Poker News

Tom ‘Time’ Leonard

As we continue on our journey of discovery about poker and ourselves let’s see what we’re made of in this installment. Have you ever been running bad and asked yourself the question, “How can I be losing?”. It’s usually not just the losing that prompts this question because, as poker players, we know that you don’t win in every single session. What really prompts the question is our perceived evaluation of the current competition When the line up appears weak and you’ve done your homework relative to “clocking the table” and you can see several opponents making mistake after mistake it becomes a hard pill to swallow to be losing. You know you should be dominating this lineup and amassing the chips but you’re losing. Hey, it happens. It’s what you do about it or not that counts. If you run down your check list and are truly confident that you’re playing solid poker and are in that nightmare where you’re losing because you’re opponents are playing weak, undisciplined poker and getting lucky, then take solace because it should only be a temporary state of affairs. You might need to fasten your seat belt to survive the swing but if your opponents are playing terrible cards and sucking out on you, don’t join in that lunacy but stay focused, remain solid and be patient.

In a recent session, I was two seats off the big blind when the player to my right who was under the gun posted a live straddle. To those of you unfamiliar with straddles, it is really raising the blind bet before the cards are dealt. Action junkies will do this from time to time. I don’t recommend this move as it’s pure gambling, but I like to see other players post straddles and hope to get a hand that can take advantage of thispoor play. At any rate, I looked down to see a suited Ace/Jack and made it three bets. Only the blinds and the straddler called. I flopped an Ace and two of my suit. Top pair, decent kicker and the nut flush draw. It was checked to me and I bet losing the big blind and the straddler So, the small blind and I were heads up. To make along story short, no over card to my Jack fell nor did my flush get there. The river was a five, which paired a five which was part of the flop. I lost the hand to three fives. The small blind had called my initial three bets with a 5-6 offsuit, flopped a pair of fives and rivered a third five. I three bet the pre-flop and led out on the flop, turn and river and the small blind called each time. Of course, this is when I said to myself, “How can I be losing?”. Of course, when weak players chase and connect it just reinforces for them that they can succeed playing this way.

It’s at this crossroad that your character as a poker player surfaces. What you really need to do is be thankful that you have found yourself in a game with such a weak competitor. Sure the loss stings, but so what! Winning at poker is not a sprint but a marathon. Learn from the experience and move on. In this case, I knew I could value bet this opponent till the cows came home. Sure, he might wake up with a real hand in a future confrontation but you know him to bea calling station and a chaser. This is an opponent that you want in your game. This opponent defended his small blind against a player in early position who made it three bets, when all he had was a 5-6 offsuit. Then an Ace fell on the flop and the early three bettor (me) bet out and all he had was a pair of fives but called. He called again on the turn and had no draw but the two outer and if I would have had pocket Aces he would have been drawing dead. It truly boggles the mind what this player could have been thinking.

Our goal for this session is to make sure we remain calm and make reasoned decisions even when it seems that some chowder head is winning in spite of his ludicrous play. Solid, disciplined play may not win every sprint but it sure as hell will win the marathon. See you next “TIME”.

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