Adventures on Full Tilt Poker

Someone once said that poker is a game of patience. Understandably it is. However, I think it sometimes is harder for players to determine how patient they have to be - especially if you're going through a series of bad beats. Recently, I've been getting beaten - not by own stupidity (i.e. calling someone down with nothing but ace high or bottom pair) but by players who are getting extremely lucky.

Last night was a prime example. In my first $5 sit n' go, my top two pair (Ks and Qs) were destroyed on the turn and river, by a player who called with bottom pair (stupidity) and hit a runner runner flush (this by definition is someone I will publically call a DONKEY). The second $5 sit n' go was bo better as a player caught a J high straight vs. my pocket queens (board = J-4-3-8-7). How the idiot called me with T-9 in the first place puzzled me...how he pushed all in with absoletly nothing puzzled me more...and how he won...well just pissed me off. The kicker to the evening was the $24 tournament I entered (guaranteed prize pool of $24,000). Three and a half hours into the game, I look down to see that I have pocket 9s. The blinds are now 500 and 1,000 with antes of 125 going in. There is one raise ahead of me, which I smooth call. The flop comes down 9-6-T, giving me trip 9s. The player ahead me puts in a bet of $5,000. Making the call would leave me with just $4,000 in chips, so I pushed all in. The guy calls me with AK which at the time was destroyed by my set of 9s. Replaying this hand makes my stomach gringe, as I watched the turn come up Q and the river J to give my opponent the straight. Despite wanting the call, I ended up getting screwed by the cards as some hapeless idiot took all my chips. Nothing more frustrating than to lose a hand in the manner described above - but it happens. I would hazard to say that had I been playing against more experienced players, I would not have taken those hits as more experienced players understand that they don't have the equity or the odds to continue playing. Than again, some people are born donkeys.