Speed Kills
Further to the excellent discussion on this topic in the 'ask Dave Scharf' section, I thought I'd post the nasty details of the worst play I've ever made in poker.
Last night, $100 2-table NL sit and go. 5 players left, 4 get paid, blinds 100/200 I think.
I'm second in chips with 5K. First has 15K. The rest are all at 2K or lower.
I have developed an interesting style of play to be used specifically against the chip leader, because of his interesting style of play.
I have As9s in SB. Button (chip leader) just calls, and so do I. BB checks.
Flop: Ah 4c 7d. Checked to the button who bets 200, only I call.
Turn: 7c. Check, check.
River: 2d. I bet 600, he IMMEDIATELY moves in, and I IMMEDIATELY call. He of course has some stupid hand with a seven.
WHY did I do this. Why why why why why. I put all my chips into the middle of the table with an easily beatable hand against the only guy who can bust me when I am pretty much guaranteed to at least make it into the money.
I think the speed of his all-in confused me, disoriented me, whatever. For some reason I felt the need to match that speed, and the need to act quickly was for some reason more important to me than the outcome of the hand. Far and away the worst play I've made in the game of poker, that I can recall.
Anyways, the bottom line here is this: just because your opponents are acting at the speed of light, that doesn't mean you have to. Take your time, think things through, make your decisions. If you already know what you're going to do before your opponent acts, then by all means, act quickly yourself if you've given it some thought. But it's not a race to the pot, and if you lose sight of that, you could find yourself on the rail, thinking 'I am a stuped'.
Last night, $100 2-table NL sit and go. 5 players left, 4 get paid, blinds 100/200 I think.
I'm second in chips with 5K. First has 15K. The rest are all at 2K or lower.
I have developed an interesting style of play to be used specifically against the chip leader, because of his interesting style of play.
I have As9s in SB. Button (chip leader) just calls, and so do I. BB checks.
Flop: Ah 4c 7d. Checked to the button who bets 200, only I call.
Turn: 7c. Check, check.
River: 2d. I bet 600, he IMMEDIATELY moves in, and I IMMEDIATELY call. He of course has some stupid hand with a seven.
WHY did I do this. Why why why why why. I put all my chips into the middle of the table with an easily beatable hand against the only guy who can bust me when I am pretty much guaranteed to at least make it into the money.
I think the speed of his all-in confused me, disoriented me, whatever. For some reason I felt the need to match that speed, and the need to act quickly was for some reason more important to me than the outcome of the hand. Far and away the worst play I've made in the game of poker, that I can recall.
Anyways, the bottom line here is this: just because your opponents are acting at the speed of light, that doesn't mean you have to. Take your time, think things through, make your decisions. If you already know what you're going to do before your opponent acts, then by all means, act quickly yourself if you've given it some thought. But it's not a race to the pot, and if you lose sight of that, you could find yourself on the rail, thinking 'I am a stuped'.
Comments
In your hand you mention you were thinking at the start....then you were thinking on the flop...and that seems to be where it stopped. (ex. If I hit this hand I can set a nice trap...boom I'm good now time to set the trap.............call...crap!!!!!)
The major spot I have found myself not thinking is when I go into trance world folding hands preflop when the odds (pot and/or implied) make my folding hand into a let's take the flop kinda hand. Unfortunately, I realize this way to late and have lost a lot +EV from hands preflop.
Last night I was in a freezeout tournament on Gaming Club with an above average stack (about 3500). I got there by calling a few people who tried bluffing me on the river when I had marginal hands. In one instance, I made two pair on the turn w/ A2s with a board of A 7 T 2 5. When I bet out on the river, one player went all-in and I called him and he had KJo. Man, did I feel huge after that! Everyone's full of it tonight, I thought.
Later, I had KQ in the BB (blinds were 75-150). Two callers, I checked. Flop was Qc 7d 2c. I checked, 1st player bet 200, 2nd player called, I raised to 600. Both called. Turn was 5s. I bet 600 again, both called. River was Tc. I had to put at least one of them on the flush draw. And I did check. The 2nd player checked, the 3rd player bet out 1500 and I called instantly. Why? Because I wanted to "beat him into the pot" and show him that I'm the man. The other guy folded and the bettor showed KcJc. So I was left with a pittance and busted out shortly after that because I rushed a decision that clearly required a laydown. I need to pick my spots and not let previous experiences dictate my decisions.
Phil