Poker Therapy

I've mentioned recently how I've re-discovered the fun of online poker, and with what limited free time I have, I can usually be found playing single-table sit-n-go's over on Poker Stars. Unfortunately, the downside of it is that the speed of online poker is sooo much faster than a traditional poker room, and you play so many more hands. Couple that with human nature's predisposition to remember bad beats ("Few players recall big pots they have won -- strange as it seems -- but every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career." Seems true to me, 'cause walking in here I can hardly remember how I built my bankroll, but I can't stop thinking how I lost it...), it just seems like they happen way too much. And that's why people get so frustrated playing online poker.

I know I've sworn at my monitor a few times lately, and running into suck-outs four tournaments in a row will test your patience to no end. I mean seriously, if you flop four Kings, but somebody else catches runner-runner Aces to beat you, it just may not be your day. Or playing pocket Sevens three times in a row and running into pocket Aces each time, pretty soon it's going to get to you. The most common frustration seems to be raising with pocket Queens before the flop, and having Ace-King-Rag make an appearance, which is followed closely by flopping top two pair but some jackass making a straight on the river after you've gone all-in. I couldn't even begin to count all the times I've been beaten with 3-outers since opening my account on Poker Stars. I've never taken such bad beats in real life, but then again, I'm usually playing higher stakes while sitting in an actual card room.

I just have to take a deep breath, count to ten, and remind myself that even though I got busted out to the tune of $6300 by some jerkoff with King-Seven offsuit, my actual investment in the tournament was less than $15. But still--what do you do?

I think I found the answer. Back in the old days of Party Poker, I never played anything less than $5/$10 cash games online--I never even considered 'micro-limits'. But Sticky showed me the 2-cent/4-cent tables on Poker Stars, and I swear, for a dollar, you'll get not only an hour's worth of great entertainment, you can play raggy cards that everyone else always seems to suck out with and suffer no damage to your bankroll.

It's even more fun if you've got a friend at the table and you're using Yahoo Voice Chat to collude yuck it up while calling raises with junk cards. It's amazing how much fun it is to lay the occasional bad beat on somebody who had good cards that turned to shiat on the River. And even if you don't make your draw, it only costs you about twelve cents. Occasionally, however, you get to see bad beats happen for you, not to you. And that's very therapeutic.

And after an hour or so of that, the desire to play crappy cards will lose it's appeal, things will even out, and you'll again be reminded why you don't call the blinds with King-Ten (because low-limit players absolutely refuse to fold an Ace, and will call you all the way to the river...). So you'll go back to your no-limit tournaments refreshed, rehabilitated, and ready to pound on limpers who play junk.

I guess I've discovered that for me, that the best way to get over a bad beat is to go lay one on somebody else. At four cents a call, that's cheap medicine. At least that's the way I see it.

Mikey