turn - another rag. Checked to me, I bet, both called.


River - 3 third suit. MP1 checked, MP2 bet!???? I hesitated thinking he must have hit a 2-outer and decided just to call. I KNOW I cannot make him fold on a re-raise because he can be a very aggressive player and would not fold on a big pot. MP1 folded, MP2 showed 3 4os. The SOB capped the pre-flop with that garbage!


At this time, I stood up and took a leisurely walk to the bathroom.


BB#3


Dealt AKh in SB and raised after 4 limpers. BB folded, UTG2, 2 MPs and button called.


Flop K 5 J with 2 hearts. I, UTG and MP1 checked, MP2 bet, button folded, I raised, everybody called.


Turn Th completing my flush. I checked to represent that I do not have a flush, MP1 checked, MP2 bet, I raised, everyone folded to MP2 who called. Heads up.


River 5c. I bet, MP2 raised! What the hell can he have? He is a good player and capable of bluffing but I didn't think he would bluff in this hand with the size of the pot and surmised that he can only be holding Q9h. I re-raised, he re-raised, I re-raised, and he called all-in. I proudly showed my nut flush as he turned over T 5os for a running FH!


I looked at him shaking my head and disbelief as he remarked sarcastically:"Can't you see that the board paired?" I can no longer help myself and replied: "I know that, but I did not expect you to play like a f*****g idiot."


I stood up and took a half-hour break thinking to myself that this must be one of the reasons they abolished guns in poker rooms. LOL


I know you are tired of hearing such stories but my question is: Has anybody experienced such a horrendous series of bb's in one session?


The good news is that I maintained my composure and refused to go on tilt and wind up losing only $143 for the session after being down about 5 C notes earlier.


Oh well, another red entry in my ledger, but such is poker life.

Tough luck buddy, but dont worry that aint nothing compared to what you will be experiencing in the future. I have had long losing streaks for weeks where every single hand loses and i literally mean every single hand from Aces to anything. Then again i also have long winning streaks of like 26 sessions in a row.


Hey its poker, shit happens just have to deal with it stay calm and dont TILT.


-MJ

"Bad beats" happen. However, I think your play (particularly on the last hand) left something to be desired.


Hand 1: Note that SAP made two big mistakes: (1) not folding before the flop and (2) not raising on the turn or the river. Of course, mistake 1 sucks, but you should be happy for mistake two. SAP's flop call was correct, since he had 5 outs and he was gettig 14.5:1 on his call.


Hand 2: If the guy caps with 34o, he will lose all his money. That said, you should be happy that MP2 didn't check raise the river. The guy might have had some sort of backdoor straight draw you didn't notice, and he was actually getting enough odds to draw to two pair if MP1 didn't have a flush draw.


Hand 3: I would have led the flop here with a monster hand. You don't want to check raise and drive people out.


Lead the turn. You'll get action from smaller flushes and straight draws. The check raise is wrong, since you want the straight draws to hang around.


River: You really lost it here. You showed strength on the turn, and you were raised after the board paired. You are almost certainly against a boat. I would have just called the raise. Your second reraise was pure insanity. Critcizing MP2's play is bad poker.

>I looked at him shaking my head and disbelief as he remarked sarcastically:"Can't you see that the board paired?" I can no longer help myself and replied: "I know that, but I did not expect you to play like a f*****g idiot."


>The good news is that I maintained my composure


If this qualifies as keeping your composure, I'd hate to see what happens when you lose it.


I have no idea why you went on raising on the river. You say yourself that this guy's a good player--when he raised you, what were you thinking? Is a good player going to bluff the flush without having the A in his hand? That's just stupid (rule #1 of bluffing: don't bluff when your opponent can know he has you beat). Is he going to re-raise you when there are two potential flushes that beat him? (Remember, you said you knew he was a good player).


There was only one f*****g idiot at the table, and it was the guy with the ace high flush.

My ideal of a poker player would be one that never showed another player at the table his hand just before mucking, never told bad beat stories, never listened to bad beat stories, etc. I am describing a player who does not want the sympathy of other players.


There's a lot of value in understanding how to internalize the unavoidable frustration of limit poker.


I'm not talking about the ideal 'good' poker player. Something closer to a 'gentlemanly' poker player? I fall a little short of that ideal, btw.


Everyone has experienced a bad session now and then. The key is to check and make sure that you are suffering bad beats and that you *definitely* had the best of it. If you had the best of it, things must turn around. If not, reexamine your game. Either way, sympathy will not help you.

It's not even close to bad yet. Wait until you get dealt AA, another A comes on the flop and you are raising heads up, knowing without the slightest doubt that the lone calling station is going to take you down. Plus this is the first hand you have had in hours and this has been going on for weeks and weeks!


Or when you know, that you have been running so bad, that you should just throw your money on the table as you walk by, and then go back home because the results would be the same and the pain wouldn't be nearly as intense.


Reality TV participants and viewers need to experience a long bad run of cards to know real excrutiating pain and disappointment. I don't know how the pro's do it and stay clean.

Ronaldo,


I used the wrong word "maintained", should have been "regained" because a did lost a bit of it with my remarks. Remember, I took a break from the table for 1/2 hr. I am a friendly, sociable person but my weakness is that I answer back in a more flaming manner if I feel that a remark toward me is uncalled for and later feel sorry for making it. I will never instigate but will retaliate.


As far as the "good player" is concerned, I felt he was decent enough not to call with T5o but capable of re-raising without the best hand (I thought he had Q9h) and proven wrong. This definitely changed my opinion about his play.


Well, it must have been more of a moronic than an idiotic play but I do not curse dealer, throw cards, etc to qualify as a f****g idiot.


