Post-mortem analysis

As in chess, post-mortem analysis in poker can be very enlightening. After last night's session, which was a losing one, I thought I'd played rather poorly. Looking back over selected hands now, though, I can see I was actually playing quite well. What colored my immediate perceptions of my performance was the fact that I'd had a losing session. It's important to try to fight that tendency. Within reason, it doesn't matter how many losing sessions you have, as long as you're playing well. Playing well means making the right poker decisions. A good poker decision has nothing to do with whether or not you ultimately win the pot; it's simply making the correct play in a particular situation.

Why did I amend my assessment? Due to my post-mortem analysis of the three hands where I lost the largest amount of chips.

On hand 30, I lost $13,800. I hit a jack high flush on the river, but lost to an ace high flush. Was I correct to stay in the hand? Yes.

On hand 39, I lost $5,600. I was dealt Qh As, the flop came 4s Ah Tc, and the turn was the three of spades. An opponent went all in on the turn, and it would have cost me $14,400 to call. I figured he had at least two pair or a set, and folded. Was I correct to fold? Yes. Was I correct to have stayed in the hand as long as I had? Yes again.

On hand 55, I lost $5,200. I hit a king high straight on the river, but the river card also put three cards to a flush on the board. I bet $600, an opponent raised me up to $5,000, and I called. My straight lost to his flush. Was I correct to call? This one isn't as straightforward as the first two. I thought my opponent was bluffing, but was wrong. I was probably more in the wrong than in the right on this one.

If the first hand had gone my way, as it easily could have, I would have won $42,600, instead of losing $13,800. That was the difference between a winning session and a losing session right there.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 90 hands and saw flop:
- 11 out of 12 times while in big blind (91%)
- 7 out of 13 times while in small blind (53%)
- 39 out of 65 times in other positions (60%)
- a total of 57 out of 90 (63%)
Pots won at showdown - 2 of 10 (20%)
Pots won without showdown - 10

delta: $-23,400
balance: $3,207,962