I don't have a ton of time, need to get to work. However, I played some at the Wynn last night. Some 1/3 NL for a little while, then some 2/5 NL. Played about 2 hours total.
I think I played really well. I did identify some situations where I could feel myself going on tilt. In The Mental Game of Poker, they have a way to dig deeper into a "mental hand history". I wrote down a situation where this came up. Here's how the hand went down:
I was in the blind with 7d5d. I call $3 more, and the big blind checks. 5 people are in. Flop comes 6-4-2 rainbow. Great board for me, straight draw and no flush draw possible. I check, 3 more checks, and the last guy bets out $20. This is an inexperienced player that just doubled through by getting all in preflop with A-Q. I have about $1500 in front of me because I bought in for the max, so I have his $500 or so covered. I call. One other guy calls, and this lady that sat down recently with $300 (lame) check raises to $100.
I was thinking about calling if the button called. She had about $150 more behind and obviously had a big hand. $20 preflop + $80 + $80 (her raise) + $80 (if the button called) = $260 in the pot, $80 to me to call and it was very likely that if I hit, I'd get the other $150. I have 8 clean outs. I think that would have been reasonable. The button folded though, so I had to call $80 to win $180 (plus possibly the other $150). I folded. I think it's close, I need to actually go through that one and figure out the exact math. I also thought it was likely she had a set, so even if I hit the turn, she had some outs going to the river.
This hand pissed me off because first off, I hate short stacks. If you are buying into a 2/5 game with $300, just go play 1/3!!! It's not even a full buy-in at 1/3. Get off of my table. However, that is not a productive way of thinking. I could feel my face getting hot and I knew I was getting tilted by this strange play. So I wrote it down and went through the mental hand history process. The questions and my answers are below. Hopefully this helps me learn to not get too frustrated by these weird plays and short stacks.
BTW I ended up winning about $50 last night. Not too many exciting hands. The most exciting thing was that I bought in for a full stack, $1500 in the 2/5 game. I have never done that before. But I figure, I'm playing solid and making good decisions. Why not buy in for the max, play my best, and try to win some massive pots. I want to be the guy that buys in for the max in the games I'm in. It makes me feel like the great player I want to be. No, the great player I AM! :-)
1. Describe the problem. To begin, write down what you would say if you were describing the problem in your mental game to me. It may be something such as, “I go on tilt when a fish sucks out on me in a big pot” or “I play too loose when I’m winning big”.
I hate when someone pulls a weird play off on me. This is especially true if that person is short stacked or I think they are a fish. Yesterday there was a 5 way pot limped preflop and I had 7d5d. The flop came 6-4-2 rainbow. Checked to the button and he bet $20. I called. Now this lady with about $300 total (in a 2/5 game) makes it $100. I thought about calling if the button called, but he folded and I folded. I could feel my face getting hot and I knew I was getting frustrated. In my head I’m saying “what a dumbass” because who would let 3 people check and try to check-raise the button in that spot? Seems stupid because there is no reason to expect him to raise, so it’s just a ridiculous play in my mind. And I hate getting beat by a move that I think is ridiculous and makes no sense.
2. Why does it make logical sense that you would react, think, or feel that way? This question may be counterintuitive if the problem in step 1 seems completely irrational or illogical. It’s not. If you identify more than one reason while completing this step, follow the next 3 steps for each reason.
I think that I’m a good player and my plays through that point in the hand with the information I had were correct. I hate when a person pulls off a ridiculous, low percentage move and ends up thinking they are a genius, as well as winning my money. I also hate making what I think was the right move, only to find out that someone else tried something crazy and ended up winning, even if their approach will not work as often as a more optimal approach. I also hate losing to people that I think are bad players. All short stacked players fall into this bucket for me.
3. Why is that logic flawed? Avoid using stock answers for why the logic or reason you found in step 2 is flawed, unless you’re sure it’s correct. Accuracy is critical. Plus, since there are often multiple reasons why your logic is flawed, don’t assume that you know all of them.
This logic is flawed for a few reasons.
First, I want other people to make bad decisions or non-optimal plays. The money I gain in poker will come from playing with people that make wrong decisions. When this lady wins the pot, her bad decision is reinforced by winning. This means that she will continue to do things like this in the future even if they are a bad idea. Other people might also see this and try the same thing, causing a butterfly effect of non-optimal play that is nothing but good for me.
Second, even when I think these plays are bad, they aren’t all necessarily bad. Maybe this lady saw the next guy reaching for chips, so she decided to check-raise instead of bet out with her set (or whatever she had). In this particular case I don’t know that the play was that good, but I also immediately jump to the conclusion that because a short stacked (or otherwise bad player as I see it) beat me using a somewhat strange play, that play is bad. That may not always be the case and I may be able to learn something from these non-standard plays. In fact, plays outside of the common knowledge, normal way to play poker could potentially be some of the biggest money making things I could leverage. If other people don’t understand a play and I have thought of a way to play a hand in an non-standard way that is better than the standard, I could win a lot of money AND have other people thinking that I’m an idiot, which is a fantastic situation.
4. What is the correct way to handle the situation? Be sure to use affirmative language in at least some part of your answer. Possibly add a statement that corrects the illusion of control, like “I can’t control the cards, I can only control how well I play and react”
When I am beaten by a non-standard play, I should think deeper into the reasoning behind that play. What was this person thinking? Although I may not agree with it, what was the logic that lead them to this decision? Is there a situation where a play like that could be profitable, and should I integrate that into my game? Is there a way I can anticipate a player doing something like this in the future? I can use these situations as learning opportunities to find out more about my opponents and potentially even think about poker in a way I haven’t before.
5. Why is that correction correct?
This correction allows me to think more critically about the game in general. This will improve my game. The more I think about what other people are thinking about, the more I can get into their head and anticipate non-standard plays. Anticipating that one of these plays can happen will make me less surprised when they do happen. That will allow my head to be clearer when I’m thinking about how to react to that play. Thinking about these plays after the fact and not dismissing them as stupid will help me grow as a player.
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