Cross-posted from MySpace
Let's loosen up...
Tonight was an especially interesting study in one of the psychological aspects of poker - that is, how a lively table can be so much more profitable than a dead one.
As usual I sat down at my designated seat and the table was so-so. People were chatting but it didn't appear they were having a lot of fun. People who are having a lot of fun don't mind losing money, so I set out to make the table fit the bill. I can't take credit for all of it - there were a couple of other "characters" there - but soon we were all bouncing jokes around and having a good time.
There weren't any drinkers to speak of (which is a bad thing), but one guy related a story that you can sell a testicle in Milwaukee for $45,000. This brought about a lively discussion on whether one would, literally, give their left nut for so much money. The table seemed split, incidentally.
Due to my loose table image I get called when I bet. I get called a lot. This is fine if I make the correct read and know I'm ahead in the hand; it's not so good when I read the opponent as weak, make a bluff, and they call anyway. I was bitten a couple times and remedied the situation by slowing down the bluffing and stepping up the value betting when I thought I was ahead. I slowly but surely worked my $200 starting stack up to a high-water mark of about $600.
A couple notable hands: I straddle and pick up 9-3 offsuit (a straddle, or extra blind bet, has the same effect as joking around and having fun at the table - it loosens people up. The nitty player who would normally fold top pair for a bet on the river suddenly goes "what the hell" and calls anyway.)
So back to the hand in question. I have 9-3 in a multi-way limped pot and I have four bucks in with no choice but to check and see a flop. It's not bad, but not good: Q-9-4, giving me middle pair and a shitty kicker card to go with it. I bet out to test the waters and get one caller. Oh well, he probably has Q-10 or something and appears to like the hand enough to call it down. No biggie; maybe I'll get a free card to improve. Turn brings a blank and we both check, and the river brings my magical 3. I know the opposing player thinks I'm a bluffing machine so I try to capitalize on this.
"Woo hoo! There's my card! I bet!" and throw out $40 or something. He doesn't take long to call with pocket jacks. When I turn over my two shitty pair he goes on monkey tilt, scolding me for raising and calling bets with such a worthless hand. He didn't even realize 1) I'd straddled, not raised preflop and 2) I bet the flop, he called. At no point did he bet his hand, yet he felt I sucked out on him unjustly. I shrugged. "Better to be lucky than good," quoting a poker cliche.
He was so bent about it, I decided to play 9-3 offsuit for the rest of the night. I won four out of five pots with it. In three of them I actually had the best hand and in the fourth I bluffed out a weak middling wired pair on a king-high flop. The table was a freakin' circus. Other people started playing 9-3. Later the jacks guy reconciled and we joked about the hand the rest of the night.
In another hand, I raised A-10 offsuit on the button in a limped pot. A fairly tight regular player called, as did a number of others. The flop brought A-J-10, giving me two pair but also putting a possible straight on the board. The tight guy led out for $15, which worried me. My friend Beam (an excellent player) noted earlier this fellow always bets $10 when he's bluffing and $20 when he has a big hand - no matter what the pot size. The $15 made me wonder. I raised him to $40 with my two pair and he called.
The turn brought a blank and he checked. I didn't have much in front of me - probably only $140 or so after the raise - and decided he probably had A-K or A-Q. A K or a Q on the river will make him a better hand no matter which he holds. I decide I'll put $65 of my stack in now and the rest in on the river so long as it's not a K or Q. I bet, he calls. River brings another blank. He checks, I shove in my last $75 and he instantly calls and tables his hand: A-Q. I have to look twice because his attitude is so triumphant, like he caught me with my pants down. Scooped up a nice pot.
People having fun don't care about losing money.
Sadly, some of the less-skilled players started dropping out after losing their money and only the better players remained. I dropped down to about $450 before calling it quits - the game was no longer donking around having fun; it was skilled players trying to take each others' chip stacks, so it wasn't as profitable.
Let's loosen up...
