[Pirc Defense]

Understand that only the recepient of a recent bad beat would wax philosophical as I'm about to, but I've hit upon a theory. Indulge me.

About 15 big bets down in a $1/$2 game at Paradise, catch AKo, raise and get two callers. 79Q on the flop. I bet and get two callers, and bet again when an A hits on the turn, only losing one player. Another 7 hits on the river but I bet, get raised, call and see 79.

So, I raise preflop and some cat in middle position calls me ice cold with 79s.

I'm as cool as any cat when the beats come, bad as they may be, but I'm afraid that this just struck me the wrong way. So I thought about the hand for a bit. Mulled it over. Started asking why it upset me so much, when this kind of play usually just indicates that I'm at the right table.

Then it hits me: the "kiss me because I call two bets cold with 79s" guy just had a lot of fun taking me down, and it's something that I'll probably never have the joy of experiencing, because it's something I would never do.

Correct me if I'm wrong: calling three bets cold pre flop with 83o and belittling AA, AK and, say, TT all at once would be riotous fun. A freaking blast. Albeit a blast the likes of which I'll never experience.

You have the best hand preflop, you feel entitled to the pot. Yes, you do, don't start shaking you head. You the reader are smart, educated and are able to rationalize that it doesn't always happen that way, and for very mathematically provable and logical reasons, but you're fibbing to yourself if you don't feel a little bit of entitlement.

My theory is this (not claiming this is novel): when a good player has a good hand beat by a lesser hand, a major component of the ensuing "bad beat feeling" is the fact that the player of the bad hand just did something wrong, incorrect, not right, forbidden, etc., and was rewarded. You on the other hand, as the "good player," don't get this satisfaction because you don't put yourself in a position to administer beats in quite the same way.

Yes, that is precisely what keeps them coming back, but it is also exactly what makes bad beats sting.

As an aside, I'll say that I can't even begin to comprehend what kind of a special creature you are, if you play poker professionally, and it's your sole source of income. I hold you in the same regard as those folks that ace the LSAT. What planet do you come from? Simply amazing, and on so many levels.