How Poker Punishes Comfort

Logic versus emotion - the battle we all face. I truly believe that one of the key differences between small winners and crushers is the ability to pull the trigger in uncomfortable situations. If you let emotion take the wheel, the game will bury you.

But I completely understand. We all have natural tendencies, and mine is actually to be quite risk averse! Here is a hand I played last week that shows how badly I did not want to pull the trigger, but forced myself to let logic prevail over emotion.

Game is $2-$5 and we are $1200 effective.

A strong pro opens the button to $20, and the SB (who is a loose-passive rec I really want in the hand) calls. I overcall from the big blind with 4 of clubs and 6 of clubs (46cc).

($60) Flop: 3c5dQc | on this flop, the SB checks, I check in flow to the preflop raiser, and he bets $30. The SB gets out of the way, and I decide to take control of the pot by raising to $150. For one thing, I have tremendous equity and am simply ahead of the majority of hands my opponent could have (like Qx). From that standpoint alone, I'm incentivized to put money into the pot. Secondly, the times that I miss my draws, I can credibly represent sets and two pair. Lastly, I do not mind getting a fold right away with 6 high. For all those reasons, I do believe that raising is the highest EV option here.

($390) Turn: J of hearts | I lead for $300 and my opponent calls. When I presented this hand to the class, many people considered checking here. However, I want to take control of the pot and either get a fold now or set up an SPR where I can credibly bet river (either for value or as a bluff).

($990) River 6s

Ugh. That wasn't the card I was hoping for. At this point, I shoved all in, and what I want all our readers to know is that I hated it. My adrenaline shot up, I was sweating, I was afraid to swallow, and he tanked for twenty minutes!! OK, that's not really true. My friends tell me that it was about three minutes. But it sure felt longer to me.

What was going on through my mind? Well, for one, if he called, I would have been down $1800 on the day. That sucks, for anybody! One of our fellow coaches at UPA was at the table... What would he think if he called off my bluff? Even worse - I had a student at the table. Would they think less of my coaching if my bluff got snapped off? Would I be able to continue playing well that night? All of that went through my mind.

After about three minutes, we got the fold. I found out later that the fellow coach thought I looked calm, and he thought I had a set. And to be honest, the six was an objectively good card for me. Some hands like 47cc get there, and I can sometimes have 56s that I turned into a bluff that got there, and sometimes hands like 35s and of course all my sets. It's also true that most people do not turn pairs into bluffs (by the way, you often should turn pairs into bluffs). If I'm not turning pairs into bluffs, then my value range in this hand exceeds my bluffing range.

But seriously, all that technical mumbo-jumbo aside, the hand was scary. I hated every minute of it. I get no enjoyment from bluffing $1000 and hoping for a fold. But guess what? I DID IT. And most people would say "well, I guess my 6 beats some of their club draws and maybe I can just win at showdown and check" -- wrong!

I hated the spot, but I did what was required. Will you?