Poker (Holdem) against amateurs?

Question

I'm angry.

Just lost another f*cking tournament against what can only be described as the luckiest **** in the world. The last two hands;

(4 people left in from 10, $50 buy in, I've got $3500 left, $10000 in total on table, blinds are $200/$400)

Dealt (A,7) (suited, diamonds) big blind

two players fold, small blind raises $200, I call.

Flop (A,2,10) (2 and 10 and diamonds)

he raises $500, I call.

4th Street (7) (so I've currently got two pair, flush draw)

he raises all in ($1750) I call.

Turn them over, he's holding (2, 5) (unsuited)

River comes, (2) - marvellous. So he called in-all with a pair of two's and hit on the river.

Last round.

Dealt (K,Q) (spades)

I call in all, 1 person calls

Turn them over, he's holding (3,6) (unsuited)

Flop (Q,3,6) (no spades)

Turn (10)

River (4)

Marvellous.

What can you do against players who go all in with a *%$£ (3,6) and pair of twos?

I can't play anymore, it's making me depressed.

For the record to the person who answered "poker is about luck".

Clearly you don't play.

Poker is part luck (probably 10%, if that) and the rest is skill.

You don't simply play only the best hands (unless you have a short term low return strategy).

For decent play, somewhere between 25% and 50% of the money he wins from either bluffing or semi-bluffing.

It is not, just about luck.

Answer 1

As they say on the WPT on Hold em "it takes 5 minutes to learn the game and a lifetime to master".

Yes, it will make you go crazy watching the number of "lucky hands" get played against you.

Just make sure that you log that player in you journal for future reference in erratic play.

I hope at least you made some money off the tournament and good luck in your next tournament.

Answer 2

On the first one you should have probably re-raised preflop and definitely should have raised after the flop. He probably put you on a flush draw without the pair because you were not raising. If I think I am ahead and you are on a flush draw I am going to bet heavily into you and make you pay for that last card. In this case he was wrong but with luck he defied the odds.

Also one thing that a lot of players forget. Let's say you have AA and someone else has 33. You are an 80% favorite to win right? That means one out of five times you will lose. Although the odds are heavily in your favor you are still going to lose one out of every five times, that is a lot of bad beats over the course of thousands of hands.

I would mark those two players down and search for them everytime I got online to play. People that play the way they did WILL give you your money back over time. If you take $20 off him 5 times in a row then lose $20, then win $100, then lose $20....etc. You are not going to complain are you?

If bad beats effect you then you should not play. They are part of the game and they WILL continue to happen.

Answer 3

Everyone suffers bad beats. You have to learn to deal with it. Don't play stakes too high compared to your bankroll. Remember that if you're a better player, you will get sucked out on more than you yourself suck out, because you'll be all-in as the favorite more often. In the long run, these players will pay you off.

Also, from reading the hand history, your play indicated weakness. There's a good chance your opponent put you on just a flush draw or middle pair. Blind vs. blind you should have reraised. Then you just called his bet on the flop. You missed two opportunities to re-raise, where you probably would have taken down the pot right there. Online that betting pattern indicates a weak hand, not good enough to call an all-in. It turns out he was crushed, but it's not the worst play I've ever seen. If you don't want stuff like that to happen, don't slowplay. You got greedy, and you got burned.

Answer 4

You think that's bad, HA!

It's the final table of a multi table tournament on Ladbrokes and I'm 4th in chips when this hand came about with the guy in the chip lead.

I'm hold AK of clubs on the button and raise pre flop when the action gets to me.

The flop comes down 10 J of clubs and a red Q. I think it's Chritmas and my Birthday. I got nut straight, nut flush draw and a middle pin for royal flush.

First player checks, but the second player makes a pot sized bet. I double check my cards and make a small raise. The reason for this I was hoping they had something I was building up the pot for myself.

The action is now on the first player again and he passes. Second player looks at his cards again then proceeds to shove every one of his hips in the middle. YUM YUM

I call immediatley and we both turn our cards over. Guess what he had?

Bet you can't.

He had AQ!

I've got him by the proverbial bollocks. Or so I thought.

I didn't count on him getting runner, runner queens to make quads. How sick do you think I felt? I would have been massive chip leader with about 50% of the chips in play.

And just so you know the odds of him getting hit his quads are. It is not far off 1000/1.

Now you know what a bad beat is. Suck it up cos we will always get them in the long run.

Hope to see you on across the baize.

Answer 5

Unfortunately the people that you are playing against seem to have had their 10% luck all in one hand.

Yes, it is frustrating, and I think that playing on-line makes it more frustrating as you do not really build up any of the social aspect that a challenging game can bring.

I would suggest that you move away from the Internet play for a while and join a group of like minded people and play face to face. This should improve those vital aspects of your game that may be missing such as reading the players and enjoying yourself.

Good luck

Answer 6

I've given up on-line poker for the exact same reasons. It's a fu*cking travesty when you try and play the game properly and some idiot does cr@p like that. Going all-in with f*ck all then getting lucky, like you said with the 3,6. I still reckon there's something fishy about it. How many times does at least 1 person at the table hold a monster hand? Every time! If you play at home you'll know that this does not happen.

Answer 7

Yeah it's annoying, sometimes playing on a different site helps. It's not that the site makes much difference but different people gravitate to different sites.

The highest event I have ever played is a $500 WSOP Circuit event. Guess what, there are STILL plenty of fish! You just have to accept that some people will think they are Gus Hansen. The good news is, the math will catch up with them in the end. Good luck.

Answer 8

You have to do nothing different. It was just a case of random luck and they got lucky. You have to keep playing the percentages as more often than not you will end up winning. As I once read one act of bravery (luck) may win a battle but in the long-run it will not win the war. Whoever wins the war will have the best strategy and tactics.
Hang in there!

Answer 9

What can you do? Well, he might have been a true amateur,
which means you will take that as an advantage in the next rounds.

Also, it might be an experienced player's bluff.

More information about poker bluffing can be found at:
http://www.pokerteam.com/bluffing.html

Hope that will help you out..

Answer 10

i dont think the first guy won by luck if you were raising his bet on the flop he might have folded but you were just being a calling station so he mistook you for weak which you wer just not as weak as he thought my advice to you is if you think you have the best hand raise dont be an aidiot and just call