Being married to your hand? Can't get myself to fold

azforlife

azforlife

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I've now lost twice after being "married" to my hand.
First it was KK on a x567 board I get 3bet on the turn & I end up 4bet shoving to 89
Then today I had JJ I ran into 22 on a 2564 board, shoved on the turn like the last hand.
Both times I was in the top echelon in the rankings & would've easily cashed.
This seems so rudimentary but is becoming a real problem. I've played this game more than the average player but seem to be facing this newbie challenge of being married to my hand. I've busted out before with AA to a river shove as well, he had JJJ on the river.
Any tips on how to overcome this embarrassing repeated mistake?!
 
J

James2023

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Here something that might help.
 

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James2023

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Heres preflop odds
I've now lost twice after being "married" to my hand.
First it was KK on a x567 board I get 3bet on the turn & I end up 4bet shoving to 89
Then today I had JJ I ran into 22 on a 2564 board, shoved on the turn like the last hand.
Both times I was in the top echelon in the rankings & would've easily cashed.
This seems so rudimentary but is becoming a real problem. I've played this game more than the average player but seem to be facing this newbie challenge of being married to my hand. I've busted out before with AA to a river shove as well, he had JJJ on the river.
Any tips on how to overcome this embarrassing repeated mistake?!
With pocket kings just know who you want to call your hand. If you want better odds of winning go all in on the preflop and recognize you may lose to a ace rag or a suited hand (best odds). The moral of the story is stop letting people limp into your hands. If a donk wants to call, make him pay for it. Realise in poker the worst hand still has a 38% chance of winning on the preflop and the best hand still has 15% chances of losing. Pocket kings has a 17% chance. Your objective should be to capitalize and try to drag in as many people as you can. Go out with a bang if you fail, and drag in a massive pot you don't.
 
jordanbillie

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I've now lost twice after being "married" to my hand.
First it was KK on a x567 board I get 3bet on the turn & I end up 4bet shoving to 89
Then today I had JJ I ran into 22 on a 2564 board, shoved on the turn like the last hand.
Both times I was in the top echelon in the rankings & would've easily cashed.
This seems so rudimentary but is becoming a real problem. I've played this game more than the average player but seem to be facing this newbie challenge of being married to my hand. I've busted out before with AA to a river shove as well, he had JJJ on the river.
Any tips on how to overcome this embarrassing repeated mistake?!
One thing I really pay attention to in MTTs is my own perceived chances of getting ITM (in the money).

If I have a large enough stack, I'm not really looking to stack off in the spots you mention (they are too tricky!).

This may be too complex to get into words right now, but when your stack is large you can afford to just take the easy spots/get it in good and then play tricky poker after you are ITM. Sometimes you never HAVE to play tricky poker. ;)
 
G0930

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I've now lost twice after being "married" to my hand.
First it was KK on a x567 board I get 3bet on the turn & I end up 4bet shoving to 89
Then today I had JJ I ran into 22 on a 2564 board, shoved on the turn like the last hand.
Both times I was in the top echelon in the rankings & would've easily cashed.
This seems so rudimentary but is becoming a real problem. I've played this game more than the average player but seem to be facing this newbie challenge of being married to my hand. I've busted out before with AA to a river shove as well, he had JJJ on the river.
Any tips on how to overcome this embarrassing repeated mistake?!
I think it's better to shove your big hands preflop if it's that hard to fold them on certain boards.
almost never a good idea to risk it all on a drawy board like this.
 
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WellAA

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I've now lost twice after being "married" to my hand.
First it was KK on a x567 board I get 3bet on the turn & I end up 4bet shoving to 89
Then today I had JJ I ran into 22 on a 2564 board, shoved on the turn like the last hand.
Both times I was in the top echelon in the rankings & would've easily cashed.
This seems so rudimentary but is becoming a real problem. I've played this game more than the average player but seem to be facing this newbie challenge of being married to my hand. I've busted out before with AA to a river shove as well, he had JJJ on the river.
Any tips on how to overcome this embarrassing repeated mistake?!
yes, folding the Big boys is ratter difficult, when we don't get all-in pre-flop, near ITM, better play safe. It's another trouble of online poker, I mean in person is much easier to read the opponent.
 
