Hands that can change your poker life forever....

[geardaddy]

I'll never forget the hand that changed my poker life. I was playing 5-10 NL and had my whole bank roll in with A's when some jack ass snapped me off with K's. Wait a second....was that you....you son of..............

[obsidian]

I think most people on this forum have a better understanding of bankroll management than yourself.

[Lestat]

Here's a hand that changed my poker life very early in my poker career.

There were 5 of us on the river in a very small pot. There was a str8 on board. Someone bet and everyone in front of me called. I called too, because... Well, I had a straight along with everyone else!! Turns out the bettor had the one card giving him the top straight. Here I called in a 4 big bet pot to to get 1/5 of it!!

That changed my poker life forever, because I started to understand the importance of considering pot ODDS!

Fortunately, I've never been even close to being one hand away from broke. So no hand has every changed my life in the way you're talking about.

I wish that i could say the same about one hand making me broke, but with the way I keep my bankroll, it doesnt really apply. I play poker for fun, and have managed to make a very insignificant amount of money doing it relative to my main source of income. But this post doesnt necessarily mean a pot that if you lost you would have been totally bust because you had your whole bankroll in the game, but maybe a pot you won in a tournament that propelled you into a spot that allowed you to cash or win, where otherwise you wouldn't have.

[mike l.]

i can think of 5 "life changing" sort of hands off the top of my head.

1. a long time ago, less than a year after i started my hold em career. 10-20 horseshoe not very good game i had Ahxs in mp. someone may have raised. i was in there. one of the blinds was in there. the board by the turn was KdQdJhTs. i naively decided well gee i have the nuts i guess i want to get all my chips in there. we went like 20 bets on the turn until i was all in. then my cowboy opponent flipped up Ad4d for the freeroll and drawled "put a diamond up there" which the dealer did in short order. fortunately at the time i was too naive to know it's not normal to get up and leave the game and wander aimlessly around downtown on the verge of tears, but instead the play is to sit there and tilt away everything youve ever owned or loved. but dont worry, i got plenty of practice doing that in the next couple of years.

2. ive told this one before. it was my first time playing 60-120 and i was really stoned from hanging out with tommy and rick upstairs at the commerce. playing black chips for the first time was heavy. i had K8o in the cutoff and openraised, the bb, a fat freaky looking guy who looked like he was there for the tournament called. the flop was QJ8. he check called me. the turn was another 8. he checkraised me, i 3 bet, he 4 bet, i 5 bet, he 6 bet, i became very certain was beat and felt silly and called. the river was a nothing. he bet and i called and he flipped up 85o and i won the hand. i realised at that moment that i was finally playing with people who thought and played the way i thought and played: like a sick twisted maniacal pos.

3. i had A5s playing 200-400 last year. the board by the end was A54-6-6 and i lost to A9o utg limper high limit regular after putting in like a million bets on every street. it was like an $8000 pot. had i won that who knows maybe i would still be playing higher and not 12 tabling 2-4 online trying to make $50 an hour...nah id probably still be broke.

4. about 5 years ago i was playing 40-80 and was on a 40 hour bender that was just sick and very tilt heavy. i raised preflop and this other guy (a guy who at the time was running so red hot and confident for months and started playing higher and higher, but i saw him last month struggling in a 20-40 game and smiled a sick vengeful smile inside). anyway he reraised me and i had A4 and he had AT and there was some betting and the board was ragged maybe Q high and i called him down and he showed his hand, and ill never forget the child in me that showed my hand and cried out "god, cant i win a fuucking hand here!" while the rest of table quietly giggled. i lost $10,000 for the first time that session.

5. playing 30-60 at commerce a long time ago i had TcTs and raised preflop and bb 3 bet and some other guy was in so 3 way action. the flop got checked around and by the turn the board was Jd8d7d2d. bb bet, next guy folded and i didnt do anything. literally about a minute and half passed. it was eerie. as the time passed i was actually thinking in my head "wow this is amazing no one is complaining i could just sit here like this forever." i think i said time once or maybe twice, softly. i was thinking and thinking, but really i wasnt thinking at all, i had no idea what i was going to do. then out of nowhere i sighed and said calmly i raise and stacked out 3 stacks of four and the guy laughed and said "bravo man you got it, you deserve an oscar for that one!" and threw QdQh into the muck. it was at that very moment i realised i was the greatest limit hold em player ever.

i lost around $3000 that night.

[STLantny]

Basically reading Mike's post are going to be the hands that change my "poker career". Thanks.

[calmasahinducow]

That was an amazing post...

[SA125]

n/m

[tonysoldier]

a disgustingly interesting and amusing post in every possible sense. terribly terrific.

[DeadMoneyOC]

Best. Post. Ever.