The Deadly River

I haven't done a poker blog in a while so here goes.

It seems that anytime I do well at poker and have days were I don’t do well.  The only problem that I have with limit poker is sucking out.  I'm starting to play pretty tight and only going into hands with fairly descent hole cards. But sometimes you just can't be luck.

My favorite casino is Pechanga in Temecula, CA.  I generally win there.  The last time I was there I lost about $60.  I will admit that I was playing a few too many hands, but at the same time, I could not get people to fold if my life depended on it.  Everyone is calling their draws to the river and then I get beat.

This was typical, I'd have pocket Queens, I'd raise with no one folding. I'll play it strong to the river only to get beat by someone's gut shot draw.  That's poker, but then again, that's frustrating.  On the other hand, the pot is pretty big if the straight doesn't hit, the problem is the straight does hit.

Yesterday at Full Tilt Poker was even more frustrating.  On five occasions, I had the best hand until the river.  Let's review a few hand.

My hole cards are 8-8. Not bad, I raise to see where I'm at.  And I get a caller.  The flop comes K-K-8.  I flopped a full house.  My opponent bets, I raise, he reraises and I cap it. I know my opponent has a King.  The turn comes a 3.  I raise, he calls.  The river is a 3. My full house just got beat.

Later I got a pair of Queens, and I get beat by a flush with runner-runner hearts.

Now I have K-T.  Flop comes K-T-7.  I flop two pair.  I raise and the guy to the right calls.  The river comes a 3. I bet and the guy on my right calls.  The board comes a Jack and I'm thinking, I'm beat. The guy on my right checks and I check to lose to his pocket Jacks.  I could just scream.  I was fortunate to realize that I was trapped on the last card. Two hands later, I foil another lucky player on the river and save myself a bet.

I will admit, that half of the draws we're good.  The players rightly played their hole cards. Other times, it just doesn't make sense.  Sometimes you can't beat luck. That's when you get up from the table and leave with what you've got left.

I'll be back tomorrow about how I met Phil Gordon two days ago.