Thursday, July 14, 2005
Playing Flush Draws in No Limit Holdem
First of all, I'm no expert. So I probably play hands wrong all the time, and this was probably another time, but I'm going to talk about it here anyway. I was playing no limit holdem at Full Tilt Poker today. I'm in a $20 pot with a guy, and on the flop, he gets a pair of 10's with a King kicker. (He's holding K10. Flop is 10 -8 -5.) The 8 and the 5 are both spades, and I have the A3 of spades in my hand. So he bets $20 to me on the flop, and I go all-in for $160.
I generally play my flush draws very aggressively when I'm playing no limit holdem. That's just me though. I guess I figure that I've got a 1 in 3 chance of hitting my flush, but my chances of him folding are extremely good with a big bet like that, so if it's not a positive expectation bet, it's probably pretty close. Maybe I'm wrong--I haven't done the math on it. There are a lot of factors. I'll say this though--if I've got top pair, and a king kicker, and someone goes all-in on me, I'm folding. Heck--you might have an A10 or even 1010, for 3 of a kind.
So this guy gets mad at me because I make my flush on the river. Calls me a "f-ing idiot". Here's what I don't understand--if it's such a dumb play, why is he mad? I mean, don't you WANT your opponents making bad moves? Even if they accidentally suck out and win? I mean hell, if you really think that's such an awful play, why wouldn't you say "nh" and then immediately rebuy, and add me to your buddy list along with a big note saying "FISH"?
I'm not so interested in whether or not I played the hand correctly. I was just farting around more than anything today. But I AM fascinated by people who lose to what they consider a bad beat, but then refuse to play with you anymore. I think what's really going on in this situation is the guy was playing way above his bankroll, and he COULDN'T afford the swings that go along with playing no limit holdem.
I generally play my flush draws very aggressively when I'm playing no limit holdem. That's just me though. I guess I figure that I've got a 1 in 3 chance of hitting my flush, but my chances of him folding are extremely good with a big bet like that, so if it's not a positive expectation bet, it's probably pretty close. Maybe I'm wrong--I haven't done the math on it. There are a lot of factors. I'll say this though--if I've got top pair, and a king kicker, and someone goes all-in on me, I'm folding. Heck--you might have an A10 or even 1010, for 3 of a kind.
So this guy gets mad at me because I make my flush on the river. Calls me a "f-ing idiot". Here's what I don't understand--if it's such a dumb play, why is he mad? I mean, don't you WANT your opponents making bad moves? Even if they accidentally suck out and win? I mean hell, if you really think that's such an awful play, why wouldn't you say "nh" and then immediately rebuy, and add me to your buddy list along with a big note saying "FISH"?
I'm not so interested in whether or not I played the hand correctly. I was just farting around more than anything today. But I AM fascinated by people who lose to what they consider a bad beat, but then refuse to play with you anymore. I think what's really going on in this situation is the guy was playing way above his bankroll, and he COULDN'T afford the swings that go along with playing no limit holdem.
Playing Flush Draws in No Limit Holdem posted by Randy Ray @ Thursday, July 14, 2005 
