There’s a scenario that happens surprisingly often in online single-table tournaments which used to bother me but since I have found it can set the table for a profitable session I‘ve come to enjoy it.
Here’s the scenario. Early in the tournament 2 or 3 players end up with lots of chips in the pot, raise before the flop, healthy betting after the flop, turn and river. At the showdown you find out that 1 or 2 players had legitimate hands and 1 donkey was on a wing and a prayer, significantly behind until he hit a runner-runner 3 outer to win the hand.
When I first started playing online I found this scenario and the donkey frustrating and annoying even when I wasn’t in the pot. Now I have sort of come to expect to see that kind of play every now and again and actually have found it can be quite helpful as long as I wasn’t the player who got burned. Here’s why.
When that kind of scenario plays out here’s some of what happens.
1) A bad player has a lot of chips.
2) He took them from a player(s) who appears to be at least decent.
3) Who would you rather battle, a guy who has chips because he plays well or a guy who has chips because he got lucky and is clearly a donkey?
4) Much of the attention of the table is on the player(s) who took the bad beat and the donkey who laid the beating. Sounds like you’re under the radar doesn’t it? Since your objective is to win the tournament not to be the center of attention, that’s probably a good thing.
5) You’ve got at least one decent player who might be fuming, most people don’t make their best decisions after taking a bad beat. Don’t get me wrong, some people recover alright but I still think this can tilt things in your favor a little.
When I face this scenario I tighten my game, pick my spots a little more carefully and push a little harder when feeling good about a hand. So far that strategy has worked out alright and I save myself the aggravation of being annoyed by how some people play.
Qualify for the WSOP at PokerStars.com. Sign up now!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
2 comments:
Of course there was this time that you got a little heated over a donkey (check middle of post). But it happens to the best of us. lol
Very good point and an excellent reminder that I (like most people) can get steamed over playing with donkeys. I do know that the times I haven't let it get to me and I have employed the approach in this blog post I have managed to fair much better when the situation arises. It's a part of my game I have to keep working on. Donkeys beware!
Post a Comment