Two and a half coolers

Success and failure in poker are a hair's breadth apart. That's one of the essential beauties of the game. No matter how good you are, or how good you think you are, there will always be times when you find yourself on the wrong side of that hair's breadth. The correct response at such times is not to bemoan your fate, but actually to offer up praise to the harsh beauty of poker. Lady Luck gives no quarter. If you can't accept that, you're in the wrong game.

Last night, I think I played exceptionally well. As it turned out, I hit the felt; not once, but twice. How on God's green earth could I think I played really well, if I lost $80,000 play dollars? The answer is actually quite simple. Absent two and a half coolers, I would have had a superb session.

cooler #1: on hand 15, I was dealt 7s 8s in the big blind, saw a flop of 9s 2s 3s, bet $4,000 and got one caller, saw a turn of 3d, bet $18,000, got raised enough to put me all in, called, saw a river of 3c, and then saw my nine high straight lose to an ace high straight. I lost $36,200 on this hand.

cooler #2: on hand 34, I was dealt 6s Ks in the big blind, called a raise to $1,000, saw a flop of 7s 8s Ac, called a bet of $1,000, saw a turn of 7c and a river of Ts, raised a $3,600 bet to $7,200, got reraised to $35,000, called, and then saw my king high straight lose to a full house, aces full of sevens. I lost $37,000 on this hand.

cooler #2 1/2: on hand 124, I was dealt Kd Qh, called a raise to $4,600, saw a flop of 4d Qs 6c, raised a $9,000 bet to $18,000, called a reraise to $27,000, saw a turn of 7h, called an all in bet which put me all in, saw a river of Ac, and then saw my pair of queens lose to two pair, queens and sevens. I lost $39,279 on this hand.

If just one of these hands had gone my way, I would have lost a negligible amount on the night. If two had gone my way, I would have realized a profit of $66,000. If all three had gone my way, I would have realized a profit of nearly $145,000.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 124 hands and saw flop:
 - 18 out of 24 times while in big blind (75%)
 - 17 out of 25 times while in small blind (68%)
 - 57 out of 75 times in other positions (76%)
 - a total of 92 out of 124 (74%)
 Pots won at showdown - 13 of 28 (46%)
 Pots won without showdown - 10

delta: $-80,000
balance: $4,126,247