TalkFlop.com

I hear people complain all the time about how online poker is “rigged”.  My standard response to this is “If you think you’re being cheated – don’t play.”  This happens to be my stance for a live game as well.  I’m a firm believer that online sites simply CANNOT allow their players to be cheated or before they know it they will no longer have players.  Personally I think that people complain about these bad beats cause they’re seeing so many more hands per hour.  Those kind of hands WILL happen if you play long enough… they just have a tendency to come more frequently online (cause you’re playing more hands).

I’m certainly not prone to these online bad beats – here are a couple from my latest session.

Hand #1
I’m on the button with A7 of diamonds.  When it comes to me it’s unraised so I put in a standard “3 times the big blind” raise.  I get called by the big blind and we’re off to the flop.

BEAUTIFUL!  With the exception of my opponent holding AA in the big blind I’ve just flopped the nuts.  He makes a standard bet which I raise and puts him into the tank.  He uses just about all of his time before he puts me all in.  Hmm.  At this point I’m putting him on one of three hands – a 7 with a bad kicker, a big ace or a flush draw.  Based on the way he’d played up till this point in the tourney I don’t have him on aces.  I call and he shows a pair of twos.  Yep… you read that right, twos.  Not sure what he was thinking other than maybe he was putting me on a flush draw or a bluff of my own.

As I’m sure you can tell from the title of this post, this hand did not turn out well for me.  Of course the turn and river came like this:

I sat there in stunned silence as I got the pop up telling me my tournament was over.  I don’t even want to begin to think about what the odds of that beat are.

Hand #2
In another tournament I’m once again on the button and this time getting low on chips.  I’ve been trying to play but the cards just haven’t been coming my way.  I find myself with KQ of clubs on the button and make a standard raise.  This leaves me with just over 3 big blinds.  I’m raised by the big blind and I figure he’s making a play at the short stack so I decide to put the rest of my stack in jeopardy.  I’m happy to see that I’ve made the right play when he turns over KJ off suit (with the Jack of diamonds).

The board came out and once again I was left speechless.

Sure I had an Ace high flush but he was holding the Jack and once again I was done.  This is less of a bad beat than the first hand but they came in back to back tournaments and I had had enough for the evening.  As I said in my last post, “The best you can do is get your money in good and pray to the poker gods.”  I did just that and came out on the short end of the flop both times but as they say – that’s poker!

See you after the flop!

Luck and skill.  You’ve got to have both to be successful at the poker table.  You can play your cards “perfectly” and have no success.  You can play your cards poorly and win every pot you’re in.  The best you can do is get your money in good and pray to the poker gods.  In the long run you’ll be a winner.

I’ve had more than my fair share of luck.  I get my money in with a coin flip and win.  I suck out on an open-ended straight draw against top two pair.  If you play cards it’s GOING to happen to you.  Hopefully you get a couple of those hands to go your way.  I like to think that it’s because I study the game.  I study my opponents (especially when I’ve played more than once against them) and try to make plays that will work against specific people in specific situations.

But what about superstition?  I try not to worry about stuff like this but I’ve always got it in the back of my mind.  What am I wearing?  What am I using as a card protector?  Music vs. no music?  Do any of these things come into play at the table?  I highly doubt it but for what it’s worth I decided to outline my superstitions here.  I’m thinking maybe if I get them out into the open they can no longer harm my game

1. The first hand of the night – I try hard not to play the first hand.  It’s not so much of a superstition as it is me not being ready to play.  When I’m playing a Cleveland Poker League I’m normally running around trying to get everyone situated, get pictures taken, etc.  The last thing I want to do is get into a big pot right away when I’m not “ready” to play.Even when it’s NOT a CPL event, I try to stay out of the way – especially when I’m playing a tourney online.  I’ve found over the years that you can almost always find some donkey that’s going to put his chips in (regardless of what he’s holding) on the first hand of the tourney.  Even if I’m holding Aces I’ll generally play it VERY tightly.  I recognize that this is a terrible play but in my mind it’s just too silly to be outdrawn on the first hand of the night.
2. My card protector – When I use a card protector (which is not often these days) I’ll use my KillTheCan.org Hall of Fame coin.  It’s precious to me and if there’s something to be on the table that’s it.  That said, it’s not often that I use one anymore.  I’ll typically just put one of my chips (or a stack) on my cards.  I don’t know which poker pro said it, but if you’re using one of your chips then you’ll always have a protector – as long as you’re still in the tourney.
3. Headphones? – I’m typically a pretty talkative player at the table when I’m playing with friends.  Poker is a social game and aside from picking up tells on your opponents I genuinely enjoy talking with my friends at the table.  If I’m playing in a tourney where I don’t know anyone then I’ll throw on the headphones and have some tunes going.   NOTE: PLEASE people… if you’re going to wear headphones PLEASE pay attention.  It’s a pain in the ass to have to tell you it’s your turn… AGAIN. As for the type of music it’s all across the board.  I’ll just put the iPod on shuffle and let it play.
4. Seat – This one is only relevant in the online world where you can pick where you sit (or at least where your icon appears to sit).  I always “sit” in the lower right hand corner of the table when playing on Full Tilt.  I think it’s more of a habit then it is a superstition, but I thought I’d point it out.
5. Sunglasses/Hat – I always wear a hat when I play and rarely do I wear sunglasses.  I like wearing a hat for two reasons: (1) I never get to wear one on a normal day and (2) It allows me to just look down and hide my eyes when I’m in a hand.  Sure, sunglasses do the same thing but I’ve just never been comfortable sitting in a $20 or $100 tournament with my Ray Bans on.  If I was playing in a WPT or World Series even with the bright lights, this may be a different story.
6. Shirt – This one bothers me and it really shouldn’t.  When I play in a Cleveland Poker League event I almost always wear a Star Wars shirt that says “Thank you George” on it.  Not sure how this came to be my default poker shirt but it did.  Well of course I’ve been having a down season so I decided to change it up a bit and wear another shirt – naturally I played worse than I had all season and was the third one out.  This only leads me to believe that this superstition holds weight, which of course it doesn’t.  (Or does it???)

So there you go – my superstitions at the table.  I’d love to hear some of yours.

See you after the flop!