How do you react when...

I was playing in a small buy-in tournament...4 people left, the top 3 finish in the money. The first player to act raises x3 BB, i was next to act with 57. I folded.
It seems like an obvious decision. Almost everyone on this blog will agree with this, it seems like common sense. Of course, the flop comes up 643, all different suits. I would've flopped a straight, with no immediate risk of a flush.
My question is, how do you guys deal with this? When you make the right decision (since obvioisly you are gonna lose more with 75 than win), but in that scenario you would've made a huge profit? It's almost similar to going all in and catching a bad beat, but the only difference is that you need to compose yourself and keep playing.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm asking for, just people's opinions

"That's poker." Just tell myself there is still no way I'm playing that hand. It's really not a big deal nor is it a reverse bad beat. Any hand can hit the flop at any time. I consider myself privileged to have flopped 772 holding 72 because over half the table limped on my button. That sure as hell is no excuse to start playing 72 or even looking for opportunities to play it.

I think I've played it twice in the last 2 1/2 years. BUT surely would not play it in a raised pot on the tournament bubble - never played it in a tourney period (well could have possibly limped heads up at some time).

So get over thinking like a roulette junkie.

I tilt, adjust, and start to play everything.

Haha. No really, its tough, but you have to be confident in your game and know that -EV is -EV...just not a call you can make. Once you've played enough poker...just sigh...you've seen it all before. It is a lot harder when that hand is a real game changer...ie coulda won you the tournament. But stick to your game.

Blinds, your opponents, tourney situation (bubble), etc..are good reasons to change your range and open up. Tilt and flopping 346 once lol are not. trust me, I've tried...346 does not come out the next time lol

It's pure psychology here. When I play live cash games, I pretty much don't even remember what my cards were once they hit the muck. But online, I can see them throughout the hand.

Sometimes I think it's a great device by the poker sites--making you rethink the correct decisions of throwing away a bad hand.

DON'T FALL INTO THE TRAP.

Just like MediaBlitz said, "That's poker." So are bad beats. It hurts but you have to shake it off. In various training videos and in blogs, I've seen poker trainers say over and over again something like "well, if it turns out that I get coolered, well then good for the other guy. He got lucky."

Did you play your hand correctly? If the answer is yes, sigh and then move on. Learn how to do this well because if you don't, you're going to have a rough time with this game.

No guarantee that that would have been the flop (depending on site) if you had called.

Tell yourself, "well played, I just made money folding that preflop". Making a good decision is the absolute and only thing we should try and do in poker, we make money when we fold in that spot, we lose money when we call.


Another way to think of it. If we bet on the flop with a good but not great hand and we get raised and have to fold, does that mean we shouldn't have bet because he might raise? No, it was correct but now the best decision is to fold. The same goes when we fold pre-flop. Should we have called because we flopped a straight? No, it was the correct decision to fold.

I try to pay attention to how the folks still in the hand play & what they show down with. Used to be a player here that agonized over what you are talking about all the time, payed no attention to what was actually going on, usually didn't even note if the hand he folded would have held up or not. Not sure he even plays anymore, total waste of time, effort & energy.

Been there, done that, bought the tee shirt

Same thing happened to me in a MTT on Carbon today,
flopped a straight once and the next was trip kings.....

I just try to remember that folding was the correct decision and on to the next hand!!!

Remember that winning poker is about consistently making good +EV decisions based on the circumstances / what you know when you have to make them.

"Resulting" which means looking at what you could have done sub-optimally that would have led to a better outcome because of the way the cards fell, is unproductive at best, and if you start doing things you know you shouldn't because it would have gained on certain hands you remember, it becomes counter-productive or even self-destructive.

I never give it a second thought.

I like seeing it personally, because, especially when they're not consecutive cards, this should mean that for the next couple of hundred (I'm guessing) times you get 75, you'll see flops like AK2 (for uber-fish, there is a double gut-shot backdoor draw, but don't be silly) and you won't even think twice.

I can't get this out of my head so I'm just going to say it - if this is an issue for you then you are going to have a hard time keeping a clear head to play the next hand. You cannot get hung up on what could have been. Wishing you had played crap to hit that flop is the next door neighbor to wishing an A didn't hit on the river with your KK. Where does the wishing end?
I have a very easy check system when I am about to do something stupid - when it involves wishing or hoping then it is a good sign I have just abandoned playing intelligent poker and gone to just gambling - waiting on a spin of the wheel or a roll of the dice and having no control whatsoever. Oh sure, 26 black does hit now and then but it has nothing to do with my input or decisions.

individualequal said:

I like seeing it personally, because, especially when they're not consecutive cards, this should mean that for the next couple of hundred (I'm guessing) times you get 75, you'll see flops like AK2 (for uber-fish, there is a double gut-shot backdoor draw, but don't be silly) and you won't even think twice.

