How we remember poker hands
December 11th, 2009 -- Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »I played a hand against a good player a while ago and this is how he posted about it and my comments.
Our memories of the hand differ. He lists the rag as a 6, and I list it as a 9. I have a bit more confidence in my memory since I was logging hands within minutes at the table after they occurred, whereas I’m not so sure when he logged this hand.
He was thinking about the actual play of the hand more than I was. It might be that he didn’t think too much during the hand either, but I distinctly remember wondering if he had KQ and as I thought the answer was no, I bet. I really didn’t put him on a specific hand at any point, but I was worried about an under full house with 99 or possibly QQ, and certainly thought AA/AK was a possibility.
His perspective on my play is interesting. He seems to indicate that I was underbetting the pot by a fair amount. In general, this was my strategy. I wanted to make two kinds of bets, underbets and overbets. Most of my bets would be underbets, and my overbets would be reserved for very strong hands or very strong draws. This was a medium-strong hand and a very strong draw, so I didn’t really care if I was giving him odds. If I’m ahead or behind, I’m happy if he calls, and happy if he pushes back.
He asked me my name after he busted, but forgot it soon afterward. Not that I’m bitter. In a lot of ways, I prefer to be anonymous, but it does illustrate that memory is fallible, and egos love stroking. It was a hard hand for AK no draw to play. With 100/200 blinds, our stacks are 50 BB deep. It’s hard to see what he can do to get away from the hand. But given the way I played it, it’s hard to see how it can be right to get away from it.
Never underestimate your opponent. Not only did he not know who I was, but I did not know who he was. I had some idea that he had been on TV since I saw him on a monitor in the Lifestyles show. So even when you don’t really know what you are up against, it’s important to still play as if your opponent has a clue. I think we both did pretty good in that regard. In the end it was a pivotal hand for both of us, and does a lot to account for both of our final results.