[CrisBrown]

Hi William,

[ QUOTE ]
Perhaps if you looked Pockertracker a little closer you would find out that the times you had the best hand, you were only a slight favourite, thus the high % of suckouts; and the times when you were the dog, you were a big dog, thus the small % of suckouts in your favor.

That way you are not as unlucky as you think you are.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is exactly the case. When I'm ahead, it's usually a very narrow edge (e.g.: top two pair vs. a pair-plus-four-draw). And when I'm behind, I'm almost invariably buried, although it may not be apparent (e.g.: TPTK vs. a flopped set, or AK on an A-J-A board when my opponent has AJ). That's why I almost never call a reraise. If I get reraised, no matter how good my hand looks TO ME, I am probably not only behind but buried. The few times when I do call tend to prove the above rule.

That doesn't stop me from wanting to get all of my opponent's chips in the middle pre-flop when I have AA or KK, or on the flop when I've hit top two pair or a set, etc. I do try to do that. But I want to have won enough small pots along the way that I'm not the one all-in, for the very reason that I expect to lose every showdown. And that's why I want to be the one to move all-in (giving me at least a chance that my opponent will fold) rather than calling an all-in (guaranteeing that I'll have to survive all five board cards).

All of those "crazy" little pots I pick up along the way are my cushion against the inevitable outdraws, misreads, and periods where I don't catch any playable situations.

Cris