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How do ya figure?
Pretty sure it doesn't change the odds/chance of the same flop coming on the very next hand... or next time he's been dealt 75o

Poker Orifice said:

I never give it a second thought.

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OP, read this^^^^....Pretty much where you want your mind to be.

On the other hand, 4 left and 3 paid, you could 3 bet your 75o here perhaps..... (stacks and read dependent, as this will only be good situationally, and even then probably not but....just sayin..........)

Beat yourself around the head with a wet fish until you are unconscious, then nothing will matter.

Nah, just move on, its not what might have been that wins hands. You fold is correct, there will be a better spot, so dont sweat the small stuff.

Poker Orifice said:

How do ya figure?
Pretty sure it doesn't change the odds/chance of the same flop coming on the very next hand... or next time he's been dealt 75o

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I understand where you're coming from: each flop is dealt randomly, therefore previous flops and individual holdings are not affected by the previous hand. There are two ways of looking at it:

1. I flip a fair coin 7 times and the coin shows heads every time, the chance that it will show heads on the next flip is 50%

2. The chance of a fair coin being heads 8 times in a row is 0.390625%. Whereas 7 heads and 1 tail is more likely because there are 8 possible combinations (e.g., THHHHHHH HTHHHHHH, etc), making it a 3.125% chance.

(Thanks for the excuse to flex my Math Muscles )

James

Math versus probability - have this argument all the time with my poker bud who majored in physics at NYU. But despite the pure math I still track how long it has been since I've hit a set on the flop and still believe each time I miss brings me closer to hitting. As I tell my buddy, "It has be that way to satisfy the math gods."

MediaBLITZ said:

Math versus probability - have this argument all the time with my poker bud who majored in physics at NYU. But despite the pure math I still track how long it has been since I've hit a set on the flop and still believe each time I miss brings me closer to hitting. As I tell my buddy, "It has be that way to satisfy the math gods."

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And your buddy chuckles at you because he is right?

MediaBLITZ said:

Math versus probability - have this argument all the time with my poker bud who majored in physics at NYU. But despite the pure math I still track how long it has been since I've hit a set on the flop and still believe each time I miss brings me closer to hitting. As I tell my buddy, "It has be that way to satisfy the math gods."

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seriously?

MediaBLITZ said:

Math versus probability - have this argument all the time with my poker bud who majored in physics at NYU. But despite the pure math I still track how long it has been since I've hit a set on the flop and still believe each time I miss brings me closer to hitting. As I tell my buddy, "It has be that way to satisfy the math gods."

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I know. You hit your set roughly 1 in 7-8 times, or your flush or your OESD or your OESD/FD a certain % and so on.

So you have missed the last 15 times.... NOW I will get it. I feel this way a lot. But I try to view each situation as an entity. Do I have the correct odds, implied odds, villain reads, table dynamics etc?
I dont think about the past much anymore. I still tilt, but have improved leagues from where I used to be.

I flip the coin, and it lands on heads 123 times in a row. Do I want to give more than 1:1 on the next flip?

Do you then feel an ultimate sense of satisfaction when the turn is an A, the river is a 6 and the villain turns over A6 for a boat? Just saved yourself a fortune buddy.

fletchdad said:

I know. You hit your set roughly 1 in 7-8 times, or your flush or your OESD or your OESD/FD a certain % and so on.

So you have missed the last 15 times.... NOW I will get it. I feel this way a lot. But I try to view each situation as an entity. Do I have the correct odds, implied odds, villain reads, table dynamics etc?
I dont think about the past much anymore. I still tilt, but have improved leagues from where I used to be.

I flip the coin, and it lands on heads 123 times in a row. Do I want to give more than 1:1 on the next flip?

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I see where you're coming from. I'm not suggesting that if i don't hit a set with 22 20 times in a row that I will shove with two all ins behind me. As you assess each individual hand, like you say, its about the odds based on that hand on its own and how many cards in the pack as opposed to how many times in a row you have missed.

stg1969 said:

Do you then feel an ultimate sense of satisfaction when the turn is an A, the river is a 6 and the villain turns over A6 for a boat? Just saved yourself a fortune buddy.

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Good point. If you mourn the lost lukbox flop, you must rejoice the missed bad beat.

individualequal said:

I see where you're coming from. I'm not suggesting that if i don't hit a set with 22 20 times in a row that I will shove with two all ins behind me. As you assess each individual hand, like you say, its about the odds based on that hand on its own and how many cards in the pack as opposed to how many times in a row you have missed.

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Actually I did do that once with 77 - I announced. "Okay, I'm due to hit a set." Bang - 7 on the flop - tripled up and went on to win.

I don't do that anymore.

fletchdad said:

I flip the coin, and it lands on heads 123 times in a row. Do I want to give more than 1:1 on the next flip?

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I gonna nit pick you a little.

Until you specify a fair or honest coin i would want to take waaaaaay more than 1:1 for the next flip to be heads in that case.