4 replies to this topic

[zimmer4141]

On a bad run lately, over $600 in the last 3 days. Put in a session today at 1/2 NL holdem where I'm finally up $100. I had $300 in front of me when I decided to play my last hand. I see KK under the gun and raise to 8. Button calls everyone else folds. Flop is 984 with 2 diamonds. I bet 15 and he calls. turn is a 5 of hearts. I bet 45 and again he calls. At this point I think he has a diamond draw. River is a J of clubs. I bet $100 and he raises me all in. I call and he flips Q 10 offsuit for the straight. This idiot called 2 pot sized bets with an inside straight draw. Then of course he gives the classic answer of "I had pot odds ha ha ha ha." I usually don't complain about bad beats, but dropping $800 in 4 days is pretty damn bad.

[Swift_Psycho]

"I had pot odds ha ha ha ha."I can feel your pain. The above line is one of the most ridiculous things I ever hear come out of players' mouths in online poker. It's really funny to see people hit a two-outer after making horrible calls on the flop and turn with an underpair, and then simply say, "I had pot odds." These guys have no clue what pot odds are. They simply hear the term somewhere, figure that the term should apply to them since they play poker, and then they stick it in somewhere to rationalize a dumb play.In all honesty, it doesn't bother me at all. I just love it when a player says it after sucking out, it's one of the few times I get to laugh while playing. Most of the time I end up rolling my eyes when reading the chat because someone is criticizing someone else for making a stupid play. At least when someone says, "I had pot odds," I get a chuckle.

[Swift_Psycho]

Oh yeah, I forgot about giving advice on the hand. I like the way you played it until the river. Now I know that he sucked out horribly, but because he was able to bust you, you turned his horrible calls into not as bad calls. Now there is no way to place this guy on Q-10, so I don't blame you for not worrying about the straight. However, a value bet of something like $50 would have been better on the river. Here is why:1. If you place him on a busted flush draw, betting $100 and $50 is no different because he isn't going to call either bet.2. If you think he may have something like a pair of nines or maybe eights, that Jack is a scare card for him. He may make a crying call of the $50 with a pair of nines, but $100 is probably too much to make that same crying call.3. You are less committed to the pot if you just bet $50 instead of $100. Now take a second to think about this. You have raised pre-flop, bet on the flop strong, bet on the turn strong, and now made a bet that looks like it wants a call on the river. He knows you have a hand. He will not try to bluff you off this hand because you have shown no weakness at all. So, if he raises you on the river, he will have a real hand. What hand can you possibly beat that he would raise with on the river like that? You cannot beat any set, two pair, the miracle straight, or (if he's weird enough) slow-played aces. I hesitate to think that he'd play queens the way he did, but that may be the only hand you can possibly beat if your opponent is really dumb enough to raise like that with just queens. Therefore, quite frankly, your hand can only beat a bluff. If you bet the $50 on the river and get raised big like that, it's an easy fold. I still think you should have folded to the all in raise after you bet the $100, but it certainly becomes harder than if you had just bet the $50.Those are the three big situations that makes betting $50 better than $100 on the river. There is only one argument for betting $100. If you think your opponent was inexplicably calling you down with something like A-J, then perhaps $100 would be better. However, that is probably the only feasible (and I'm saying feasible loosely) situation that betting $100 would be better than $50.So there is my analysis. Good luck at the tables.

[srblan]

If you put him on a flush draw, why not stack him off on the turn? If a diamond came off would you have laid down your hand to a raise? If so, I actually don't hate his play here. In that case, he has three outs to make the nuts and 10 or 11 outs to represent the nuts and take the pot from you. It would be easier to get value out of a gutshot and get paid off because his raise might look like a busted flush draw taking a stab. The funny thing about his pot odds comment is that by calling his all in bet you gave him implied odds to draw to his hand. He called a $45 bet on the turn to win a pot that eventually totalled $600. That's better than 13 to 1 and he's only 11 to 1 against making his hand. I agree with the analysis given about your play of the hand, but he has position on you and pot sized bets might not be enough to drive him out of the hand if he's playing for your stack. If you bet it all on the turn you don't give him the opportunity to bluff you out and you don't give him the odds to hit his gutshot. You might not be getting full value from a drawing hand but you also aren't faced with any more tough decisions and it wouldn't be totally out of the question to see someone online call you with the flush draw anyway.One last thing, forget about your losing streak! It sucks to be on a bad run, but what sucks worse is if you dwell on it and it affects your play. Take a couple days off and see if you can't turn your luck around when you come back. Believe it or not, some time away may the best thing you can do to end the bad run.