Sunday, November 06, 2005

Home game hell

Once you really start to study the game of poker, you tend to play better against better players.
But you also play poorly against bad ones.
I played a home game Friday with some friends, thinking with all my new poker knowledge, I was going to clean up.
Um, no.
Now, I ran into some historically bad beats - jack-high flushes getting stomped by ace-high flushes (with a Q on the board, and with only three suits out there), straights getting beat by flushes (again, with only three out there), full houses getting beat by higher full houses, etc.
But I was the big loser of the night.
Why did I face all those bad beats? People don't know when they are supposed to fold. No, you aren't supposed to keep betting on your flush draw if I bet huge on my straight. No, you aren't supposed to stay with your two pair in the hopes you will draw a full house if I bet huge on my full house. And no, you aren't supposed to hope you hit your inside straight.
Raises? Sure, let's call with 10,5!!!
They also beat me with good hands, too, meaning it was impossible to put them on a hand. Maybe I really was playing with a bunch of Gus Hansons and I just didn't know it.
To prove it, I played on Pokerroom on Saturday night for money and totally cleaned up because they were acting more like players should play. If they raised, I could usually put them on a good hand.
Home games are fun, but they are frustrating as well.

No comments: