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 he Guardian G2 Poker Column |
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| Victoria
Coren |
| Monday May 7, 2007 |
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I
am haunted by a hand. It came up during the PartyPoker World Open, a televised
no-limit hold 'em tournament with six-handed heats.
We were down to
three players, and I had a decent chip lead. Mentally, I was already
rearranging my diary for the final. And then, when the button made it 25,000 to
go (from a total stack of 120,000), I decided to move all in with a three of
clubs and five of spades. And he decided to call with AJ. |
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For eight torturous days, I have been
replaying it in my head, throwing the 3-5 away and waiting for better cards.
But I had found only one good starting hand all game, and gathered a chip lead
from making moves exactly like this. Threehanded in a fast no-limit structure,
you can make a big reraise with 3-5 to pick up vital chips, or throw it away
because it's rubbish. You're a genius when the move goes right, and you kick
yourself black and blue when it goes wrong.
Then I spoke to an agonised
Barny Boatman, who was knocked out of the same tournament with K5 on a flop of
K57. He had moved all in on the flop after a bet and a raise. This is another
50/50, really: in that spot, you can smell a set and fold (could be genius,
could be a spineless waste of opportunity), or you can move all in (could be
the perfect play, could be suicidal). There is much debate about whether
tournament-ending hands hurt more if you played right and were outdrawn, or
played wrong and blame yourself. But much of the time it is this debatable
middle ground, where the wisdom of the play is defined only by the outcome.
Drives you even crazier.
This week's Journal of Neuroscience reveals
that gambling losses can actually cause physical pain. I hope they didn't waste
too much time and money "finding that out".
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