Practice makes perfect

I wrote this article 2-3 years ago for a Danish poker periodical, 'Pokermagasinet', which no longer exists.

I find it quite funny when I think back and recall the wildness that was in me and my game. I was already playing quite high at the time. My wild streak has abated quite a bit as I've gained more experience. It's also great to see Jonas "Nebuchad" Danielson has developed and improved his game tremendously since this article was written. He is one of the players I respect most in the poker community.

The other day, I played an interesting hand on a Ladbrokes $50/$100 table. There are 3 players seated, and I'm on the button with about $30K at the table. Nebuchad is in the small blind with $12K, and Jarderberg in the big blind with about $35K. Our stacks are quite deep. Nebuchad is the type that sometimes loves to make wild moves. In particular with flush and straight draws on the flop. He has certainly done it against me numerous times, and I fail to recall one time where he has missed.

I look down at AQ suited diamonds and open for $400. Both my opponents call and the pot is $1200.

Flop: Jd - Kd - 3h

Wow!! Nice flop for me!... royal flush draw...

They both check to me. I choose to lead for $1000, which I would do in most cases whether or not I had hit. Nebuchad calls, but now something unexpected happens; Jaderberg check- raises to $3000! Argh!! Now, I find myself in a prickly situation because we are so deep. Had we not been deep, then I would've slammed all the chips into the middle without a second's hesitation.

I am extremely worried that Jaderberg has hit a monster, and now I'm sandwiched between him and Nebuchad, who still remains to act behind me. I call the $2000 more, and then Nebuchad does what I feared! Nebuchad goes all-in for $11,400 total. Jarderberg calls...hmmm, I think a little...choosing not to squeeze more, as I'm still fearful of what Jarderberg could be sitting with. On the other hand, I can't release this fantastic draw...pot-odds considered. The pot is now $38,500!!

Turn: (Jd Kd 3h) 6h

Jarderberg checks. It seems peculiar to me, that he would show weakness after check-raising the flop. I take the free card and check behind him. River: (Jd Kd 3h 6h) 5c

Jarderberg shows weakness again and checks; while I'm sitting here with Ace high and looking at a dead pot of about $38,500. I call it a dead pot, because there's essentially no opportunity to bluff as Nebuchad is already all-in.

I consider, conversely, that if Nebuchad is on one of his flush draw moves, then I have enormous bluff potential to get Jarderberg to muck; as he would have to give me credit for a strong hand if I were to take a stab at the pot on the river. He knows that I know Nebuchad is all-in. Presumably, he must be thinking along these lines, "Pokergirl can't bet here with a crap hand when Nebuchad already is all-in."

I reach the decision to shoot $15,000 into the pot to get Jarderberg to muck. It goes as planned, and Jarderberg does toss his hand after taking some time in the tank. Now, I can only hope my intuition is correct regarding Nebuchads hand.
I was correct! Nebuchad did flip a flush draw as I had hoped; however, the sick part of the situation is that it was 45 suited diamonds which obviously had to pair with the river 5! I watched the chips sail easily over to Nebuchad, and I almost got sick all over my screen and keyboard. He had snatched a $38,500 pot with a pair of 5's! Jarderberg claimed in the chat box to have tossed a King, which would've given him a pot of $38,500 + my $15,000 river bet, if he had opted to call.

What Jarderberg continued to write in the chat I will leave unsaid, but I will suffice by stating that he wasn't particularly enthralled by my move on the river. I do, however, personally believe it was okay to try to take the pot in this spot, as there was a real chance I had Nebuchad beat. It would've been a brilliant play, if Nebuchad had been on any other flush draw combination such as 78, 89 or 9-10 suited diamonds.

The irony of the hand is that I felt exceedingly paranoid that Nebuchad had hit against me with one of his f...... sick draws, as he had done a million times before. This time he missed his flush draw, but still hit the 5 on the boards tail end to, yet again, snatch the pot from under my nose. I should bloody well demand half the pot from him for bluffing Jarderberg out, and thereby indirectly helping him scrape this giant pot into his pocket...haha.

I've been on my worst slump period ever in my poker career. I've been slammed by one bad-beat after the other for almost 3 months running. Of course, it has happened almost every time the pot has been close to, or exceeding, the $15,000 mark. This time I've really felt the strain and been hit hard mentally. Yes, so hard, that I, for periods, have played terrible poker, even tilted and scattered a few buy-ins here and there. It's been particularly expensive for me at cryptologic's £40/£80 NL tables. I also cancelled my enrollment to an EPT tournament, because I believed it would be negative EV for me to play with my state of mind at the time. I also thought it would be dangerous for the opponents, who would be (un)lucky enough to be seated at my table, and be the ones to serve me my next bad beat.

I often think about the advice I try to impart to other players. I can't even heed my own advice, even though I'm battling to. I've got to admit to myself that I love the adrenaline rush which comes with playing against the best players in a short-handed game, particularly when I win. On the other hand, the feeling of complete emptiness, desperation, self-isolation and depression over failing... it's just as tough as it is great when I run well.


I also have another problem. My ego always increases proportionally to my winnings, and when I'm on fire I have a tendency to say: "Come on world, I will show you. I'll take all of you out there in cyberworld!" I still have so much to work on to optimize my own game. That makes me think of a brilliant quote by Roy West:

"Another way your ego can do you dirty is to keep you playing in the game you'd like to beat instead of the game you CAN beat"

I read a brilliant thread on Pokernet, written by a young fellow called Christian "Tox" Togsværd. A fantastic player, we will all definitely be seeing a lot more of on the poker stage in the future.
He had, over a long period of time, tracked and observed Nebuchads style. Tox had discovered a lot about the way Nebuchad played, and even believed there was value to be had in playing him, if only one found the right time to do so. He found the right time and slipped in to peel $15,000 off Nebuchad at a $25/$50 NL table on Ladbrokes.

The interesting thing about the thread is the seriousness and careful thought underlying the kids mapping of Nebuchads game. Very well done Christian! It proves how important it is to continue observing and learn anew in the poker world. Admittedly, I've faltered recently to keep observing and pick up new developments in comparison to when I started playing high stakes poker 2-3 years ago. Sometimes you just lull yourself into a routine based exclusively on running well and winning a lot. You believe that you don't have to keep observing and keep improving. Ultimately, your edge in poker relies heavily on observing and learning anew.

Now it's time for me to work, to check my game through at the seams and do some massive "grinding" at the 10/20 NL tables in the time to come. I need to rebuild the confidence one needs to win again at the high stakes tables. I don't doubt for a second that I will be winning again soon.

I'd like to finish off with another thought evoking quote from Roy West, which I feel suits this article.

"When you are not practicing, someone, somewhere, IS practicing. And when you meet, he will beat you"

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