Responding to Poker Setbacks
I can certainly say that playing online pocker this week, and indeed last week, I had some moments that really tested my character. Strangely there have been three occasions these past two weeks where I have been looking great on the flop with an opposing player all in, and they have hit runners for a Straight.
Pocket Kings against (8,8), top set on the flop with (5,5), and (A,K) against (9,9) with a king falling on the first card of the flop all, ended in this same way. But there is nothing to be gained by feeling sorry for yourself.
We all have to deal with these tests of resolve sometimes, and it is how you respond to them that can have a huge impact on whether you bounce back or go on to lose much more through sheer frustration.
In the short term, it is important to deal with these situations in the right way. I often allow myself a smile when faced with unpleasant outdraws, partly that’s to let my opponents know that it hasn’t gotten under my skin of course. When I make that next bluff, I do not want people to think it is a bet born of frustration or anger.
In the long term we simply have to trust the odds. No matter who you are or how unlucky/lucky you might feel on a given night, it all evens out in the end. That is why responding to bad beats is so important, because the hand itself is just one of many that will happen for or aginst you over time.
It is the hands afterwards where you either go off the rails and do something silly, or calmly smile and carry on playing logical, calculated, pocker, that will determine your profits or deficits at the end of a month or a year.
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