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fundiver199

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Any tips on how to overcome this embarrassing repeated mistake?!
Use up all your time bank before putting the chips in. This gives the logical part of your brain time to take over from the emotional part. The emotional part of your brain analyse the situation like this:

"It cant be true, that my premium hand has been run down yet again, how can I be this unlucky? F.... this stupid game, I am not going to fold, and I dont even care, if I lose".

Whereas the logical part of your brain analyse it like this:

"This board and action suck, and I dont want to fold, but I dont see, how I can profitably continue with this hand, so I have to do it"

The best part is, that if you accidentally time out and have your hand forcefully mucked, this will lead to you making a better decision, than the emotional part of your brain wanted to make ;)
 
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plusia

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This happens to me very often. Even though I KNOW I'm losing and I should fold instead I call.
Lately I'm starting to change this habit and fold more often ;)
 
azforlife

azforlife

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Use up all your time bank before putting the chips in. This gives the logical part of your brain time to take over from the emotional part. The emotional part of your brain analyse the situation like this:

"It cant be true, that my premium hand has been run down yet again, how can I be this unlucky? F.... this stupid game, I am not going to fold, and I dont even care, if I lose".

Whereas the logical part of your brain analyse it like this:

"This board and action suck, and I dont want to fold, but I dont see, how I can profitably continue with this hand, so I have to do it"

The best part is, that if you accidentally time out and have your hand forcefully mucked, this will lead to you making a better decision, than the emotional part of your brain wanted to make ;)
Exactly! I think you hit the nail on the head with this advice! I've made my decision within a few seconds almost all times I mentioned! I'm gonna take this advice to heart & ALWAYS slow myself down in critical spots! Thanks for elaborating fundiver199
 
azforlife

azforlife

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I think it's better to shove your big hands preflop if it's that hard to fold them on certain boards.
almost never a good idea to risk it all on a drawy board like this.
Yeah I agree but I should be good enough to get some value for my premium hands with making the occasional fold when the action demands it.
 
azforlife

azforlife

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One thing I really pay attention to in MTTs is my own perceived chances of getting ITM (in the money).

If I have a large enough stack, I'm not really looking to stack off in the spots you mention (they are too tricky!).

This may be too complex to get into words right now, but when your stack is large you can afford to just take the easy spots/get it in good and then play tricky poker after you are ITM. Sometimes you never HAVE to play tricky poker. ;)
Yeah I agree! My stack was well over 40 bb each time! It makes sense to adjust my play pre & post ITM. Thanks for that nugget!
 
G0930

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Yeah I agree but I should be good enough to get some value for my premium hands with making the occasional fold when the action demands it.
In my experience it happens way more often that you don't get any value for your premium hand, cause anyone else folded 🤣
And it is tricky, bet not enough and some will call with a...creative hand, bet too much and everyone mucks.
Or course it depends on what kind of players are sitting on the table.
I often threw my whole game strategy overboard to adapt to some lunatic's play
 
Gallarado777

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I just close poker after such a loss and don't play that day because if you're already losing with these hands and you're being knocked out with small pairs, I think the next day will get even worse just because you'll be angry and lose a lot of money
 
azforlife

azforlife

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Heres preflop odds

With pocket kings just know who you want to call your hand. If you want better odds of winning go all in on the preflop and recognize you may lose to a ace rag or a suited hand (best odds). The moral of the story is stop letting people limp into your hands. If a donk wants to call, make him pay for it. Realise in poker the worst hand still has a 38% chance of winning on the preflop and the best hand still has 15% chances of losing. Pocket kings has a 17% chance. Your objective should be to capitalize and try to drag in as many people as you can. Go out with a bang if you fail, and drag in a massive pot you don't.
Hey James2023, Thanks for the advice, There's some truth to what you're saying but I made him pay. All hands mentioned were 3bet but they still managed to get there. The point I was trying to make was that despite a variety of combos getting there I still couldn't bring myself to fold with my one pair hence you being justified to post the hand charts :) I should just let my one pair hands go post flop when it's obvious I'm beat.
 
azforlife

azforlife

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In my experience it happens way more often that you don't get any value for your premium hand, cause anyone else folded 🤣
And it is tricky, bet not enough and some will call with a...creative hand, bet too much and everyone mucks.
Or course it depends on what kind of players are sitting on the table.
I often threw my whole game strategy overboard to adapt to some lunatic's play
Yeah I'm guilty of the same mistake, overadjust too much & you'll get crushed by their improved range
 
