Respect

Respect is the methodology and style of play I learned the most this past week. It means to show regard and importance to another person and to his actions. If you dont show it, you wont be given any. Plain and simple. I lost a fair amount of money in the last 6 days, even though I have come out positive in 2 out of 3 ring games. Basically the jist is that I got lucky in the first, got really cocky in the 2nd, and found a good middle ground in the last. I hope to continue this style of gameplay for all my next ring games.

Last night, I arrived at the ACF to reclaim my pride and the idea in my head that I am a decent and smart poker player. It took about 30 minutes before a seat opened, when a regular player busted out going for a flush. I came in and sat down in the same place last week that cost me all my money, a place I loudly exclaimed as unlucky. Mark, a regular player, looked at me and said, "its all in the mind". I definitely hope so.

The first decent hand I got was a A-7 suited. Flop paired my aces and everyone checked including me. Turn was another ace and one guy bet 100, I called and everyone else folded. River came out a number and the guy bet 200 and so did I. He had nothing, I apparently hit a Full House. I was just so cautious that I didnt think of betting or bluffing at the pot. That was a fairly good sized pot that put my stack back to my original buyin of 2K.

Next good hand I had was a Q-8 offsuit on the big blind. Flop came out Q-4-6. So I bet 200, and one guy stayed. Turn came out another Queen so I bet 300 and the guy called again. By this time I was afraid that he had a Queen as well and that his kicker would kick my ass. River was a number and I bet 400. He looked at me folded. Now traditionally, I would show my winning hands, but since he folded, I was not obliged to do so. Another thought entered my mind while I was considering showing my hole cards: People will think that I only win by getting good hands, not by bluffing. By mucking my hands, they will at least consider the possibility that maybe I just scared the guy off with my big bet. So this is the mentality that I applied the rest of the night, as well as in future games.

Next nice hand I got was an A-K. I was already happy then, but when I bet 240 at the pot, Mark, this regular (really good) player, folded his hand and said, "respect". For those not familiar with this gesture, this meant that he respected my bet because he knew that I only bet when I was confident with the capability of my hand to win. Three guys called. Flop paired my Ace so I bet 300. Everyone folded except for this chinese guy who everyone called kimchi. He was apparently a very aggressive player and will even push all in with a straight or flush draw, so naturally I was intimidated. Turn came out a number so I bet checked. Without missing a beat, he bet 400, which I was quickly called. River came out a number as well and I bet 500. He hesitated for a minute. Mark shouts to him, "donation! donation!". Kimchi smiles and says "OK" as he throws 500 in the pot. I show my hand, and he shows his A-7. For a brief 2 seconds, I said to myself, "holy crap, did he hit two-pair?". To my delight, the dealer said, "Kicker problem, sir Mike wins.". Woohoo! Kimchi looks at me and smiles wryly. That was a nice ass pot!

But the piece the piece de resistance hand was just about to come. I got pocket Jacks and bet 240 at the pot again. I have to comment that I bet reluctantly because of a very obvious reason. Pocket pairs from jacks to deuces have very little power at the table unless they hit a set (trio), which happend very rarely, exactly 1 out of 8 times. If any guy even has a K-2, and a King comes out on the board, and I dont have a set, I lose. The weird thing was, that in the moments where the dealer was about to lay down the flop, I saw in my mind that a Jack would come out. My premonitions rarely come true, but low and behold, in between a Five of clubs and an Eight of spades was the most beautiful Jack I have ever seen. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream, I wanted to hump the dealer. But alas, poker is a game of falsehood, so I cringed a little bit and bet 400. First guy folds, the guy in the middle, a heavy set man quickly picked up a couple of his chips and 1200. Third guy folds and the action is back at me. I look back at the flop and see that else he could have. He could have pocket 5s or 8s, which I would still beat. But he could have pocket Queens, Kings or Aces, that he hopes would be good enough to beat whatever I had. Still, without the reraise at preflop, I doubted the strength of his hand, so I called, albeit reluctantly again. Turn came out a number so I checked to see what he would do. He bet 2100. That was all my P 100 chips! I had about 200 in white chips, so I just went all-in. He called, and I just tossed my hand on the table expecting to lose or something. He looked at it and grimaced! Oh yeah! Oh yeah! "Trips are good", is what the dealer and most of the table said, he just mucked his cards and said, "you got me at the flop". I asked him what he had, he said that he was holding Jack with a high kicker. Probably A-J or something. Anyway, that doubled me up to more than 7k so I decided to leave otherwise I would risk losing all my chips again.

My girlfriend and her bestfriend picked me up about 20 minutes later and I was ecstatic. I would hope to play tight and aggressive like that again next time. I contemplated once again the days events and plays. I learned to respect peoples big bets and let them win the pot if I had any inclination that their hand had strength. This was respect in the truest sense. Of course everyione in the table wanted to make money in the long run, but you should first learn to hone your skills and get to know the people on the table. As of now, I am still enjoying both the rush of victory and agony of defeat, table chatter with other people who enjoy playing poker and meeting a really odd mix of people.

Will hit you guys back when I go for another ring game. Peace!