Tough laydowns and the voice in your head

[neuroman]

I'm putting this in Psychology because this is mostly about being able to follow through on your own reads. (Critique on my play is welcome though if you wish.)

Does anyone have any psychological tips or tricks for listening to your guts and avoiding playing like a fool? In this hand below I was able to correctly analyze the situation, but I couldn't make myself lay the freaking hand down. I just went into zombie mode and called down the villain. I think I subconsciously shut myself off from thinking about HIS hand (which was likely kicking my ass) and only focused on MY hand, which was good but had very slim chances of being the winner. Anyway, here's the hand.

* * *

$1/$3 NLHE game in a casino. (I'm fairly new to the table, and haven't played a hand yet.) I limped Ah Ks from UTG. Two or three more limpers until it came around to the SB who raised it $20. I put him on a large-ish pair (10s or better), and called, telling myself "be careful, if this guy has kings or aces you could get into a lot of trouble here." (I might have let the hand go right then, but that seems too weak.) It's heads up for the flop.

Flop: Kd 5d 5x

SB leads out for $25. I raise it to $60, and he calls reasonably quickly. "Holy crap," I tell myself. "You need to slow way down. He's probably got aces."

Turn: 2

SB leads out for $20 this time. This time I don't even think. I just call it.

River: A, for a board of A K 5 5 2

SB goes all in for about $90. My head tells me he has AA. The twinge in my gut tells me he has AA. But like a mindless befuddled fish, I call anyway.

Of course he flips over the AA and takes the big pot. "Why didn't you listen to yourself?" I ask. Why the %!@# did you call that river bet when you KNEW you were beat?

When I make these bad fishy plays, as I occasionally do, I usually find it's very early in a session. Maybe I just need to watch myself closer in the first 15-20 minutes. Or maybe I need some kind of different mental approach.

What do you do to avoid playing like a deer in the headlights?

[webmonarch]

FWIW, I think knowing when to lay a hand like this down is one of the hardest things to do in poker.

I am no expert, but there are a couple things that I tend to do. First, I ask myself: is he really bluffing me right now? If you have a villain who bets on the flop calls a raise, bets on the turn, and goes all-in on the river, there is an EXCELLENT chance he's got two pair beat. In a nutshell, respect your opponents unless you have a pretty substantial and affirmative reason not to.

Second, I tend to use the "what beats me here" rule. On your board, there is a TON of stuff that beats you. The guy could have AA, KK, any 5, pocket dueces, A5, K5, 52, et al. Now, I understand that some of those hands are more likely than others, but you have a LOT that beats you. A lot.

Third, ask yourself: am I reasonably confident that I have the best hand. If you're not, you probably don't. You even admit you had this feeling. Trust it. I think you are much more likely to get this feeling at a B&M location than online because you have more to work with.

Finally, remember that there is always another hand. This is especially true in online poker. Guys that bet like your villain did are almost never bluffing. Even if he was, why risk it? Tell him, "good hand" and crush him later when you have more confidence in your hand and his play.

[Derek in NYC]

[ QUOTE ]
SB goes all in for about $90. My head tells me he has AA. The twinge in my gut tells me he has AA. But like a mindless befuddled fish, I call anyway.

What do you do to avoid playing like a deer in the headlights?

[/ QUOTE ]

This is why I play exclusively limit poker.

[LetYouDown]

I think what he's getting at is how to avoid making crying calls early in a session. He knows he's making a bad call (correct me if I'm wrong). I noticed this in my play as well. An hour and a half into a session, a hand like this is an easy muck (barring a great read). I used to make calls like this early on, then rebuy and be chasing for the entire session. Anymore, I stay out of peoples' way early in a session...playing only hands that beg to be played. Once I have a solid feel for the table, I'm fine.

What the hell was the Villian thinking, betting $20 into a $150+ pot on the turn with A-A? He played this hand horribly in my opinion. One lesson this teaches as far as low limit NL goes...beware small bets. Learn which opponents use them to trap and which ones just pray you'll fold when they bet $10 into a $160 pot.

Where was this game? I want to get on the waiting list.

[Lawrence Ng]

One of the things a lot of NL players do is fail to plan ahead for situations such as this where they have say AQ, AK and smack their TPTP or whatever and get faced with agression.

Learn to plan ahead, devise a game plan and you will play better.

[RiverDood]

Fascinating question. This has been the toughest flaw in my game to eradicate: playing tight, getting a premium hand, hitting the flop and then insisting on playing it to the river in the face of evidence that my TPTK is in trouble. I'm still working on it. But here are some thoughts that have helped me dodge a few disasters.

1. You need to realize that if you're playing tight, by the time your premium hand does come, you've been throwing away J5s, Q9o again and again for the previous dozen hands or so. You're itching for action. Maybe you've even seen a time when those shabby pocket cards would have matched the flop stunningly well -- so you threw away a long-shot winner. That's created some deep-down anxiety in you that you're playing too tight and need to make a stand fast. This unhelpful urge can happen even though you're intellectually comfortable with your hand-selection strategy.

2. Now you've finally got a premium hand. You didn't join this table to be weak/tight. You want to make it work. But . . . in your pre-game prep, you didn't stop to think: how often will AK turn out to be the best hand in various scenarios (One opponent; multiple; hit the flop; don't.)I'm guessing at the answers, but it's probably something like 85% when you hit the flop against 1 opponent; 35% or less when you don't. Not 100% in either case. You haven't mentally built in a pathway that says: "In certain situations, I will lay down my premium hand, even if it's working, in the face of something that reluctantly must be credited as a stronger hand."

3. When you do end up in such a situation, yes, you're hearing one inner voice that says: "Let it go, he could have Aces." But you're hearing another inner voice that says: "Be aggressive. Seize the pot. There are always scare cards and scare scenarios, and only sissies fold to them."

It's still a very tough read. But if you come in anticipating that you'll need to lay down AK occasionally, even on a good flop, you'll be much more likely to get the read right.

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That said, why not raise preflop by the classic 3x? Otherwise , with you UTG, you're giving other limpers a chance to see the flop cheaply and then benefit from better position in post-flop play.

If you raise prefolp, let's assume the limpers never enter and the SB raises you back. Then you can assume he's QQ, KK, AA or AK. It narrows his range of hands. You probably call his reraise preflop, but now you've got much more reason to be wary.

After the flop betting, you know it isn't QQ -- and maybe not even AK. At which point it's probably easier to get away from the hand.

[Shakezula]

we have all heard of a player being "in the zone". in basketball it is when a player can hit 3-pointer after 3-pointer. in football, it is the quarterback hitting his receiver in perfect stride. in our game, poker, it is knowing full well that your gut instinct is correct and accurate in assessment of the situation. so the question is, why hold on to the hand when you know better...

being "in the zone", you are concerned with your own actions and have a surety of feeling that they, your actions, are the correct ones. to recognize when you are "there", in the zone, is the critical moment. to be a "deer caught in the headlights", you are looking outside of yourself and are reacting to those external actions. one forgets the inner voice that says, "what are you doing in this hand?" to forget or ignore the "inner voice" is tantamount to begin playing with the ego. and the ego has a hard time laying down a hand.