You Wuss

“You wuss. Hand 2, cut your hand off for betting the turn. Wusses don't bet with draws. They check. That's why they are wussy and that's why you lose to them. Think aggro-wuss and when you've got a huge draw and chips are moving and your realistic chance at that moment of taking the hand down without a showdown is zip, then betting is just macho leftover that totally disrupts your wuss factor which is what I think you need to get better at in games where opponents will actually give you more money as they try to punish you for being a wuss.”
~Tommy Angelo

The above was in response to a forum post on how a particular player should have played his hand in an overly loose-aggressive game.

This, after reading Hank’s thoughts on aggression with AK preflop, makes me want to say “hmmm”. Of course, everything in context; as is the standard answer in poker: “it depends”. LOL!

Felicia got me turned onto Tommy Angelo, and I’ll have to agree, he’s a very good writer. Not to mention funny. Funny is good. In Iggy-speak:
funny > non-funny.

Mr. Angelo basically nailed it on the head as to why I dislike tournaments:

“Tournaments and Me

I make a living at poker by choosing when to enter a game and when to leave it. These options give me the freedom to choose my state of mind, and to choose my opponents…. But when I enter a tournament, I surrender control…It’s like I am paying for a chance to win the right to play in the worst game in the room.”

Man! Talk about nailing it! I can’t get up; I can’t leave; I can’t hit and run. I’m stuck. Not to mention the whole “surrender control” thing. I’m a Dom, I can’t help it, and I don’t like not being in control. In tournaments you seat where they tell you, move when they tell you, etc, etc, ad infinitum. When they make terrible decisions, instead of being able to find a different table, or just leave, I have to stick it out; I already paid for the seat.

If you haven’t checked out his site, you should give it a read: www.tommyangelo.com

That statement “betting is just macho leftover that totally disrupts your wuss factor” really cracked me up. “Wuss factor”, LOL.

I feel like a big wuss sometimes myself. I could have taken his advice this morning. Flop a set, turn fills in a straight, but do I check? No. Pump the pot! Pump the pot! Make the wusses pay; get that extra river bet! Yes, he had the straight and waited to the river to raise. Doh! Mr. Straight was probably being the wuss himself, as the turn that gave him his straight put 2 diamonds in addition to the 2 spades on the board. He waited to the river to ensure he still had the nuts then. And there goes dominate Glenn, firing at the pot…fire, fire, fire! Why always be afraid of the nuts? Fire! Doh, doh, doh!

[Hmmm, spell check doesn’t know by “doh”…Bill Gates never watched the Simpson’s?? Come on Bill! I mean, it’s juvenile, but it’s good mindless fun. Live a little! :-D]

Speaking of “wuss factor”s, reminds me of whining…whine-factor? I’ve been doing good in some freerolls. (Yes, I just said I don’t like tournament; these are free after putting in so many raked hands :) Last night though, I’m seeing that I’m probably going to sneak into the money. 15 left, top 10 get paid, 5 shorter stacks than me. Down, down, down… I stay in 10th place almost the entire time. Down to 11. Short stack is all-in in the BB. I’m in the BB with QQ. Figuring that if we both bust, I’ll still get 11th due to having more chips. Flop: “no ace, no king” goes the Glennie-monster chant. Fire! Turn, “no ace, no king”…Ace. Check, bet, call, all-in. I’m watching the other table, as I see that the all-in short-stack show AA and take down the main pot, I see my competition’s cards show J9s…then I see the river, 3rd third spade, and the pot got to him. Doh!

As Felicia said, “you can’t complain too much, it was a freeroll, and you’ve cashed in half of them!” Which I have and she’s right, as always. I love my wife. She’s my rock. I can wuss out on a lot of things, but she keeps me strong. Just let me say “thank you, Felicia”.

I reported earlier this month that this one has been rocky, and it has. Up and down, up and down. But I’m still plugging. At one point I was almost $100 down in Draw, the one game I hardly ever lose at. I got that down to just -$29 by the end of the month. Which means since that point, I won between 60 and 70. So, cool, things are getting better. Which evened out the time that I lost my stack twice on one table; thought I had the nuts, and the other guy turns over straight flush! But then, I’ve had my share of suck-outs too. All-in with JJ preflop (what was I thinking?) and get called by AA, of course. Beautiful J on the flop, and I double through. I even typed “sorry” in the chat. He left after the next hand.

Should I have not said that? Is it considered rude? Don’t know. I’ve been there, and I was trying to commiserate. What can I say; I try to be nice. But what was he doing calling all-in before the flop…doesn’t he know that AA gets broken too? It’s better to be the one going all-in, not calling! Wuss. Hehe.

It’s a joke, son. Don’t you get it? Don’t you turn away when I’m talking to you! Foghorn-leghorn anyone? Anyone? Buhler… Buhler… is this mic on?

Why drink beer when there's caffeine?

Posted by Glenn