Poker Articles

Acting Like A Victim
By Mike Paulle

Sharks can smell blood in the water from miles away. How hard is it for a shark at your table to sense you are hurting and come in for the kill?

You know the answer: IT'S EASY. It doesn't even take a shark to know when things are going bad for you. A guppy would come over for a bite, if you opened a wound.

What AM I talking about? I'm talking about acting like a victim at the poker table.

If you start losing, and begin to whine in frustration, even a novice poker player knows to jump on you when you are down.

To get the man-eaters to go devour someone else, you must learn to hide the fact that you've taken a severe beat. Don't turn your cards over and whine, "You only had two outs, how could you call me?" This stamps 'LOSER' on your forehead, and you can bet your next raise will be called by half the table.

I had a hand recently in a No-Limit Hold'em game that is an example of how to avoid being victimized at a poker table.

I had pocket Aces under the gun and came in for six times the big blind. I was hoping, of course, that someone would reraise me. But instead, I got three callers behind me. The flop came A Q 7 rainbow (three different suits). This was a wonderful flop for my hand, giving me the 'nuts' with top set. I checked and it was checked around to the big blind who bet. I smooth called. Everyone else folded.

The turn came a Jack. The big blind bet, I called. The river came a 10, the only card that could beat me. He bet, I folded. I knew what the big blind had, A K. But he never knew I flopped trip Aces. He showed me his A K of Hearts. I never showed him my two black Aces.

The sharks couldn't come feed on me, because I didn't whine about my bad luck! We (including me) could now turn on someone else that had 'LOSER' stamped on their forehead and were bleeding in the water.

Notice no matter how I played the hand, I would lose to the big blind's perfect perfect catch. If I go all-in before, on or after the flop I lose everything I have in front of me. The big blind had more chips than I did and would have called my all-in with his A K of Hearts. If HE goes all-in at any time before the river, I have to call and I lose everything.

Instead, I lost the absolute minimum on the hand. I lived to play the next hand without anyone suspecting how bad a beat I had taken. I didn't act like a victim, so I wasn't treated like one.

If you feel the need for self-pity when you take a beat, go to the restroom and sob in a stall away from anyone's notice. Showing your hand at the table and wailing about how bad your luck is, will only encourage the other players to take more bites out of your wounded carcass.

Act like a victim and you WILL be victimized. Take my word for it.

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