Over Memorial Day weekend I attended a tax seminar in Las Vegas. Once the seminar was over, I got a chance to play some poker. The results were decidedly mixed, with both big wins and big losses. But no matter what the result, it always felt like that I was just being pulled into whatever result I ended up with.
Take this hand for instance. I was in middle position in a $2-$5 blinds no-limit game, with about $500 in my stack. It was folded to me and I raised to $20 with [As][Kc]. The cutoff and the big blind called my raise. The flop came [8h][8s][3s]. The small blind bet $5 into the $90 pot. Now, when I see a minimum bet such as this into a significant pot, I ignore it. Since I would usually make a continuation bet in this situation I did so, raising to $65. The cutoff folded, and the big blind called. The turn was the [3h]. Once again the big blind bet, this time for $10... I again ignored it, and fired a second barrel at the pot. I bet $130, and the big blind called once more. The river was the [2c]. Did my opponent make a third small bet? No, he open-folded his hand: AaQa. I'm still not sure whether I played this hand brilliantly or not, but I've learned to not quibble about results.
A few hands later, I looked down at 10a10s from the button. Two players, including my tight right-hand opponent, had limped. I raised to $30. The big blind moved all in for $48. One limper folded, my right-hand opponent called, and I, of course, called. The flop came 9s6f2a, about as good a flop as you can hope for with tens. My opponent checked, and I decided to build a side pot and bet $55. My opponent then check-raised all in for a total of $165.
What could my opponent hold? There are no obvious draws (while 8-7 is possible based on the cards, there's no chance he would have seen the flop with that hand). So the most likely hands are an overpair, a set, or top pair with a good kicker, such as A-9. It would cost me $110 to call for a pot of over $360 (including the main pot). I made the call, my opponent showed KdKf and I did not hit either of my two outs (the big blind had [Ac][Ks]).
I couldn't complain about the action at the tables, though. In another $2-$5 game there were four limpers to me on the button. I looked down at KaKd and raised to $40. While the blinds folded, all the limpers called. The flop came [Ac][10c][5c]. The betting on the flop was spirited, with a bet, a raise, and two re-raises before I got a chance to fold.
When you play cash games there will be sessions where you, the player, have little control over your results. Your cards will dictate whether you have a winning or losing session. While you may feel like Alistair MacLean's protagonist Paul Sherman in Puppet on a Chain, pulled this way and that, you shouldn't hold that feeling.
For every session where the cards dictate that you lose, there will also be a winning session. The human mind is a funny creature, though, and we tend to remember our big losses rather than our big wins. The reality, however, is that good players make their own luck-and over the long-term our own play is what causes us to either win or lose. Still, a session where you're being pulled like a puppet can be a frustrating experience.
