If you are sitting at home reading this article, chances are you’re just like me – you love the game of poker. Whether you’re in it for the thrill of the game or you’re trying to make a living, playing online offers several distinct advantages over the “live” game. The online game is a faster game, which essentially means more and potentially larger pots and more risks per hour than a standard B&M (brick and mortar) game. When you see a larger volume of hands, chances are that during each session you play, you are bound to see something that leaves you speechless, shaking your head, mystified, or (shudder at the thought) having to re-buy. In this column, each week we will take a look at a different hand that fits the previously mentioned criteria. My involvement in the hand notwithstanding, I will try to remain as impartial as possible, and for the hands that I didn’t win, I will keep my bitterness to a minimum. (At least, this is my intent)

There are just some times, when you play poker, you just get beat and there’s nothing you can do about that. Of course there are things you can do to minimize these situations. To remind you of those things, I’ll quickly list them out for you:

• Playing profitable hands
• Playing when in position
• Being aware of your opponents tendencies
• Being aware of chip counts
• Not chasing when you know you are beaten

Sometimes however, even though you follow these ideals, you can still lose hands. You may make a mistake or an opponent may have an even stronger holding than you do. When that happens, all you can do is try to forget about it and move in. Leave the past in the past. Otherwise, you will do further damage to your bankroll.

With this in mind, I will now tell you about this week’s hand of the week. I was playing at the local $1-$2 no limit hold em game. I was playing with the same group of guys I usually do so by this point, I have a pretty solid feel for them. About 6 hands into the game, I was on the button and looked down to see 2 black Queens. Thre players limped into the pot before me and I felt I had to protect my strong starting hand. So I raised to $15. John, a very wild and unpredictable player was in the Small Blind and he re-raised me to $30. John has been known to do crazy things with small pairs or even weak Aces or Kings. At best, I put him on having an AK or AQ. Everyone else folded and I called and we were heads up with $68 in the pot.

The flop came down Qd-Kc-5c, giving me a set of Queens. John came up and fired $25 into the pot. At this point, I’m thinking he likely has AK or possibly even Aces, after all, even maniacs pick up their share of Aces. Regardless, I felt very good about this hand and I felt I was way ahead. I decide to double his bet to $50. Without hesitation, John makes it $100 to go. I look at my stack and decide I may as well go all in right now for $160. John immediately calls and there is $380 in the pot. He says “I have the nuts” and shows the only holding that could beat me, two red Kings. I was stunned to say the least as I turn over my set of Queens. The whole table was silent.

The turn card was the Ac, giving me a flush draw as my last hope unless the dealer would drop the case Queen to give me Quads. Unfortunately, the river was another Ace and I lost the hand and the pot, forcing me to re-buy. I was only a little bit upset as I knew I played the hand correctly. Its almost impossible to fold a set on the flop especially one as powerful as Queens.

Instead of going on tilt, I reminded myself that beats are part of the game and over the next several hours I worked my way back and ended up breaking even for the day. I very easily could have gotten upset and lost a ton of money. Instead, I maintained a cool head and took it in stride. Remember that next time you lose a big pot that the game isn’t over unless you take yourself out of it.

Until next time, may the chips fall your way.

Click here for the Hand of the Week Archive