Poker Update

I haven’t posted much about poker because there isn’t much to say. Full Tilt got shut down, we don’t have as many local games, and not much new to say. I’ve also been playing badly and who wants to blog how bad they are? Not me!

The last few outings I’ve lost money for the same reason each time. I make the read that someone has me beat, but talk myself into calling. Getting away from the other guy’s monster hand is vital and I’m not doing it.

Last night I was playing very tight. Four times around the table, I hadn’t raised once, I had played past the flop only once. Finally I got a playable hand: A-J suited. I put in a standard raise. The next player re-raised and I called. The flop was J-x-x. I bet with top pair. He re-raised. Hrm. Time to think this through…

• I normally can’t read him very well.
• He bluffs, but when he does his bluffs are big ones. His re-raise is big, but not big enough. The bet isn’t scaling up enough compared to the pot size – not enough to scare someone off. It doesn’t feel like his usual bluffs.
• The pre-flop bet was roughly a quarter of his stack. The post-flop bet is the same. If he continues at this bet pattern, he’ll have put in all his money.

Conclusion: He’s betting enough to milk the pot. He has Queens, Kings, or Aces. Maybe trips. I’m beat.
Stupid brain tricks: But maybe he doesn’t! I should call him.

I call him. And call his identical bet on the turn. And am not surprised when he turns over pocket aces for the win.

Variants of this have happened in the last few outings. I’ve lost patience and self-discipline at the table.