CDNMAN 42

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I've now lost twice after being "married" to my hand.
First it was KK on a x567 board I get 3bet on the turn & I end up 4bet shoving to 89
Then today I had JJ I ran into 22 on a 2564 board, shoved on the turn like the last hand.
Both times I was in the top echelon in the rankings & would've easily cashed.
This seems so rudimentary but is becoming a real problem. I've played this game more than the average player but seem to be facing this newbie challenge of being married to my hand. I've busted out before with AA to a river shove as well, he had JJJ on the river.
Any tips on how to overcome this embarrassing repeated mistake?!
Sorry don't know how to correct but if you find out PLEASE let us know because this is such a common fault especially with recreational players and low level entry fees...I do it all the time. ugh
 
AKShark

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try not to overbet with only a pair on the hand, especially on boards with potential str8 and flush or even smaller pair on board.
 
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I don’t have an answer either, maybe I need to wait for a certain period of time? The last time I played was 6 days ago, from the first hands I realized that this was some kind of set-up, I lost 2 hands with strong hands to weaker ones and at the end with A Q lost A 2, on the flop A 2 x, it's the finish....
 
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godo09

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Use up all your time bank before putting the chips in. This gives the logical part of your brain time to take over from the emotional part. The emotional part of your brain analyse the situation like this:

"It cant be true, that my premium hand has been run down yet again, how can I be this unlucky? F.... this stupid game, I am not going to fold, and I dont even care, if I lose".

Whereas the logical part of your brain analyse it like this:

"This board and action suck, and I dont want to fold, but I dont see, how I can profitably continue with this hand, so I have to do it"

The best part is, that if you accidentally time out and have your hand forcefully mucked, this will lead to you making a better decision, than the emotional part of your brain wanted to make ;)
What a piece of analysis here!! Couldn't agree more! Sometimes I get myself in the same situation and feel that do not taking enough time before making my decision on a coordinated board ends up being a huge mistake when I have a pocket Aces, Kings, Queens and so on, mainly when I know the feature of the vilan by paying attention on his/her actions on previous hands. Indeed, there are moments that we'd better be safe than sorry, mainly when we are too close to the ITM. Thanks.
 
azforlife

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Here something that might help.
Thanks James 2023. I've memorized some of them but it was really helpful to see it again! Thanks a lot for sharing! Must definitely memorize the whole list to heart!
 
dallam

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When you're in an action, the dealt cards, moves, notes will tell you what to do next. Analyse your game, and separate bad beats cause the luck, and bad beats cause your poor gameplay, and working on that. Also if you are standing great, you may not need to run enormous actions, definitely worth to give some dynamics to your game - meaning to being capable to outplay hands different, and assimilate situations flexible.

...I'm always aware for the worst, but hoping to the best. ;)
 
Igor Popadyk

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what kind of poker? what calling range do you lay to your opponent, don't get hung up on your hand
 
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You should always look at your opponent and the rank he represents, you should not just look at your hand.
 
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James2023

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I've now lost twice after being "married" to my hand.
First it was KK on a x567 board I get 3bet on the turn & I end up 4bet shoving to 89
Then today I had JJ I ran into 22 on a 2564 board, shoved on the turn like the last hand.
Both times I was in the top echelon in the rankings & would've easily cashed.
This seems so rudimentary but is becoming a real problem. I've played this game more than the average player but seem to be facing this newbie challenge of being married to my hand. I've busted out before with AA to a river shove as well, he had JJJ on the river.
Any tips on how to overcome this embarrassing repeated mistake?!
Thanks James 2023. I've memorized some of them but it was really helpful to see it again! Thanks a lot for sharing! Must definitely memorize the whole list to heart!
Anytime man, kick some ass out there!
 
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Recreationalplayer

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I've now lost twice after being "married" to my hand.
First it was KK on a x567 board I get 3bet on the turn & I end up 4bet shoving to 89
Then today I had JJ I ran into 22 on a 2564 board, shoved on the turn like the last hand.
Both times I was in the top echelon in the rankings & would've easily cashed.
This seems so rudimentary but is becoming a real problem. I've played this game more than the average player but seem to be facing this newbie challenge of being married to my hand. I've busted out before with AA to a river shove as well, he had JJJ on the river.
Any tips on how to overcome this embarrassing repeated mistake?!
AA and KK are the only hands I have a tough time folding irrespective of how bad the run out is.
 
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