What The Poker Gods Giveth, They Can Also Taketh Away (Many Times Over)

Came home from work yesterday and played 50 hands of $1/2 limit. I made a bundle and then logged out and went about the rest of my evening.

I should have stayed off the computer.

About 9pm I decided to play another 50-100 hands or so. I was tired and distracted, but rather than listen to my brain, which was telling me not to play, I logged in.

In about 45 minutes, I lost twice what I had won earlier that evening.

Here's a typical hand: I pick up TT in mid position. I raise and weed the field to the button, who cold calls my raise. Flop comes JJ8. I bet into it, he calls instantly. Uh, oh. Does he have the J? Turn is an unhelpful 3. I bet again, figuring I'm probably beat. If he's got the J, he's probably going to raise and I'll lay it down. (Alex's rule is that, in limit poker, most players tell you what they have by their actions on the turn. A raise on the turn means he's trying to make his money with a Jack.)

But the button smooths instead of raising.

Hmmmm. He probably doesn't have the J. Maybe he's got an overpair, like QQ, KK, or AA and he's just slow playing it? Or is he afraid that maybe I have the Jack? I'm not sure where I am, but that kinda makes sense right?

Then: the river is the glorious T of spades! The poker gods have given me the boat. Woo hoo! So, without thinking for one teeny-tiny second I bet into the board and.... he raises? Huh?

This is where I should have slowed down and thought things through. But I don't, of course. I've got a full house, dammit! I'm gonna take as much money as I can with it! I reraise.

He re-reraises.

WTF? I finally slow down a bit, but for only about a nanosecond before capping. He calls my final raise and turns over JT for jacks full of tens, which of course crushes my second best tens full of jacks.

And it gets even better. After I log out, I proceeded to yell at the dog when she doesn't get up fast enough to suit my mood on her trip outside for her nightly duties. The wife then yells at me for being mean to the dog, and I snarl back at her, which of course goes over like a pair of concrete boots on the Lusitania. Wonderful. Now I not only have lost a chunk of cash, but I've got the wife angry, the dog slinking around, and me feeling like a heel. Sometimes I hate this game.

All-in for now...
-Bug