Maudie at PokerWorks

There’re some very strange cosmic shenanigans going on that have me more than just scratching my head and wondering if these guys aren’t somehow channeling my experiences or visa-versa.

G-Rob’s post says just about everything I was about to ponder on in this post. But he’s saved me the trouble.

And Bad-Blood’s Wednesday’s post last week regarding his sense of failure - well, that echoed my own experiences, too.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been pondering a particular aspect of my game only to tune in to those G-Vegas boys and read about that very problem or experience.

You guys got a tail on me or something???

So, read G-Rob, then come back here for a donkey’s tale….

You back? OK -

After experiencing the longest run of successful sessions at the live tables to date, I managed to set myself back nearly to square one over the course of only two Friday night disasters at the Riverwind.

Boredom was partly responsible, but frustration cinched the deal and nudged me a step or two back into Tilt Land.

Friday, it all started with the Hammer. I was close to getting unstuck from being down two buy-ins when I was dealt my first big pocket pair of the night - queens.

The 9-seat raised, I re-raised, he called and then called “all-in in the dark” before the flop hit the table. I waited to see the flop, but didn’t stop to think when I saw a king.

I couldn’t call. Hind-sight has been torturing me - if he’d had aces or kings, why would he call then push in the dark? That didn’t make sense… but then later, after playing with this guy, very little made sense about his style of play. But, he hadn’t been at the table long enough for me to know that.

Which is another reason I folded my queens - I had no read on him. He flipped over the hammer and said, with a hint of an Hispanic accent, “That’s my favorite hand. I get seven-deuce I always go all-in.”

I congratulated him on the hand while my ire rose a little. It was that hand and the resulting tilt that caused me to walk away from the table, after eight hours of play, empty handed.

With over $300 in front of me, pockets queens once again came my way. I was in the small blind and after three or four limpers, I raised to eleven straight. Everyone demonstrated a considerable lack of respect by calling.

The flop was J-6-2, rainbow. I bet out $25. One by one the callers folded until the guy two to my right. He was a young gun, very talkative, very knowledgeable so I had a good idea of his game. He raised to $75.

My instant reaction was that he had two pair. Then I began to think about it. But not in the way a good player would have. My thoughts went along the line of “goddammit, I’m not going to get pushed off my queens again!”

I pushed all-in.

Then he thought for a long while. I then thought, maybe he’d just hit top pair. If he had a set, it would have been an insta-call most assuredly. I looked at the pot and calculated I’d be better than even and could go home. Big mistake. Isn’t there some superstition about counting the pot before it’s yours? Or is that chickens?

He called then said “You have a set?” I knew I was beat even before the turn and the river appeared. He’d called my pre-flop raise with J-6 off. Not such a donkey call as you might think, having been in late position and two to three callers in front of him juicing the pot.

I congratulated him on the hand, then left. Pissed. Pissed at myself for being the donkey. Pissed at myself for not leaving earlier when I was down, but still enjoying the game. I stayed out of some mis-guided notion I had something to prove. I stayed because I let someone tilt me into to the danger zone.

So, with that sour experience under my belt, I’ve banned myself from the casino until I feel I can walk in there and play the good game I know I can play. Right now, if I attempted it, I’d be playing scared, if not pissed. A certain recipe for disaster.

So, that’s Maudie’s donkey tale. Hee haw, ya’ll. Let that be a lesson to you!

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.