Thanks for the comments, BTW :>)

Aaron,


I posted: "I am citing 3 of the worst ones NOT TO GAIN SYMPATHY as all of us....."


So where did you get the idea I was looking for sympathy????


You can practice as much as you want the philosopy of 'internalizing... re-examining your game, etc., etc.' but most of us do experience frustrations that just have to be vent out of our system and this is was my intent.

"I stood up and took a leisurely walk to the bathroom"


By the time you reach the level of frustration that you can't control your own emotions, you should not be taking leisurely walks to the bathroom. You should be taking frantic runs for the door to go home.


"Has anybody experienced such a horrendous series of bb's in one session"


This is not a question that will improve your game in any way. I had a horrible couple of sessions like this a few weeks ago (posted under "Getting out when you have the worst of it"), where I looked at how much I'd lost on those hands and tried to figure out how much was the gods of poker hating me and how much was me.


So let's look at yours:


Hand 1: SAP comes in with a bad starting hand. Ok fine. However, the pot after the flop is 13.5SB. If he puts you on less than KK or JJ (and its probably safe to put you on either AA or KK given your preflop cap from UTG), he is NOT making a mistake calling after the flop. On the turn, he's ahead. However, he respects that you could have KK and just calls down. Other than his preflop play, his play is fine this hand.


Hand 2: Again, fine. He plays a terrible hand preflop. And he capped it for some reason. Maybe its his lucky hand. Whatever. Now the pot after the flop is 14.5BB. Again, he's not making a mistake by calling the flop. And after the turn, the pot is 10.25BB; he's making a marginal call here with 5 outs, but its certainly not the worst call I've ever seen playing LLHE. And the key is he bets the river when he hits, extracting from you if he's going to chase long shots.


Hand 3: You are on tilt. Fine, once again, you have demonstrated that you know that T5o is not a good preflop starting hand. Then on the river, you have someone who has bet into you once, and then when its fairly clear that you have a strong hand, he goes nuts on the river. You have the A and K of hearts, so the only hand you can beat that he could *possibly* do this with is a queen high flush. Would he go nuts like this with a queen high flush? Doubtful. But you decide to throw 4BB in on the river. Because you are on tilt. When you bet the river and he raises, the proper thing to do is: call.


So you got beat on a few hands. And then you went on tilt and burned off a few BB because you couldn't believe that you were beaten. Say what I usually say now when this happens: "I got run over playing 3-6? FIRST TIME EVER!"

You say you aren't looking for sympathy. Then what are you looking for? You don't ask for any advice about the hands. You just tell a sad story.


It sure looks like you're looking for sympathy to me.

I did ask if others had a similar experience in what I thought is an abnormally high bbs I got in one session (9 in 4.5 hrs) and it was not a 2-4 Hold'em-No-Fold' session either. I did got some advice as I expected. The one from you is something I can think about and I thank you for it.


Cheers!

I can see that you tend to get upset when I offer you my advice about your bad beats in relation to your game.


I'm trying to tell you in the 'nicest' yet most responsible way I know how that if you're playing the game and seek sympathy it will probably weaken your game.


I'm advising you not to look to the poker gods or us for emotional support. The question is not how unlucky you just got but are you certain that you had the best of it. If you are certain that the beats you suffer are really 'bad beats' then they must eventually turn around and your game is fine and you can move on.


The advice I offer you looks cruel. But I'm offering you the only viable way I can imagine to deal with the frustrations of the game. If you've ever had a prolonged run of bad cards, you would come to understand my point.

Aaron,


To offend you is not my intention when I reply to your post. I think it is because we sometimes read between the lines and interpret in our own way what we think is being said. Most of these posts are educational, informative, and entertaining with lots of topics to ponder that, hopefully, help those among us whose interests include the broadening our thinking in this game that we all love and enjoy. Sometimes, I experience some difficulties in elucidating my thoughts. English is not my native language. Take for example my using "maintain" instead of "regain" in my original post.


Just like on the poker table, we do sometimes exhibit traits that are not too palatable to others.


I do enjoy reading some of your posts. Peace, brother!

First of all, I probably just missed you at Taj as I went over to Trop at about 10 am Saturday (I got there at mindnight) pretty much bc I needed a change of scenery. I am pretty sure there was only one 5-10 game going at that point and I was hitting really well and killed the game for about $500. I think I left some tilted players in my midst (we're talking Mink, a heavyset guy who is solid but started playing every hand after he began to lose, old well-off guy with the garcia vega cigars in his front pocket and throaty accent, etc). Anyway..............

$150 is a nothing loss at 5-10. I hope you know this, bc lemme tell you, it just gets worse. Trying losing 3 straight sessions for 300-400 apiece, and that is only the start of a bad run. You salvaged the night by only losing what you did, you should be happy you ground your way back with solid play. That being said, hand #1 is a typical bad beat. The guy made a weak call with 45, then had odds to see the turn, then hit. So is poker, you played it fine. Hand 2 is a repeat of hand one, you lost as little as possible. At least your opponent didn't checkraise the river. I think you botched hand #3. I don't like the SB raise bc it gives away your hand out of position (though it isn't "wrong" to get more money in with that hand). But then you check. WTF is that? Everyone knows you're strong, you should bet and hope to take it to 3 bets. The river is a complete discrace. How many bets are you going to put in without the nuts? It's not like you have top boat and are worried about quads here. This street should cost you $20 max, as a set is a reasonable hand for your opponent to have. Good luck next time, and hopefully I will see you there soon.


Jeff

S+M write that in HPFAP: Don´t put an opponent on one hand and stick to that no matter what. Every bet and raise gives you new information. Use it.

Thanks for the input. No wonder "Mink" was in a daze when I get in Sat. PM. LOL