[LearnedfromTV]

Food for thought:

There are many poker situations where the best play is also a play that forces you into unfamiliar and/or difficult situations on later streets. The TT hand and the JJ hand posted by Nomar are examples. In both cases, calling is clearly the correct play. In both cases, a lot of people would advocating raising because it seems to make future decisions easier. Similarly, a lot of people take the allin push too far, making it in situations that don't warrant it.

So we often get dialogues like this in good threads:

Player A (Very good player) - "Calling and seeing a flop is clearly the best play"

Player B - "But I have to find out where I'm at. What will I do on the flop if I just call."

Player A - 'Just play poker"

The point: If you are reading these boards to learn and improve, take "Just play poker" as a euphemism for "there is a postflop skill that you need to develop." Every situation that is difficult to you is easy to someone, or if not easy, playable. (We all hate medium pairs, but some of us hate them less than others.)

Imagine Phil Ivey calling your reraise out of position, or coldcalling your UTG raise and then having to play a four way pot with him in it. Good players can intimidate even when putting themselves in a tough spot because their opponents know they know what they are doing in a tough spot. The key to getting better is being willing to put yourself in the difficult situation when the difficult situation is clearly the best situation. I try to do this, and often find myself getting outplayed, but I would rather get outplayed in a tough situation until I figure it out than avoid tough situations.

Thoughts?