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I don’t think it’s a bluff. You are stuck with a single pair, and he has lots of possible hands that beat you.
Sometimes you need to hang in and take the loss. In a tournament there is some wisdom for waiting until the proper time, but I find that this is only a way to stay in the hunt, not a way to win the tournament or make the money. I probably would have called looking to win it all.
Given the above, did you have a read on the other player? What about betting patterns? I have called off on a hunch that it was a bluff and won.
I was one time the first out of a big tournament. All in on the first hand holding top set when my opponent backed into a straight. I had the best hand when all in, but lost on the river. Boy, I hate the river! <hehehehehe>
Thought about this a little more. And there is one other thing that could come into effect. What is the possible chance you will get called. If you don’t think you will get called, no matter what, a check is fine too.
Given the variance of the game there is probably two things going on. 1) You are only remembering those bad beats, not all the times your opponent did not fill up or such and you won the hand. 2) You are not reading the situation properly.
For #2 – you are probably not reading the board and your hand properly. No disrespect intended for your game. What do you block? Where does your hand sit with respect possible betting hands from your opponent. From what you say above, you had a set, he had one pair. There was no straight available, so a set should be good. Sometimes you should just toss the chips in win or lose. Unless he was betting so strong I thought he had a set of kings, that is betting time for me.
Monsters under the bed is a real thing. Happened to me a few years ago because I did not want to lose my stack. I made a lot of bad decisions then. Be prepared to put the chips in and lose. Take your time too. Think about what could beat you: straight, flush, higher set? Then act.
Hope this helps.
I can be bluffed. It’s easy to say because everyone has been and they should admit it. In your situation, you are in a tournament and I usually say that if I don’t know where I am in a hand I fold. You get to stay in the game and another good hand should be around the corner. In this instance, I think Luke has it right.
Pushing turn is a weaker play hear with a flush draw in my opinion.
Well, first I would set out that you are a recreational player, unless you are a professional. If you are a professional, you should play against rec players as their games tend to be softer than that of a professional.
If you can’t beat rec players, then perhaps you are just running bad right now. There is another thread about being on a down cycle and how long they can last. Bad beats are normal and part of the variance of the game. I can’t tell you how many times I had the best hand until the river!
P.S. – I can’t tell you if you are playing good or bad, or that you are doing anything wrong. Just saying my way of approaching this type of problem.
I like the idea of taking some time off to do a regular job and putting together a bankroll. You should probably have 3 months expenses in the bank, a life roll, and then your poker roll. This way you will stop for one of two reasons (should things not turn out the way you plan – like not winning). You quit when your life roll runs out, or you quit when you have lost all you poker roll. Now, if I was doing this like that, I would study everything I could. Watch every Utube video from all the vloggers. Participate in every forum. Read every book on poker you can.
Assuming you take all that information to heart, starting 1/2 NL, and slowly increasing your level as your poker roll increases you can make a living out of the profession. Remember, be professional! That means working hard at it! Grinding! Although being a professional poker player seems glamorous, its a lot of work too.
IMHO
Watch all the videos on Utube you can. Read some books, I started with Super System. Although framed based on play some years ago, it begins to focus your mind on hands and ranges. Coaching sites are a dime a dozen, find one you think matches you personallity.
I am confused. You say, “thinking about taking a few months of the tables to build a bankroll”. Does this mean you are getting a job to build a bankroll? You playing now? Hard to help you when things are unclear.
My longest cold streak ran for about 2 months. Once it broke, I had more pocket pairs I have ever seen. Ax high almost every hand, straight flush twice in one sitting. For about 2 weeks I could do nothing wrong. Remember there can be extreme swings in the probabilities, so take your time and let it run.
