Cat and Mouse
The one thing in life you must not do is remember the bad times over and over again. That busted aces, the open ended straight and flush draw that never happened, being the bubble boy. The sooner you forget the feeling of losing that particular battle the better as there is a war to win.
The one thing you must not do is repeat that losing scenario. This does not mean being a scared cat, it means that if you do not have to get involved, do not get involved. Its like a mouse having a close shave with a marauding cat. The mouse got away once, simply do not get in a situation in which the cat has a second chance, because if the cat is sensible it will make sure that it covers any escape plan the mouse will have.
The reason for the cat and mouse analogy was that I found myself in a situation where a guy who beat me up in a game of poker, suddenly turned up in a pub tournament I was playing in. Now this regular pub tournament I play in is a bit of a charity benefit for me. The guys leak out so many signals you would have to be blind not to get the message. However, the guy who beat me up, metaphorically, was a different kettle of fish.
We exchanged pleasantries and I noticed he had a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. This sent a shiver down my spine because obviously he had a tell on me and he was looking to exploit his bit of knowledge. I needed to alter my game radically!
The tournament started and I went into ultra-tight mode. The rest of the players didn’t interest me, I was after one guy and come what may I was going to wipe that smug smile off his face.
As soon as he was re-seated on the table I was on, I decided to play like a lunatic. I re-raised nearly everything. I even re-raised 2 club and 8 spade! As soon as I did this players dropped out but then got curious. I could not have another great starting hand again, they all thought? And my target took the bait.
Later on I had Jack Ten of spades in a bad position and so I raised, he called. Ace, King, Queen mixed was the outcome of the flop. I checked and he looked at me, immediately I burst into ‘nervous’ laughter and claimed I had the straight. He went all in and I called. Bingo!
The look on his face was priceless when I gave him so much damage he was eventually knocked out, and, I was so smug that I could have been a politician. I didn’t win the tournament, in fact I came 4th which was my worst position for ages, but I didn’t care I had just got my mojo back and that is sometimes worth more than money.