Texas Holdem Tip #15 - Texas Holdem Is Not Fair
Recently I was playing texas holdem and faced a situation that is not uncommon to frequent players. I was at a table with aggressive opponents. I sat on the button and had pocket aces. Several players called to me and a made a 4BB raise. All but two opponents folded.
The flop was a rainbow with 3 7 Q. I made a pot sized bet and one opponent folded while the other called. The turn brought an ace leaving the rainbow in tact. I made another pot sized bet and was called.
The river was a 5. I made another pot sized bet which would have put my opponent all in and expected a fold. The opponent called and showed 4 6 offsuit giving him a straight!
Several thoughts went through my head. How could someone risk so much with junk? He never even made an aggressive play to bluff with it. What kind of idiot would play a hand like this? Clearly texas holdem is not fair. But that is the problem and the opportunity for us.
Psychologists have found that individuals feel the pain of loss 3 times more than the pleasure of gain. If we flip a coin for $1 and you lose, you will feel 3 times worse than if you had won. If we flip again and you win, you will likely still feel bad even though you are back to even. The loss stings more than the victory lifts you. Applying this to poker, if you win and lose your “fair share”, you will likely feel bad about the losses. This is why players go on tilt after a “bad beat”.
How do we use this to improve our game? Realize that texas holdem is NOT fair. You are going to have some bad beats. Even if you play top quality high probability holdem, you will still lose a lot of hands. Fairness has NOTHING to do with texas holdem. This game is about survival. Accept this and you will make better decisions unclouded by negative emotions.
Accept all losses as just a part of the game. Use this texas holdem tip to win more money! See you at the tables …
3 years ago • 10 notes
