In grade school we had a box on the teacher’s desk that we’d drop our cheap valentines in. We always sent one to all the kids in the class but picked out the ‘best ones’ for those we liked best.
We boys would compare the messages. Did the girl ‘like them’; did they want her too? Of course the girls at the time were about 12 years ahead of us emotionally and intellectually. They certainly had superior reads and all the cards.
At the tables, unrequited love takes the form of overbetting. This happens at limit and no limit. The no limit form can be nastier on our bankroll but I’ve been playing limit of late and see it happen. In limit it is just as nasty. Good limit play is often grinding. The big blind per hour figure can and does frequently get crushed at the tables I sit at.
You have a lot more info to review at the stud tables. Included in that is viewing the obviously exposed pairs. Some stud hands are more concealed than others. In Hold’em we’re seldom holding the total nuts. It is great when our opponent is raising with a strong hand that’s drawing dead but the frequency of the occurrence is small. In Omaha8, its the same story and you can throw in the deadly quartering that happens in the high-low games where people then do their betting to even more costly loss.
A prime example of this is Linda’s simple hand history described here. I pointed it out in an extra weekend blog. It happened early in the round and she folded the hand that would have split the pot. The two players that remained went to war going beyond capping because of the heads up nature. Neither had the nuts but both represented while looking at a board that could lead to disaster on the next card for either. The loser had a mountain of big blinds to make up to just get back to even. That isn’t a scenario for great success.
The thread mentioned above has a post that talks of optimism. On a job interview or among friends it is a great trait to display. On a poker table it leads to downfalls. There are a host of flawed moves we will make. We misread our hand or the table. We misclick on buttons. Self-inflicted wounds happen. But that class is rarer and being an optimist is more constant.
A common comment is along the lines of: I had my A-game going. For some that may equate to being a card rack or sucking out with regularity. For winning players it means introducing and maintaining a pessimistic view. You avoid going to war with that great but 3rd, 4th or 5th nut. You work to keep the pot small while maintaining some potential. And if the table denies you that option, it isn’t wrong to look for a better situation down the road. You may win a smaller pot but you’ll also lose smaller pots. You can say,