Newbie Poker question

FL6FL6
in General Poker Chat
Hi,

As a novice there's a part of my game that I'm having trouble with.
It seems that everytime I get my best hand someone always has something better, this happens both online or at house games.

When I'm presented with good hole cards, I bet, raise and reraise etc. to get
as many people out and it ends up being myself and another player, so I assume I'm doing that part right in that I know pockets jacks can still be beat but I'm not letting everyone in with crap and land 3-5's or something.

The problem lies in the final cards, same scenario as above, only 2 people left , but his pocket queens beat my pocket jacks, my trips loses out to a straight on the river, and my straight loses out to a higher card straight (45678 loses to 56789) I had pocket Kings and it just so happens I end up losing to pocket rockets.

Are these all bad beats or am I doing something wrong?
My oppenents are calling as I try to bet strongly but I'm thinking what are the chances that they're holding 2 Aces, or hitting that 9 on the river?
And because it happens both online and in person I'm thinking I must be doing something wrong but I can't figure it out.

Any help would be great.
Thanks!

Comments

  • BBC ZBBC Z
    I'd like PokerJAH to field this one..
  • ChrisWinsorChrisWinsor
    I think your best course of action is to either
    a) catch a leprechaun and steal some of his luck or
    b) find a decent sized horseshoe and shove it, well you know where
  • JimmyHoJimmyHo
    BBC Z wrote: »
    I'd like PokerJAH to field this one..

    its variance... right ? I think I'm getting the hang of this game :) Sounds like you got a case of the results oriented thinking. Welcome to the club! Sometimes your trips will get beat by a flush, some times your straight will get beat by a better straight. Such is life. As long as you get your money in the middle when you are ahead and you have the implied odds to make the call, if you lose, its just bad luck. AA vs 23 probably has an 85% chance to win pre-flop (not sure of the exact odds off hand) but there is that 15 times in a hundred you will lose to 23. If that happens to you five times in a row, that's just bad luck and variance not working in your favour. Check out www.thehendonmob.com and their poker calculator. This will tell you your odds of winning the hand on the flop, turn and river. So you can see where you stood if you have some hands you are trying to analyze. How did I do BBC Z? btw, variance sucks!
  • cadillaccadillac
    pokerJAH wrote: »
    its variance... right ? I think I'm getting the hang of this game :) Sounds like you got a case of the results oriented thinking. Welcome to the club! Sometimes your trips will get beat by a flush, some times your straight will get beat by a better straight. Such is life. As long as you get your money in the middle when you are ahead and you have the implied odds to make the call, if you lose, its just bad luck. AA vs 23 probably has an 85% chance to win pre-flop (not sure of the exact odds off hand) but there is that 15 times in a hundred you will lose to 23. If that happens to you five times in a row, that's just bad luck and variance not working in your favour. Check out www.thehendonmob.com and their poker calculator. This will tell you your odds of winning the hand on the flop, turn and river. So you can see where you stood if you have some hands you are trying to analyze. How did I do BBC Z? btw, variance sucks!

    Nice hand sir!
  • GrahamGraham
    FL6 wrote: »
    Hi,

    As a novice there's a part of my game that I'm having trouble with.
    It seems that everytime I get my best hand someone always has something better, this happens both online or at house games.

    When I'm presented with good hole cards, I bet, raise and reraise etc. to get
    as many people out and it ends up being myself and another player, so I assume I'm doing that part right in that I know pockets jacks can still be beat but I'm not letting everyone in with crap and land 3-5's or something.

    The problem lies in the final cards, same scenario as above, only 2 people left , but his pocket queens beat my pocket jacks, my trips loses out to a straight on the river, and my straight loses out to a higher card straight (45678 loses to 56789) I had pocket Kings and it just so happens I end up losing to pocket rockets.

    Are these all bad beats or am I doing something wrong?
    My oppenents are calling as I try to bet strongly but I'm thinking what are the chances that they're holding 2 Aces, or hitting that 9 on the river?
    And because it happens both online and in person I'm thinking I must be doing something wrong but I can't figure it out.

    Any help would be great.
    Thanks!

    would be best to see some entire hand histories...while it sounds like you're doing the right things, it may not be the right times, positions or amounts.


    Also, it sounds like it could also be a slight case of selective memory, i'm sure if you recorded all your hands, I'm sure you'd see that you do indeed have hands hold up from time to time.
  • ReefAquariumReefAquarium
    Agreed,

    Post some hands.
  • FL6FL6
    ok, next time I'll post the hands, it's been awhile.
    It might partially be selective memory but I know the one game my trip Kings lost to a straight in the first hand, and from then on it was nothing but crap, nothing playable, except for J-9S. So in that case it was my best and only hand of the night and from then on I was short stacked

    I think the main thing is not betting hard enough at the flop, or even pre-flop. But usually I think yeah go ahead and chase a straight or a flush, odds are not in your favour.

    Thanks for the replies everyone, I feel much better about my game.
  • HobbesHobbes
    FL6 wrote: »
    I think the main thing is not betting hard enough at the flop, or even pre-flop. But usually I think yeah go ahead and chase a straight or a flush, odds are not in your favour.

    Just be sure that your bet makes the odds to call wrong.
    i.e. don't bet $10 into a $100 pot and expect the flush draws to go away.
  • JimmyHoJimmyHo
    one thing I would like to add, cards don't always win tournaments. I played in a small tournament and the best hand I had all night was AQ (which happened to lose to A7). I was able to place in second by stealing blinds and selective raises when I felt the other player was weak. The reason I am mentioning this is don't place so much emphasis on the cards you are holding. There are many other variables that have to be considered when playing a hand (position, your stack relative to your opponent, their playing style, your image, etc.). For every 220 hands that are dealt, you will get AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ only once (on average). So you have to learn to play the other 215 hands as well.
  • AcidJoeAcidJoe
    pokerJAH wrote: »
    one thing I would like to add, cards don't always win tournaments. I played in a small tournament and the best hand I had all night was AQ (which happened to lose to A7). I was able to place in second by stealing blinds and selective raises when I felt the other player was weak. The reason I am mentioning this is don't place so much emphasis on the cards you are holding. There are many other variables that have to be considered when playing a hand (position, your stack relative to your opponent, their playing style, your image, etc.). For every 220 hands that are dealt, you will get AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ only once (on average). So you have to learn to play the other 215 hands as well.


    An even better hand here. You can get rid of that results oriented player BS now LOL
  • FL6FL6
    pokerJAH wrote: »
    one thing I would like to add, cards don't always win tournaments. I played in a small tournament and the best hand I had all night was AQ (which happened to lose to A7). I was able to place in second by stealing blinds and selective raises when I felt the other player was weak. The reason I am mentioning this is don't place so much emphasis on the cards you are holding. There are many other variables that have to be considered when playing a hand (position, your stack relative to your opponent, their playing style, your image, etc.). For every 220 hands that are dealt, you will get AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ only once (on average). So you have to learn to play the other 215 hands as well.

    Yeah you're right. I was "assuming" that every player will at some point will receive their best hand and from there try to win as much as they can, not receive their best hand and lose it to a better one. But yes poker is about more than just hands and you need to have more to your game than just good cards. I just felt loser-ish because I was getting crap in every game and when I finally had something to play with I failed at making the most of it.

    So I guess in the end you have to be able to tell the difference between playing well and losing, and playing crappy and losing.
  • JimmyHoJimmyHo
    AcidJoe wrote: »
    You can get rid of that results oriented player BS now LOL

    I think I will hold off on that for now; not until I get BBC Z approval of course. I still can't see the forest through the trees after most losing sessions.
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