Is poker -EV on the soul?

[JP Rocks]

Howdy all

Driving home from my weekly live game where a new guy busted me by rivering an inside straight to beat my kings, I started thinking... If I had won that hand, which I would have statisticall the next 10 times it came up, would the good feeling in those 10 hands equate to the gutwrenching feel of a river suckout? I dont think so. Why is it that good luck only ever seems to reward poor play? Why is it that we feel far worse about losing a hand when we had 42 outs than we do about getting into a situation where we only have 4 outs? We dont feel lucky, our spirit isnt lifted when one of those 42 outs hits because it was the expected outcome(i.e. spiritual EV=0). And when you lose the hand when you had only 4 outs, its not a big let down because you only had 4 outs (i.e. spiritual EV= -0.1). However, when you lose that hand with your 42 outs, your spirutual EV takes a huge beating, while if you consider yourself a decent player and you hit your 4 outer when you paid too much for it, it is almost embarassing (these are both negative spiritual EV). It just seems like being a decent poker player is -EV on the soul.

I know most of the discussions here are based on stats and probablility, and I know trying to quantify intangibles is pissing into the wind, but I just wanted to get this out and see if anyone else felt the same. In a nutshell, are the poker lows balanced out by the highs- especially if as a decent player, you expect to win... I dont think so.

[pergesu]

[ QUOTE ]
Why is it that good luck only ever seems to reward poor play?

[/ QUOTE ]
You can't get lucky as a favorite.

[Shanemex]

Read this post.

[applejuicekid]

[ QUOTE ]
You can't get lucky as a favorite.

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't it lucky your hand held up?

[SNOWBALL138]

if you are dissatisfied with your overall winrate you should:

1. quit playing
2. learn to play better
3. play for smaller stakes
4. take a vacation from poker

-All the best

[Insty]

[ QUOTE ]
Why is it that good luck only ever seems to reward poor play?

[/ QUOTE ]

I've been thinking about this myself a bit lately. I think it is just that the luck that happens as a result of poor play is more visible than the luck good players get. Rather than river suckouts I think it comes in other forms, such as the monkeys that try to bluff you when you're holding the nuts, or the person who folds TT when you push with 77 on the bubble, or the number of times AA is NOT out there when you push with Kings. The problem is that none of these things look like luck so we always feel that the luck is against us.

If you want more luck, try playing worse. You'll get your luck but it won't come cheap.