I am an A$$hole
Friday, October 27, 2006
Yep. It's true. My poker play of late would easily have me labeled as such. Last night in the RiverChasers tournament, I channeled the old Jordan and used Gus Hanson like hand selection to confuse my opponents and get paid off when I hit big (like KT on the KT2 flop against AK, or T8 on the T85 flop against QQ). It isn't luckboxing, really. It's just playing a loose preflop game in the hopes of hitting or at least successfully bluffing post-flop. The amount of action I give induces the action I get when I flop top set with QQ and my opponent has middle pair.
But that is not the only way that I'm an asshole. I also acted like an asshole during the last WWdn, in which I placed 3rd. I never mean to be an asshole, and this situation was the perfect example. I was one of the big stacks, and a player on my immediate right, Decker, doubled through me when I made a stupid play with middle-pair to his top-pair. I knew I was dead in the water too, but I still made the stupid play.
Decker decided to be cute and offered a hardy, "Thanks" in the chat box. Now, I'm not against a lil smack talk, so I decided to shoot some back at him, mostly for the hell of it. I wasn't too pissed, but if he was going to sling it, I'll throw some back. "No problem. Just make sure to return it with interest."
This is where it got interesting. It was a clever table quip I threw out, and he responded, "That's funny." It's a nice compliment, and I let it sit there for a bit, but I also saw another opportunity to be a wiseass. "I wasn't kidding." I deadpanned. As it sat in the air, I essentially realized that I declared war on Decker. I had publicly stated my intention to get all of my chips back, so why not put it out there. "I'm taking my chips back."
And the great part was, I did. With each folded blind, I'd add "That's a start" or "A little more." It wasn't incessant, but if I were him and someone just called me out like that, I'd be semi-worried. It is mostly about saving face, on both of our ends, really. If I let him take the rest of my stack (or even a blind), I'd look like an uber chump. Once I felt that he was feeling that pressure too, I turned it on, making more moves merely because he was in the pot. And as I said, it worked. I took back every last chip.
Sorry, Decker. It was nothing personal. I wasn't even really annoyed in the least from your statements. It was just a game within a game, similar to how a last longer bet can beget better play. When I had a stated goal, fleecing you of your stack, I had an extra reason to pay attention - pride. So, yeah, I may've been a bit of an asshole. But that's poker, I guess.
Would I do it again? Hell yeah. I didn't even really mean to do it in the first place. But sometimes, these things just fall into place. Someone beats you and you focus in on them. You make a bad play and you decide to play better. Someone says something harmless and it opens a door for you to dominate that player mentally. That's what I did, really. I dominated him mentally, and from there dominated him in the game.
If there is one thing that really gets me excited about poker, it is this psychological aspect. You can play a great game with shit cards if you can get inside of their heads. Sometimes, while you are in there, go ahead and rearrange the furnitute. Mess with them a bit and mold them to where you want them to be. Hell, if it weren't a part of poker, we'd all just be playing with bots.
Until next time, make mine poker!
posted by Jordan @ 5:59 PM,
3 Comments:
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At 10:50 PM,
DuggleBogey said...
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I hate it when douchebags say "thanks" after dragging a pot and nobody said "nice hand."
It's not enough for them to win a pot, they have to be a jerk too. They've got you down from taking your chips, so while you're down they decide to give you a little kick too.
I'm glad you kicked back. -
At 10:00 AM,
said...
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He brought it on himself. Good job backing up your reply, man.
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At 10:17 AM,
Pokerwolf said...
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The worst thing anyone can do is act like a jackass at a poker table.
Decker learned that the hard way.
Awesome job, bro. Don't bother apologizing. He earned it.
