poker ghost key
Author: J. Scott Miller
“Oh My God, what just happened? TILT!”
Ok, the other day I was on the Big Blind, and had K-4 of spades. Not the best hand in the world, but there were 5 players in the hand, and no one raised. The flop came a-k-4, none suited. I bet a decent amount, since I flopped 2 pair, and everyone folded except one jackass. I then bet on 4th street, since no other cards came that looked dangerous to me. I figured him for an ace-queen at best. Then he went all-in on the river, and I called. He had A-K the entire time, just sitting there calling my bets. Wow, was I pissed. He played it well, what can I say? But I was still pissed!
Now this is the time you don’t want to reload and go “tilt o’ whirl” on everyone. “Tilt,” if you don’t know this, is when someone loses a hand “THEY KNOW THEY SHOULD HAVE WON,” but didn’t. It may have come by way of a river card, or someone calling your A-A with 3-3, and catching a 3 on the flop. Then blowing you and your aces out of the water!
Losing a hand you are sure you should have won can ruin a player’s psyche. Yes, there is such a thing. Confidence, with good cards, are a volatile combination, mixed with a decent player’s abilities to boot. But when you have all three combined and lose a hand, you get this “thing” in your head. It’s sort of like pouring gas on an already raging fire. That is when amateur players can go “nutty” and begin raising like hell because they are mad they lost “that last great hand.” Well, once you begin doing such a thing, there are skilled players out there who are waiting for you to do this so they can pounce on you. They may only have an ace with a small kicker, but they can smell blood and an emotionally inept player chasing a ghost.
That ghost I am referring to was the previous hand. You have to be able to shake it off and continue on. Being “online” with other players gives you the opportunity to “sit out” a hand or two to gather your emotions (if you need to). Playing emotionally is not a good thing at all. Yes, you get mad when you lose that “prefect hand” to someone chasing a flush and catches it on the river. But you have to know that this same player, in the end, will lose playing like this.
Everyone loses a hand now and that they know they should have won. You can play it perfectly, bet it well, and yet still lose the hand. The thing that sucks is that there are more bad players online these days then good players. That is only a good thing if “YOU” are one of the skilled players that play online looking for these goats. But if you are an average player, maybe even still learning the game, watch out for the chasers, and be very careful of getting caught up in your emotions when losing a great hand.
So take your medicine. Take a “chill pill” after that loss, but don’t jump back in all out of control. Being in control of your emotions is a key factor to winning.
About the Author:
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Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Chronicles of an Online Poker Player – Part Six
The Legend of Loftus Hall: an Irish ghost story
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