Playing Like A Rookie

Last night was a bad night for The Future Poker Star.

It all started at my pre-poker game ritual of shaving. It's not a superstition but more of a habit. Well I got a tiny cut but it bled like a pig. Suffering the consequences for not concentrating seemed to be the theme of the night.

I then started to walk to my local weekly game. My grand father taught me at a very young age that walking can clear your head and it's something that I utilize a lot. The relaxing stroll with the ipod is just what I needed to put the nine to five day behind me and transition into The Future Poker Star. But tonight it rained. And I mean rained. Twenty minutes later I arrived at the game with a stupid plaster on my face where I cut myself and soaking wet from the good old British weather.

The chips were collected, the drinks were bought, the hello's were said, and we sat down. The first half an hour went by without playing anything at all until I looked down at my pair of nines. To be honesty, I need to read up on how to play a mid-pair, because as soon as I saw them I thought "I have no idea how to play these". If in doubt, raise three times the blind. I know that isn't an actual saying but that's what i went with. I got action.

The two players that involved themselves were the most noticeable players on the table. The first one was raising and re-raising with absolutely nothing so far and I knew he would raise. He bet pot. It went to the player on my right who seemed to be stealing a lot of pots so far but when ever he had to turn his cards over he always seemed to have the best hands. He was aggressive with good hands so far. He too bet pot.

This was now a big pot, the biggest of the game by far. I was completely at a loss as to what to do. The sensible thing would be to sit back, relax a little, and think. I should have used the small amount of knowledge of what I had gathered from this project so far to make an informed and sensible decision. But I didn't. I called instantly as if to say that the cards in my hand were the best. An insta-call the net guys call it.

Flop came. Ace, King, Three all spades. Neither of my nines were spades. Pre-flop my hand was OK, until it got raised then re-raised. I should have let them duke it out but didn't and now my nines don't look very strong at all. They could have the flush, the possible flush, a pair of Aces, a Pair of Kings..... the list goes on, and most of the list beats me. I put in three times the blinds again which was another stupid move. The thinking was that I wanted to see if anyone had hit anything but because of the size of the pot it didn't do anything except made me look like I haven't got a clue how to play poker. Mr Loose raised the pot again and Mr Nice Hands called. I insta-called again. Stupid, stupid, stupid move. I should have been out of this hand ages ago.

The turn came: five of clubs. Mr Loose went all-in and Mr Nice Hands folded. I spent a while pretending to contemplate calling and putting my game on the line, but really I was pondering on why I played this hand so badly. Really, this is the worst play I can remember playing. I folded and Mr Loose swept up about half of my stack. I didn't even bother asking about his hand. I didn't care. He didn't beat me but I beat myself.

I got up to go to the toilet which is something I rarely do during a game. I think it shows disrespect to the table and to the game of poker as a whole to walk off while others are playing. I think it says that you don't care about hands that you aren't directly involved in. But I had to leave briefly to clear my head and to try to take in how badly I played that hand so I can let it go.

I don't think that I did let it go.

I sat down and looked at Ace King suited. A good hand, one of the best. As I was thinking how I am going to turn my game around and start the comeback here, I heard a voice confidently say "All-In". Wait a moment, it was me that was first to act. It turns out that I said it! It folded all the way around to me and I picked up the very small blinds. That is like winning the lottery when you were the only person to play that week. A lack of concentration was to blame for that.

A few hands later and I picked up king - queen suited. Again, Mr Loose raised and I was the big blind. Everyone folded to me and I had to choose to go all-in or fold. I wanted badly to double up and was thinking that I wanted to exploit him soon and punish him for making silly raises. I asked him what he had. I didn't expect him to tell me, but I wanted some clues. He said something along the lines of "call and find out". He didn't look confident. I told him I had two picture cards. He had a good poker face. He didn't react at all. Not a blink. I wanted badly to call him and thought about it for a long time. Suddenly he shrunk into his seat like a six year old getting told off. Thank you!

"I call" I said. He turned over King Six off suit. I got this Guy! The flop came and we both missed it completely. There was no flush on and no straight on. This was good news for me. It meant that I could only lose by seeing a six with the remaining two cards. The turn came and again we both missed it. Fantastic. this one is in the bag and I'm going to get back to about what I started with. I can wipe the slate clean and start over with my proper game head on. I just have to see the last card without seeing a six and I can put my awful play in the past and move on to try and take this game and prize money home with me. The flop came. Six.

I stood up and said "nice hand sir". What else was there to say? I shook hands with everyone, wished good luck to all and left. As a kick in the teeth I passed someone coming through the doors on my way out. He had turned up late and as a result his cards were folded for him. The irony is that because it was so early in the tournament it wouldn't really effect his chip stack. If only I had turned up late!

At least the rain had stopped for my walk home, even if my hair and coat was still wet from the walk here. It gave me time to ponder on the fact that I played really bad and promised myself that next time it was time to let go I would throw away my cards. The poker gods gave me one final reminder of how important it is to concentrate at all times... as I hit my face square into a lamp post! I currently have a mirror reminding me to pay attention as I see The Future Poker Star with a shaving cut, a bruise on my eye socket, and £25 out of pocket. Good night cruel world!