Losing At Poker

A few weeks ago, I hit it big at Pokerstars. I turned $3 into $966, winning a 1296 person tournament. I felt as if I were on top of the poker world. Since then, I’m not sure if I’ve won a hand!

OK – that’s an overstatement. Still, the poker fortunes have decidedly turned. It’s not that I’m playing badly (I’ve really worked hard to avoid going into tilt). It’s just a really long run of bad cards – and it’s driving me a little nuts.

If there’s a way to lose, I have found it. This past weekend, playing in the same tournament, I finished 128th. Only the top 81 were getting paid. I played my Kings against another player who had 2s. Of course the third two turned on the last card.

That in and of itself isn’t unusual. Bad beats are a part of poker. It’s just I’m getting ‘bad beat’ all the time.

Last night, with a King, Queen in my hand, I watched 2 more Kings come up. I bet them hard, all the way to the end, only to see my competition turn over King, Ace.

Helaine has hit the same rut too! She just told me about her loss this evening, playing Kings against a lower pair and losing when her opponent made trips on the river.

It can’t last forever. Well, actually, it can. It shouldn’t – but it can.

Rather than squander my money away, I have moved down in stakes, hoping to gain some advantage by playing less savvy opponents. Still, we’ve given back a few hundred dollars of our winnings.

Right now it’s frustrating.

Oh – one more poker note before I go. Last night, one of our reporters interviewed the winner of the 2004 World Series of Poker. Greg Raymer. Though he’s physically built like a poker player (don’t ask, but think about all that sitting), he seems a sharp contrast to last year’s big winner Chris Moneymaker. Raymer is an attorney from nearby Stonington. He’s well spoken and seems well liked. And, he plays at Pokerstars and Foxwoods Casino – the two main places I play… just for a whole lot more money.

3 thoughts on “Losing At Poker”

  1. Hey Geoff,

    I know how you feel. I will get on a good run and build up my winnings by playing well, then suddenly the storm hits! I get beaten by worse cards time and time again, usually against people who had no business playing the hand. Instead of going on tilt I will tighten my play even more, to no avail. I know this might be an absurd thought, but, do you think there might be something in the computer program that tends to even things out? This pattern seems to happen with more regularity than one would think random.

    Have you noticed this? Just wondering your thoughts. Good luck out there.

    Dave

    a.k.a ctlawndude

  2. Wow… learn something new every day. My local weather guy is a Linux geek who reads slashdot and plays poker online! Currently, I play on Stars and Party. I’ll keep an eye out for you in the future.

    You appear to be doing pretty well despite the recent beats you’ve taken. The speed at which hands are dealt online can sometimes lure you into thinking your luck is worse than it really is, but some nights I have a hard time convincing myself of that.

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