As
the flop came, I was both excited and cautious at
the same time, as it was A 3 5 with two Spades and
I didn't have the Ace of Spades. Both blinds checked
and I was faced with a tough decision, and once
again I made one the "book" would consider
incorrect. The correct play is to protect your hand
against a flush draw by betting more than the pot
to make the pot odds incorrect for a call. I checked
and the next player to my left bet $18 (with $10
in the pot). It was folded around to me, I pushed
and he called and turned over 5 3 for two pair.
As it turned out, he was the one trying to protect
his hand against the flush.
I was fortunate enough to win a large pot in a hand
where I played incorrectly. The play after the flop
could have went either way, so it wasn't terrible,
but the pre flop play was poor. If I had known that
four of my opponents would see the flop with me,
there is no way I would have limped. Of course if
I had raised, the player with 5 3 would have folded
and I would not have doubled up. So what can we
learn from this? Even when you play a hand incorrectly,
you will win sometimes, but that doesn't mean you
shouldn't try to play every hand to the best of
your ability. This goes along the same lines as
the player who wins a big pot with J 5 and starts
playing it every time he / she has it. Yes it will
win every once in a while, but overall it will lose
money, just like playing your good hands incorrectly.
For a final thought, don't judge your playing sessions
solely on results. Just because you won doesn't
mean you played well and just because you lost doesn't
mean you played poorly. Judge your play on the things
you did. Until next week, good luck at the tables.
The
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