Fri, November 5, 2004
More of the Same, Yes, But Help Is on the Way!—12:57 AM
Just got home from one more great night of cards, and one more loss for me. The bad beats do tend to stack up, and they do tend to get to me, but I think my game does get more and more tight as I go on, so it's not like I just throw out all that cash. A game with just three hands is not quite the same as the "real thing" – the odds will work out so that luck plays a part more than it might in a large field. I think I still do well, I think I play right most of the time, but I must say it would be nice to get to win big like I did in my first full day of play. I try so hard!
I mean, Joe goes all in, I have A-8, and it's clear that he just wants to make a play. I think long and hard, and I call. (To look back, I guess I should fold with this hand, but once I was in, Joe told me he'd hoped not to get called!) He turns up a King and a rag, and the flop comes 4-4-5 with one more 5 on the turn. At this point, we both think "we might get a full house on the board!" and dreams of a split pot dance in our heads. (And, most cards would win it for me, with two pair, Ace high.) Then the card on fifth street pairs his rag and wins the pot for him, and I'm down to less than eight chips, which puts me all in in the big blind of the next hand, my heart flush draw fails to pan out, and I'm done for the night. Things went so well for such a long time, and then... poof!
I think, on the whole, that I'm a smart guy, so it does wear on me to lose, week in and week out. Could it be that I don't "get" this game as well as I think I do? I hope not, since it's such great fun to play and it has such neat parts to it. I have to say, it's just the kind of game I like, so I hope I can get to a point where my net loss is not so huge. Then I could scale it back a bit, and play just for the fun of it.
