Pokerwiner.com → Within poker principles
As I mentioned, Carl is a reasonably good, experienced player. He should know a bad beat when he sees one. (Whether bad beats are ever really bad, is another story.) Was there really anything bad about this beat? I don’t think so. In fact, I think Dean played the hand quite well. Obviously, Carl’s primary criticism was of Dean’s reraise on the flop. Yet, as I consider the situation I have to conclude that the reraise was almost mandatory.
By putting in that extra bet Dean pressured Ann, in the big blind, to fold something which would significantly increase his chances of winning the pot if he missed his flush, but paired either of his cards (and if she didn’t fold he was now getting 2-to-1 odds on a hand that was probably less than 2-to-1 to win).
While the extra raise did not have the desired effect on the flop, it was a reasonable choice especially given the relatively large pot. Whether or not Dean thought about it in this way, however, I don’t know. He may simply have felt like playing his big flush draw aggressively.
Still, the action itself was consistent with good play. Moreover, Dean’s raise on the turn was again correct for a similar reason. If Ann held something like
Getting her out, even at the risk of being reraised by Carl, prevented her from drawing out and taking the pot away from Dean in the event that his pair of jacks was in fact good. Even if Ann had called, at that point her poker odds would have been cut to the point where, depending on her hand, her call would probably have been incorrect.(See Sklansky’s The Theory of Poker for the definitive discussion of these kinds of raises.)
My guess is that Carl failed to notice Dean’s flush draw. Since he apparently was not considering a flush draw for Dean during the hand, when he saw the hands at the showdown, he saw only the Ace and Jack. He therefore figured Dean had played wildly and got lucky. It is hard to believe he would have been so critical had he been aware of the additional outs provided by the flush draw.
By failing to process this aspect of the hand his understanding of Dean’s playing style was slightly distorted. If he later assumes Dean to be a wilder player than he actually is, he may play incorrectly against him. Once in a while I find myself in Dean’s place, accused of putting a bad beat on someone when I was drawing to outs of which the accuser simply wasn’t aware.
I believe the cause of this sort of mental lapse is often emotional, as it appeared to be for Carl For him, anxiety (or perhaps anger?) during the hand interfered with his cognition, preventing him from taking in all relevant information. Then his anger and disappointment at losing the pot again blind ed him to the flush draw which lay before him on the poker tabel.
(Incidentally, though debatable, his failure to bet out on the flop with his vulnerable pair of tens, hoping to be raised by Dean, thereby possibly knocking out Ann and Ben, is far more easily criticized than anything in Dean’s play.) There is no player who is aware of all relevant information at all times while he plays. But if emotion is interfering with your awareness while you play, you might need to consider the nature and causes of the reactions you are having.
That is, what are you feeling (anxiety..anger..humiliation..?), and why. Though the answer to the later question may ultimately be quite complex, anything you can discern may prove a useful first step toward reducing the problem.(Other essays that may offer some useful ideas in this area are those on the phenomenon of “tilt ” and “A Poker Player in Therapy.”)
"The Best Player I' ve Ever Seen " / The Hit and Run Follies / An Illusory Winner /
On Randomness, Rushes, Hot Seats, and Bad Luck Dealers
Why Learn to Beat Tougher Games? / Practicing Game Preservation
Short-Handed Play: Don’t Miss out / How I Learned Poker: Part I
How I Learned Poker : Part II