Yet Another Bad Beat

OK, time to dive right into the deep end of this blog pool; it's time to rant! Not going to whine about how bored I was at work today, "not gonna do it!" I actually put in a semi-productive eight hours. My frustrations are centered around a type of poker called no-limit Texas Hold 'Em.

Some of my bowler friends and I have regularly played poker after our Wednesday night league in Cheshire. Over the past few years I've had my share of wins and losses, but over the long haul I'd have to say that I've made a decent amount of money. That is, until yours truly decided we should switch from playing games like seven-card stud and criss-cross to more of a tournament format. Since all of us are big fans of the Travel Channel's World Poker Tour, I devised a miniature version of their TV show. Anywhere from six to 10 of us all pony up $20 in exchange for $1,200 in tournament chips, with an option to buy $1,000 extra in "funny money" for $15 more. Basically it's winner-take-all, unless more than one player remains at the end of the two hour time limit.

Normally, I'm not a big bluffer when it comes to poker. If I don't have a good hand, I'll fold. But when I feel that my hand is better than everyone else's, it's go time. And patience has been a virtue for me at the poker table. But with this tournament format, you're not afforded the time to wait for good cards to come to you. Aggressive play, including a fair amount of bluffing, is needed to win in this game.

Needless to say, I've had some major struggles making the necessary adjustments to my game. Since we switched to no-limit Hold 'Em over the summer, I'd have to say we've played about a dozen times. My total winnings: zero. Nada. Zilch. In fact, the best finish I've had so far is a measly fourth (out of eight). This has made for a very gut-wrenching last couple months of poker; I'm a gracious winner, but a terrible loser.

Tonight, for example, I was dealt a queen and a jack. Since I had two high cards, I decided to stay in the hand. The first three community cards that were flipped (called the flop) came up queen, four, jack. So this means I now have two pair, which is a very strong hand in this situation. I decide to go for it and bet all of my remaining chips. My friend Tony thinks about it for a while, then says "Ahh, what the heck," and calls my bet. Everyone else folds, so we flip over our cards. I show my queen/jack, and Tony has ten/nine. So if either of the last two community cards are a king or an eight, Tony would make a straight and beat me. ANYTHING else would make me a winner. The fourth card, also known as the Turn, is a six. One bullet dodged, one to go...but sure enough, a friggin' eight pops up on the last card. I got beat on the River!

Needless to say, it was a very quick trip out the door, in the car, and back to Rocky Hill. There's not too many feelings worse than that burn I get in the pit of my stomach when I've been screwed, and I still feel it a bit at 1:00am. I think all this ranting has kinda helped, though. Time to find out if I'll be able to get to sleep without dwelling on yet another losing night of poker...

What a baby I am!