Strange Emotional Reaction
 

I'm probably one of the most even-keel poker players I know. I don't get too high when winning and I can usually shake off losses pretty quickly. Friday nights I usually play the $3 rebuy on 'Stars, and if I bust before the money, just shrug and go on to a cash game for a few hours before bed.

Last night was different. I played well, had a great rebuy period, only making one extra rebuy (in addition to the initial one and the add-on) and was sitting with 31,000 in chips after the add-on. I had a tough run between the 1st and 2nd breaks, losing half my chips, but made some good laydowns and avoided getting pissed that I wasn't getting hands and was getting played back at every steal attempt.

Then the following hand came up and I was out. Not a bad beat at all. My opponent let me catch up and I turned the nuts only to lose to a 10-outer on the river. This should not have had the effect on me it did, but I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me. As I was looking at available cash games I realized I had a loust attitude and decided to not play anymore and watch some TIVO'd PAD.

Meh. Maybe it was just a long week and I was tired. The good news is, a good night's sleep chased away the bad attitude.

For those of you who can't avert your eyes at car crashes, the hand is below.

PokerStars Game #9172694743: Tournament #45992250, $3.00+$0.30 Hold'em No Limit - Level XI (600/1200)2752 started, 635 left - 2007/03/30 - 22:48:55 (ET)
Table '45992250 205' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Braxston (12790 in chips) is sitting out
Seat 2: darrow1 (74429 in chips)
OPR stats: ROI +21% over 372 tourneys, avg buy-in $10
Seat 3: Inesiite (20005 in chips)
Seat 4: DziaDzia81 (24337 in chips)
Seat 5: sOuKillerZ (39106 in chips)
Seat 6: BetTheLimit1 (24475 in chips)
Seat 7: KURN (26199 in chips)
Seat 8: TULU73 (22201 in chips)
Seat 9: stonecoldfvr (24853 in chips)
Braxston: posts the ante 75
darrow1: posts the ante 75
Inesiite: posts the ante 75
DziaDzia81: posts the ante 75
sOuKillerZ: posts the ante 75
BetTheLimit1: posts the ante 75
KURN: posts the ante 75
TULU73: posts the ante 75
stonecoldfvr: posts the ante 75
BetTheLimit1: posts small blind 600
KURN: posts big blind 1200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to KURN [Kh Qc]
TULU73: folds
stonecoldfvr: folds
Braxston: folds
darrow1: raises 2400 to 3600
Inesiite: folds
DziaDzia81: folds
sOuKillerZ: calls 3600
BetTheLimit1: folds
KURN: calls 2400
not folding preflop getting 4:1
*** FLOP *** [9c As Jd] Ugh, gutshot, please everybody check
KURN: checks
darrow1: checks
sOuKillerZ: checks muchas gracias
*** TURN *** [9c As Jd] [Td]
Yow!! OK. I can't imagine PFR or caller checking twice, but if they do, I doubt a free card is that dangerous for me.
KURN: checks
darrow1: bets 6000
good
sOuKillerZ: calls 6000
Wow, even better. Only one thing to do now
KURN: raises 16524 to 22524 and is all-in
darrow1: calls 16524
sOuKillerZ: folds
No pair, I think, as he turns up his set
*** RIVER *** [9c As Jd Td] [9s]
visions of going deep crushed
*** SHOW DOWN ***
KURN: shows [Kh Qc] (a straight, Ten to Ace)
darrow1: shows [Js Jh] (a full house, Jacks full of Nines)
darrow1 collected 63123 from pot

Meh. I'm over it. It just was weird that this felt worse than that 8 on the river at the Atlantis.:confused:

I know how you feel. Sometimes I get really caught up in the game and it hurts to lose a hand you think you have in the bag. But as we all know, this is poker, and eventually, this, or most likely worse, will crush your hand and your hopes for awhile. Try not to let it get you down, and glad to hear you're feeling ok about it today.

since you are a linguist, maybe you will appreciate this. I have cooped an unrelated French phrase and call the hands that kick my ass (not bad beats, but the hands (or series of hands) that mess with my head) 'la petite morte'.

Maybe my own thoughts on death are less hopeful than others and that is why my definition of this phrase is more dark than the conventional, but thinking about these types of hands this way helps me get over the unpleasantness.

As we say in Klingon "Heglu'meH' QaQ jajvam" - "Today is a good day to die"