focus said:
...had do you win a these joints
There are two answers to your question. One which is kind, supportive, and correct; and another which is ruthless, instructive, and correct. If everyone who reads this forum replied...I think you'd get an equal number of both. I have time this morning while I drink my coffee to provide both. Anything I miss will be added by others.
The kind one: You just got unlucky; those kinds of breaks even out over time and you just need to play more hands to let poker's variance even out for you. Chin up! The bad beats are explained by the fact that there are plenty of players who are playing bad cards. They sometimes get lucky. You want them in your game...think about it.
The ruthless one is more complicated:
You really didn't provide enough information when you described the hand. I'd also like to know what stakes you were playing, whether you had any reads on the villain, whether your KJ was suited, your position relative to the villain, and the suits of the board cards. Here are my guesses: The KJ is unsuited, the board was rainbow, the stakes were .25/.50 NL with a $100 buy-in, you had no reads, and he had position over you. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.
Okay. I only count two jacks. I'm going to assume that you made a mistake on the flop and that it was actually JJ9 rather than J92.
There are a few problems that I see with the way you played your hand. First, KJ isn't a strong hand. Even Doyle Brunson, who is about the most aggressive player in the world, identifies this as a trouble hand and advises extreme caution. A tight player would've tossed them immediately unless he had great position. Your $2 preflop bet wasn't really high enough to steal the blinds in a loose internet game. The flop should have been the danger signal. You made a 2X pot bet and got called. What could the villain have? It's hard to know without a read on what kind of cards he usually plays, so against an unknown I put him on an over pair, another jack (maybe the nightmare J9?), a pair of 9s, or an OESD. After that you pretty much committed your stack. I could argue that you shouldn't have tried to check-raise someone on the river who had proven that he was going to show down his hand...or that you shouldn't have called the all-in reraise ater your CR with so many ways to be behind.
After the flop you had "buck fever." All you could see was your trips. Not your second kicker, not the straight or full house possibilities. We've all done that.
You played a marginal hand (Brunson is right...these kinds of hands can either win you a small pot or lose you a monster pot). You didn't stop to think what your opponent might be playing, even with the evidence mounting that he had at least as good a hand as you. This wasn't a bad beat because you were behind all the way. Drop down in levels and work on your game; think of the money you've lost as part of the tuition that you'll pay at "poker school." Hit the books.
I am not trying to be mean-spirited in any of this. I have made all of the mistakes you have. Don't quit. And don't blame the dealer.
