Emotions, Anger and Poker

I won this hand but I just got lucky. I was mad at TimeBandit for Raising me $4, it was not called for. So I Re-Raised him with all I had. My anger made me call, plus there was nothing on the flop higher than what I had, I thought about two pair and as you can see, even trips and I called anyway because I was mad. In big money games I will get eaten alive playing like this, even here I will. Or was right or Wrong?

Holdem No Limit $0.10 - 2006-09-27 02:44:53.003 (ET) [2006-09-27 02:44:53 ]
Table: PINNACLE DR. (real money) Seat #1 is the dealer
Seat 1 - TIMEBANDIT ($10 in chips)
Seat 2 - ATSELAT ($11.71 in chips)
Seat 3 - AA884 ($6.10 in chips)
Seat 4 - CLOVERGECKO1 ($19.85 in chips)
Seat 5 - CANDY LICKER ($11 in chips)
Seat 6 - FATMIKE ($18.45 in chips)
Seat 7 - TAXI ($13.35 in chips)
Seat 8 - KPCHESS ($14.96 in chips)
Seat 9 - FISHN4CHIPS7 ($9.40 in chips)
ATSELAT - Posts small blind $0.05
AA884 - Posts big blind $0.10
*** POCKET CARDS ***
Dealt to CANDY LICKER [Jd Jc]
CLOVERGECKO1 - Calls $0.10
CANDY LICKER - Raises $0.40 to $0.40
FATMIKE - Folds
TAXI - Folds
KPCHESS - Calls $0.40
FISHN4CHIPS7 - Folds
TIMEBANDIT - Calls $0.40
ATSELAT - Folds
AA884 - Folds
CLOVERGECKO1 - Calls $0.30
*** FLOP *** [2c 5d 4d]
CLOVERGECKO1 - Bets $0.30
CANDY LICKER - Raises $1.70 to $1.70
KPCHESS - Calls $1.70
TIMEBANDIT - Raises $4 to $4
CLOVERGECKO1 - Folds
CANDY LICKER - All-In(Raise) $8.90 to $10.60
KPCHESS - Calls $8.90
TIMEBANDIT - All-In $5.60
*** TURN *** [2c 5d 4d] [2d]
*** RIVER *** [2c 5d 4d 2d] [Ad]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TIMEBANDIT - Shows [4h 5s] (Two Pair, fives and fours)
CANDY LICKER - Shows [Jd Jc] (Flush, ace high)
KPCHESS - Shows [10d 9d] (Flush, ace high)
CANDY LICKER Collects $1.91 from side pot-1
CANDY LICKER Collects $29.34 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total Pot($32.85:$30.85,$2) | Rake ($1.60:$1.51,$0.09)
Board [2c 5d 4d 2d Ad]
Seat 1: TIMEBANDIT (dealer) HI:
Seat 2: ATSELAT (small blind)
Seat 3: AA884 (big blind)
Seat 4: CLOVERGECKO1 HI:
Seat 5: CANDY LICKER collected Total ($31.25) All-In HI $31.25)
Seat 6: FATMIKE
Seat 7: TAXI
Seat 8: KPCHESS HI:
Seat 9: FISHN4CHIPS7
##################################################

Why were you mad that he raised you?

As far as the play, it was a good one, you were higher than the board...

BUT

You didnt raise enough pre-flop and you let two moderate hands into a game that could beat you.... 4 5 was right in raising you hard with 2 pair and the possible flush draw out there...

I know some will limp in cheap with 45 suited, not sure what he was doing with 4 5 offsuit, but anyway....


Don't get mad at raises, interpret them and react.

You did get very lucky though dodged the two pair, dodged the flush on the turn, and beat it all out with a bigger flush on the river. KPCHESS called you with only a draw, so I dont feel bad for them....

Never let emotion get the better in any situation.

This time you were just plain lucky.

If it had been the other way round you would have been complaining about the Donk getting lucky.

Just chill and make controlled moves

You should NEVER let your emotions dictate how you play a hand. As it was played though, I agree with OneMoreBust's analysis.

At micro limits, if you want to isolate a hand, you need to make a bigger preflop raise. I mean, really, what's $0.30 more? Not a lot. Even though in theory they still should have folded.

I'm also wondering why you were MAD that he RAISED??? I'm confused about that one. With the hand you had and a board like that I would have been happy! (Even though they had gotten lucky and spike two pair on the flop, but you couldn't think they'd have 4/5.) The good news is, your luck outlasted his in the end.

Bottom line is, you need to learn how to control your emotions. When you're playing differently because you're angry, it's time to take a break.

I think you can be fairly sure you're beaten when TIMEBANDIT re-raises a bet and a raise, unless he's a super-aggressive maniac. You have to learn to lay down an overpair... OK you'll have lost $2 here but you can make it back on another hand. It might be different if you've isolated a single opponent, but you're up against 3. For a normal table your play is fine pre-flop, unless the table's really loose (which it probably is at these limits).

I intend to make a quite rambly post about this in a while, so I'll be brief.

Your problem appears to be your ego. I don't mean this in an insulting manner, as it happens to pretty much everyone at some point or other. You get raised on the flop, 'fight or flight' kicks in, you choose 'fight' and immediately think "How dare these idiots be raising me on a nothing flop like that when I have an overpair?!". Your instinctive response is "I'll teach these idiots a lesson", and thus the silly all in results.

You need to think that actually you are (metaphorically speaking) teaching them more of a lesson by folding in a spot where you're quite clearly beat the majority of the time, but other, lesser players would not be able to lay down such a hand. In the long run this is where the profit in poker comes from, losing less and gaining more money from lesser players who, when put in the same situations would gain less and/or lose more money.

The moral of the story is, though you may see egomaniacs like Hellmuth and Matusow owning on TV a lot, in the average player's poker world there is little to no room for one's ego at the poker table.

Well said, Dorkus. And I'd like to add that most of Matusow's well-known "blowups" seem to be caused primarily by his ego. If you've watched him you know how much he loves to bluff and show bluffs. The guy gets off on it. Hellmuth is an egomaniac as well, but I think he lets it affect his game less, which is why I think he's ultimately a better player. So I agree, when you let ego interfere with your game, it's usually a bad idea.

Dorkus Malorkus said:

I intend to make a quite rambly post about this in a while, so I'll be brief.

Your problem appears to be your ego. I don't mean this in an insulting manner, as it happens to pretty much everyone at some point or other. You get raised on the flop, 'fight or flight' kicks in, you choose 'fight' and immediately think "How dare these idiots be raising me on a nothing flop like that when I have an overpair?!". Your instinctive response is "I'll teach these idiots a lesson", and thus the silly all in results.

You need to think that actually you are (metaphorically speaking) teaching them more of a lesson by folding in a spot where you're quite clearly beat the majority of the time, but other, lesser players would not be able to lay down such a hand. In the long run this is where the profit in poker comes from, losing less and gaining more money from lesser players who, when put in the same situations would gain less and/or lose more money.

The moral of the story is, though you may see egomaniacs like Hellmuth and Matusow owning on TV a lot, in the average player's poker world there is little to no room for one's ego at the poker table.

Click to expand...

*waits impatiently for article as ego play is a problem for me*