Bad river money

There are times when it pays to bet big on the river, and there are other times when it makes no sense to bet a single chip. If you do happen to bet in those latter situations, that's what I call bad river money.

This is an excerpt from my September 13, 2013 post. On Monday night, I spent a ton of bad river money on a hand where I'd been dealt pocket queens. I failed to notice that the river card supported a straight. The only reason I didn't hit the rail was because I had more chips at the start of the hand than the opponent who hit the straight had. My stack was crippled, however, and I hit the rail shortly after. Served me right!

style flavor  buy_in    entry players entries paid place  winnings

MTT   NLHE   4400000   600000       8     142   23    38         0

delta: $-5,000,000
MTT NLHE balance: $371,561,468
2022 balance: $291,817,000
blue distance: $65,170,000
balance: $386,660,953

Bad river money

Last night, the slump continued apace. I'm forced to admit that I've been making some very bad decisions here and there. You don't have to make bad decisions very often in order for them to be able to destroy you. One of the worst kinds of bad decision you can make is to spend bad money on the river.

This is an excerpt from my May 2, 2015 post. Last night, I spent bad river money on a hand where I had two pair, but the board supported a straight. An opponent made a big bet, and I knew I shouldn't call, but I couldn't help myself. The imp of the perverse struck again :-)

style flavor buy_in  entry players entries paid place winnings

MTT   NLHE    87000  13000       6      64   18    23        0

delta: $-100,000
MTT NLHE balance: $28,230,768
2021 balance: $4,859,000
blue distance: $142,000
balance: $82,524,453

Bad river money

Last night, the slump continued apace. I'm forced to admit that I've been making some very bad decisions here and there. You don't have to make bad decisions very often in order for them to be able to destroy you. One of the worst kinds of bad decision you can make is to spend bad money on the river. Here's what I mean by this: if you've made it to the river and have a good hand, but the community cards support a better hand, spending any more money is just plain bad. You must not bet in this situation, and if an opponent does, you must not call. Here are three classic bad river money scenarios:

1. you have two pair, or three of a kind, and the community cards support a straight
2. you have a straight, and the community cards support a flush
3. you have a flush, and the community cards support a full house

Last night, it was scenario 3 which took me to the felt for the second (and final) time.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 76 hands and saw flop:
 - 8 out of 8 times while in big blind (100%)
 - 7 out of 11 times while in small blind (63%)
 - 26 out of 57 times in other positions (45%)
 - a total of 41 out of 76 (53%)
 Pots won at showdown - 3 of 9 (33%)
 Pots won without showdown - 5

delta: $-100,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $6,212,980
balance: $8,960,139

Bad river money

There are times when it pays to bet big on the river, and there are other times when it makes no sense to bet a single chip. If you do happen to bet in those latter situations, that's what I call bad river money. Last night, I spent bad river money on hand 14. I'd flopped a set of nines, but the board was showing two pairs, aces and sevens. I was toast if my opponent had an ace, so it didn't make any sense to bet. I didn't recognize this basic truth, and bet $3,800. My opponent called, had an ace, and won a pot worth $15,300. Poker is hard enough to win without making stupid mistakes; add them in, and the task is near impossible. In my defense, I was a bit distracted since I was watching some exciting action from a WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) tournament on PokerStars.TV.

During current Hold'em session you were dealt 60 hands and saw flop:
 - 8 out of 9 times while in big blind (88%)
 - 7 out of 10 times while in small blind (70%)
 - 24 out of 41 times in other positions (58%)
 - a total of 39 out of 60 (65%)
 Pots won at showdown - 4 of 16 (25%)
 Pots won without showdown - 2

delta: $-40,000
cash game no limit hold'em balance: $4,972,687
balance: $7,329,640