It has happened to all of us at one time or another, you are playing your best poker game, and then all of a sudden your great hands start losing to practically any two cards. That little pocket pair of queens just doesn’t seem to improve into straights or flushes, and kings seem to get outdrawn over and over again.
For most people, this is the Bryant Gumbel on ESPN stare knockoff; they are ultimate poker decoys, willing to put up a good fight in almost any situation, but then when they get a run going they get cold as ice. This is normal for us. We shouldn’t be decent poker players. We are just in it to have fun. And right there, right now, we are all feeling like little kids in a toy store.
If I hear a poker player say that I can’t win with my favorite hand, I am flat on board with them. I am there to defend my favorite hand, or go on the offensive when others are taking a chance and folding. defense against what? If you are playing for three hours and it is still not daylight, then I might suggest you get a life. It ain’t gonna cut it.
If I hear a poker player say that another player hit my netsuke, I start flipping through the phone book to find somebody in the neighborhood who can give me a few pointers. I don’t have time to do this. I am a busy man, running around trying to put a satellite tournament in my (and your) Best Poker Show D.C. slot. I’d like to think that I can analyze other players, especially online, but I probablyalese to do so, since I am constantly stressed about money, poker, family, and the like.
If I hear a dewagg player say that I can’t beat his pocket 9’s or maybe my pocket queen, well, I don’t know what to tell him. I probably shouldn’t, but I probably won’t. It doesn’t matter. I might have had one of them several times and I’m sure I have them all beaten at some point in the play, but I will still beat them on a tough hand found on the river. As they say, a chip and a chair riding on a sometime tight-aggressive game. Heck, I might even take them to the cleaners if they think I’m a fish. A little nerve-racking, but since I have roots in Ireland, a big Notre Dame fan, I have a sense of humor so I smile and pay them off.
You see, poker is a game of psychology. If you can’t be psychical, you are unbeatable. But, if you are then you can certainly lose heavily to the more talented player. Lose, and lose hard, and the game is over. See, I am forward thinking and so are most of my opponents. We just need to wait for favorable circumstances to emerge. In the meantime, we could all be sitting on a beach with sharks regarding the future of poker prey.
Yes, I probably shouldn’t read the tea leaves when it comes to a game of cards, but I feel a need to make my opponents earn their pots. Oddly, it doesn’t seem to matter to me that they are tight players. I figure they are betting with big hands and/or nothing. I wish them the best of luck in the tournament. In the mean time, I will be taking some time off to relax and catch my breath after some hot poker action. Then, I will be picking up my blinds and so on and so forth. It is nice to win telephones. It means I have a big, solid hand that could win the tournament. Sometimes I can take two or three of them, so I win more than I lose. Boring, I know, but I’m having too much fun to stop now.