OK, so I know we all get bad beats now and again and we all like a good moan, and yeah basically that is exactly what this is going to be. Poker is a game of maths and probabilities, but sometimes even when you do absolutely EVERYTHING right, probability can still turn round and bite you on the ass. Hard!
Anyway, last week I joined up with 888poker and got the code for the 888poker bonus offer which is $400 free chips. Obviously you have to play quite a bit to qualify for the full bonus so I got started on a medium stakes sit n go tournament yesterday.
I was using my normal approach, play really tight in the opening rounds, just let others knock each other out and only get involved if I have a killer pocket pair. In actual fact I played 2 early hands as I was dealt JJ and then AA so had to play. Won both with smallish pots so was ahead, defended my blinds and doing nicely.
One player gets knocked out and one is down to about half his stack, then goes all in. Typical move, as players get desperate and make a shit or bust type play. I was on the button, and had another AA showing! Beauty, you might think, and of course I had to call. The other guy showed JJ so it was all looking good, until of course – yeah you guessed it – another Jack on the river and the hand was lost, down to half my stack. Again, a perfect play, nothing I could have done, just rank bad luck.
It happens now and again right? But twice in the same game? Yeah you bet!
So I got over that hand, just folded the next few to get my head back together, and I get KK pocket pair and again someone goes all in. I call, and he shows AT so it’s looking good…..until….yeah, another A on the river this time!! So that was me out of the tourney, despite actually playing a sensible and controlled game, and making every call right.
The moral? Well sometimes shit happens I guess. Dust yourself down and move on. And THAT is also why we don’t commit too much of our bankroll to any one game. I’ll march on and I will be claiming that bonus, and making a profit along the way. It’s just that sometimes, probability tries to make it harder for us than we’d like…..
Saw an article on the BBC News website this week about the Brits finally not only catching on to online poker, but actually getting pretty damn good at it as well.
