River pain

One of the most important skills in poker is knowing when your hand is beaten. This can be a painful realization, especially when it happens late in the hand. The later it happens, the more painful it is. The most painful time is on the river. No matter when you know your hand is beaten, however, you must throw it away. Last night, on hand 61, I was dealt pocket rockets. I bet and raised early on in the hand, and called a big turn bet. The river card was another ace, giving me a set. Unfortunately, it also put four cards to an ace high straight on the board. I made a minor error and bet a smallish amount ($2,000) on the river instead of just checking. When an opponent raised me with the rest of his chips, I knew he had the king (the missing card in the straight) and had to throw away my hand. I lost $22,000, which dropped me back to just slightly over my starting stack amount. The thing is, I played the hand just the way I should have, with the exception of my smallish river bet. When you know you've played a hand correctly, it takes some of the sting out of losing.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 75 hands and saw flop:
 - 11 out of 13 times while in big blind (84%)
 - 10 out of 14 times while in small blind (71%)
 - 25 out of 48 times in other positions (52%)
 - a total of 46 out of 75 (61%)
 Pots won at showdown - 9 of 12 (75%)
 Pots won without showdown - 4

delta: $2,165
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $3,981,859
balance: $6,431,267