I will eat tuna and I will occasionally eat salmon croquets. But, as a rule, I simply don' t like fish. It's not a far leap, then, to understanding my complete disdain and hatred for Uber-Fish in the world of poker. Bear with me now. I can already hear some folk, who are getting their jocks in a twist right about now, say-"but the fish are preciousssss, we LIKES our fishesssss.........." There is a distinct difference between yummy, juicy morsels that are so easy to swallow and taste so good going down, (metaphorically speaking.....'cause remember, I don't like fish) and the Uber-Fish that are so big they break your line, steal your hooks, and nearly capsize your boat. Not sharks. Uber-Fish.
They were schooling at Pacific Poker today. I had a complete '180' from my previous successful sessions where all I had to do was hold the pan over the water and the fish were oh so generous in their willingness to offer themselves up for the fish fry. Okay. Enough with the bad metaphor.
The point I'm attempting to make is that there are players out there who are simply impossible to play with. And it's even worse when you have a table full of them. They come in raising UTG with nothing, catch miracle cards, have no respect for your raises, catch more miracle cards, trounce your made hands with better hands hastily and clumsily crafted from trash. Yes, I'm ranting and whining, but only for a moment or two longer - there is a lesson to be learned. I played too long at the tables at Pacific with these Uber-Fish today. They defeated me, but not in the way you may think. In my bankroll, most definitely - but the worst defeat was psychologically which, ultimately, affected my ability to make good decisions and play good poker.
I took a bit more of the same beating after leaving Pacific, taking a break and then coming back to play at a $25 NL table at Party. One hand had me near tears, quite literally. I was in late-ish position, the guy to my right, first in, limps, I have pocket 55s and raised to $1.50 and get three calls. Not exactly what I'd was aiming for, but I figured the flop would tell me how far to push this and one of the callers had been the Mr. Bully for the short time I'd been at the table - I had no respect for his call. Flop was [ 3s, 6c, 7h ]. The two in front of me check, I smell weakness so I bet just under the half the pot - $3 - Mr. Bully calls the rest of the table folds. Turn is [ 8s ] - giving me now a strait draw (although I'm at the butt end of it) - I'm mildly worried that Mr. Bully could be sitting on the T-9, but I don't want to show weakness, I feel strongly that I have the best of it - mainly because he hasn't come back over the top of me, which has been his pattern up until now - even with crap.
I bet $5 and Mr. Bully raised to $10. My gut was telling me that he was bluffing, or semi bluffing. I realize now that my bet was too weak, I should have pushed all in first move on the turn. However, I still felt my 55 were good. This guy had been shamelessly stealing too many pots. I just didn't believe his hand was legitimate - so I re-raised, which didn't get me quite all-in. He re-raised and I called and was now all-in. The river was an [A] and Mr. Bully got his miracle card given him a pair of [AA] over my pair of [55]. I was just sick. That was nearly the straw. I sat there for a few minutes. I nearly left the table in a huff. But, I managed to gather myself together and decided to get back up on the horse. I knew I had to. I had to stand up to the demon of defeat and bad beats and laugh in his face. And I had to do it at this table with this Uber-Fish. I knew he'd eventually go down, if not at this table, at another one. I couldn't tuck tail and run.
I reloaded and about that same time, Mr. Pauly sat down. I perked right up, what a delight it was to have a 'pal' at the table. I had an immediate change in mood and decided to try to loosen the table up a bit with some bad blonde jokes, which went over like the proverbial lead balloon. This table was determined not to have any fun. I took another deep dive after pushing a pair of pocket JJs too far. But at least they lost to a legitimate pair of KKs. So I had to claw my way back from that debacle. At one point I opened up a $1/2 limit table and sat my twin down at it (I don't know how you guys who do this on a regular basis keep up with numerous tables) this kept me alert. And within seconds of landing there, I'm 'recognized!' Here's what went down:
habsfanca11: hey maudie which blog is yours?
Maudie_B: Wow Poker Perspectives kebzweb.com
Maudie_B: thanks for reading!
habsfanca11: appreciate the effort all of u put into them
mashashi: hey maudie - didn't see you there...
Maudie_B: It helps me stay focused
Maudie_B: howdy mash
How cool is that? Made my day - thanks guys!
I got some good cards at the limit table and made a bit of a comeback at the no-limit table. Sadly, Mr. Pauly busted out and left us. I felt bad. But, I know he'll come back. Just as I will. Which brings me to the crux of this little tale.
Today was a rough day out of a rough week. Although I came dangerously close to going on a serious tilt, I didn't. I took my beats and came back with confidence in my ever-increasing skills and kept to my game. I learned, though, that, should I land at a table with Uber-Fish, I will let someone else attempt to fillet them. There other fish in the ocean, fish to fry, minnows in the pond....take your pick. Today, I was probably somewhat fishy myself in someone else's sights. I have so much more to learn....more on that another day.
I'm going to take a break from the tables - this will be a good week to do so as it is a busy one at work. I want to clear my head and put together my observations of the past year of play - something I've had on the agenda since April - and have been duly inspired to do so now. So ya'll have a good one and I'll see you in a week's time if not sooner.
Keep those cards in the air!