Tonight was an especially interesting study in one of the psychological aspects of poker - that is, how a lively table can be so much more profitable than a dead one.
As usual I sat down at my designated seat and the table was so-so. People were chatting but it didn't appear they were having a lot of fun. People who are having a lot of fun don't mind losing money, so I set out to make the table fit the bill. I can't take credit for all of it - there were a couple of other "characters" there - but soon we were all bouncing jokes around and having a good time.
There weren't any drinkers to speak of (which is a bad thing), but one guy related a story that you can sell a testicle in Milwaukee for $45,000. This brought about a lively discussion on whether one would, literally, give their left nut for so much money. The table seemed split, incidentally.
Due to my loose table image I get called when I bet. I get called a lot. This is fine if I make the correct read and know I'm ahead in the hand; it's not so good when I read the opponent as weak, make a bluff, and they call anyway. I was bitten a couple times and remedied the situation by slowing down the bluffing and stepping up the value betting when I thought I was ahead. I slowly but surely worked my $200 starting stack up to a high-water mark of about $600.
A couple notable hands: I straddle and pick up 9-3 offsuit (a straddle, or extra blind bet, has the same effect as joking around and having fun at the table - it loosens people up. The nitty player who would normally fold top pair for a bet on the river suddenly goes "what the hell" and calls anyway.)
So back to the hand in question. I have 9-3 in a multi-way limped pot and I have four bucks in with no choice but to check and see a flop. It's not bad, but not good: Q-9-4, giving me middle pair and a shitty kicker card to go with it. I bet out to test the waters and get one caller. Oh well, he probably has Q-10 or something and appears to like the hand enough to call it down. No biggie; maybe I'll get a free card to improve. Turn brings a blank and we both check, and the river brings my magical 3. I know the opposing player thinks I'm a bluffing machine so I try to capitalize on this.
"Woo hoo! There's my card! I bet!" and throw out $40 or something. He doesn't take long to call with pocket jacks. When I turn over my two shitty pair he goes on monkey tilt, scolding me for raising and calling bets with such a worthless hand. He didn't even realize 1) I'd straddled, not raised preflop and 2) I bet the flop, he called. At no point did he bet his hand, yet he felt I sucked out on him unjustly. I shrugged. "Better to be lucky than good," quoting a poker cliche.
He was so bent about it, I decided to play 9-3 offsuit for the rest of the night. I won four out of five pots with it. In three of them I actually had the best hand and in the fourth I bluffed out a weak middling wired pair on a king-high flop. The table was a freakin' circus. Other people started playing 9-3. Later the jacks guy reconciled and we joked about the hand the rest of the night.
In another hand, I raised A-10 offsuit on the button in a limped pot. A fairly tight regular player called, as did a number of others. The flop brought A-J-10, giving me two pair but also putting a possible straight on the board. The tight guy led out for $15, which worried me. My friend Beam (an excellent player) noted earlier this fellow always bets $10 when he's bluffing and $20 when he has a big hand - no matter what the pot size. The $15 made me wonder. I raised him to $40 with my two pair and he called.
The turn brought a blank and he checked. I didn't have much in front of me - probably only $140 or so after the raise - and decided he probably had A-K or A-Q. A K or a Q on the river will make him a better hand no matter which he holds. I decide I'll put $65 of my stack in now and the rest in on the river so long as it's not a K or Q. I bet, he calls. River brings another blank. He checks, I shove in my last $75 and he instantly calls and tables his hand: A-Q. I have to look twice because his attitude is so triumphant, like he caught me with my pants down. Scooped up a nice pot.
People having fun don't care about losing money.
Sadly, some of the less-skilled players started dropping out after losing their money and only the better players remained. I dropped down to about $450 before calling it quits - the game was no longer donking around having fun; it was skilled players trying to take each others' chip stacks, so it wasn't as profitable.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
agy:
Thanks for the sweet comment on my Mrs Mia Wallace set. 
criss:
Thanks! It's my birthday and I have a set out. I 'm loving life. <3