The two hardest things to handle in life are failure and success.
That especially applies in poker.
If you are able to manage your highest win and hardest loss, you'll be one step ahead.
They may steal my money, but they can't take away my happiness
Yesterday's poker session was quite a wild ride.
I started like a boss. Pair of Asses on the Flop having two more players in the game. I raised a bit more than half of the pot and one of them called.
Then I got a third As on the River and just hoped that nobody would notice my inner reaction.
My heart was pumping.
I raised again, a bit more aggressive than I did before since I somehow felt he wanted to see my cards anyways.
He called.
I threw my cards in the middle of the table, smiled and listened to a long and extended chorus of "Nice haaaand".
My tripled stack | Peak momentum
That "nice hand" was my very first one and just almost tripled my stack.
I came to know that the players who were sitting at my table at that point of time were quite weak which was definitely a plus. There was only one Asian guy sitting to my left who played tight like me and did well.
When I had the opportunity to change seats I did that in order to have him to my right.
What is the coolest way of demonstrating understatement at the poker table? I'll tell you what it is ;-)
It's winning a big pot with a really smart move and then revealing that you actually don't know some basic rules of the game.
It so happened right after changing my seat. My new neighbour to the right asked me: "You wanna chop?"
Pardon?
The dealer explained the term to me and I appreciated that with a short 'Cool' and then informed my neighbour that I didn't want to chop but play the hand.
I heard one of the other players thinking out loud and saying "This is starting to be comical".
I kind of agreed but didn't say a word and just smiled innerly.
Unfortunately, after a while the game changed.
Too bad that I didn't follow my instinct at that point of time.
A totally drunk guy sat down to my right, occupying the seat of that Asian guy who had left. The moment he joined the table I knew that fun was over.
He was was that typical drunken poser, making noise whenever he could just to be in the center of attention.
His friends were sitting at the table next to us so whenever he wasn't in the hand he jumped over to their place.
It was really annoying.
I knew he would try to flirt with me after a while. So he did.
I completely ignored his attempts, just telling him that I wasn't into that type of conversation.
Unconsciously the situation affected my game in a negative sense. It got harder to concentrate myself, even though I actually didn't respond to my neighbor's behavior and monologue.
I remember that I consciously thought that it might be a good idea to just take the money and finish the session as a winner.
Then something that is very typical in poker (and other cash games) happened.
I made a decision based on emotions.
You win and believe that you can just repeat that again for the simple reason that it makes you feel great.
I stayed at the table and regretted later on.
Another two strong players sat down to my left and right (one of them replacing the drunk guy). There weren't any other seats so I couldn't change my position.
I was in the middle of the two best players at the table and definitely felt uncomfortable.
However, I still didn't stop playing.
Stupidity must be paid hard to become an appreciable lesson :-)
It happened what needed to happen. I got All-In two times being extraordinarily unlucky. Both times my competitor hit the winning hand on the River beating my pair of Kings vs. pair of Queens with a low three of something.
Only one hour after my lucky strike my whole buy in of $300 was gone including a heavy downswing of $450.
Outch! That hurts.
But you know what? The pain didn't last too long. I went to one of the high classy restaurants in the casino, had a nice and delicious dinner and a glass of wine.
Shoooot! :-)
That Filet Mignon of an Angus Black (picture above) was probably the very best filet I've ever tasted in my life.
I enjoyed every single bite and thought: "Life is still not too bad."
Dealing with failure required a lot of mental strength.
I could have walked to my room crying my eyes off, but I simply didn't want to. I took a deep breath, decided to close that unlucky chapter and go ahead.
One of the things poker teaches you for life is to constantly manage extreme ups and heavy downs.
This time the lesson learned was quite expensive.
I'll be back next year, Vegas!
Hugs & kisses from JFK airport ( stopover),
Marly -