Poker Night Week
The real reason I've been absent from the blog all week is that I'm in rigorous training for The Big Deal, a Texas Hold'em tournament sponsored by the local card club, michianapoker.com, and the local hard rock radio station, 103.9 The Bear. Top prize is a buy-in the the World Series Of Poker main event and a trip for two to Vegas. Tonight was my final rehearsal.I sucked.
The only thing that's stopping me from becoming really good at this game is that I'm completely impatient, and will look for any reason to call bets that I know I can't win. Tonight, I was pushed all-in while holding A/8 (the game was shorthanded) with a flop of 5/A/9 and a 3 on the turn (the suits weren't important). I knew my opponent either had my 8 outkicked or was holding two pair. But I labored over the call for so long that my brain tricked me into reading that he had, at best, nines and fives, so I was capable of drawing out on him and could call because of the pot odds.
I don't think I have to tell you he had A/5. Nor is it necessary to note that the river card was a 7.
When I first started playing hold'em, I was quite adept at picking off bluffs. For some reason now my mind always thinks my opponent is bluffing (short of a huge bet when I have diddly squat) and will find any excuse to call.
Gotta learn to stop that.
posted by Marsh @ 3:43 AM
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