Maya, I like this thread. In Hold’em if I get an A-10, K-10, Q-10, J-10, I don’t go all in (anymore) but I do get a magic buzzing message in my head telling me “This is your lucky hand!” My heart is broken more often than the magic is fulfilled.
I know what you mean. When I called preflop all ins with A-10 or K-10 in the past, nearly every time I got beaten by someone with 5-6 off or 2-8 off. It’s only when I fold them that they hit lol.
Actually I expect from this funny thread some confessions, too.
I am the biggest donk around when… I feel annoyed by somebody’s style of playing, with or without justice.
For example, “compulsive” raisers irritate me. After the 4th raise in a row, I start calling, or re-raising or even going all-in no matter what cards I have. The most frustrating aspect of it is that I often succeed with such a donk-like strategy. LOL
if you referring to real money they all are bad plays then again if its small stakes and small potatoes involved one might take a swing at those hands…frankly with play chips and there is no ‘bad play’',we all inherit the same genes of chasing flush,open ended,straight and boats and there are no exceptions on this site…
from 500 chips to 10 million ive seen them chase with river still to open…if you hit all will tell you nh very well played and great call but truly its a donkey call…and its done in all the big tourneys here and for sure its a given in the rings…just go with the flow and enjoy the game and friends…percentages.pot odds and all poker book knowledge doesn’t come into play here…start from scratch…play the 1k tourney you wont come out there alive…every hand 5 to 6 all ins…even AA will have a hard time beating 6 to 1 odds…and if you want to play the big table where they have 100 million plus chips in their bank…no hesitation in calling a few million to
chase down…so your bandwidth is from 1k to 800k table…choose where you want to be slaughtered!!!
I know what you mean. But chasing is not the same as initiating an all in based on a hope. If someone bets high, you call because you’re chasing. But if you initiate the bet, especially with an all in, and you have absolutely nothing but a hope to hit on the river, it’s just bad play, regardless if it’s free chips or real money.
Sure, if bad poker amuses you, it’s up to you. It still doesn’t make it good poker. Mind you, this guy also said that it’s ok to play like that only because it’s with free fake chips, but he wouldn’t play like this with real money. That by itself is an admission that this is bad play. If you wouldn’t do it with real money, then you know it’s not right.
There is nothing of value at stake in these poker games. They are mostly being played for emotional stimulation.
Jack plays for amusement.
Jill plays for the enjoyment of socializing with other players.
John plays for the pride in having many chips.
Jane plays for the excitement of the miracle river.
Pride, excitement, enjoyment, amusement…all human emotions. Different people get their kicks in different ways. Why is it wrong for somebody to get their amusement by playing bad poker with pretend chips on a free site?
@Whittaker I don’t think we’re on the same wave. Let me just clarify: you are actually saying the same thing I am saying, it’s bad poker. You’re just saying there’s nothing wrong with it if it’s for fun. I agree. But it’s still bad poker. And you agree. So there’s no point in arguing if we’re both saying the same thing. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s fun or not, it’s still bad poker. And it doesn’t matter if I think it’s bad poker or not, it’s still fun.
Allow me to insist though, it’s bad poker!
I think it’s fun to splash buckets of paint on walls. It’s not real painting, it’s actually very bad painting. It’s not even art. But it’s fun. I like it. Jack likes it. Jill loves it. John and Jane think it’s hilarious. But it’s still bad painting. It doesn’t make me a good painter just because it’s fun.
Whittaker, as Maya wrote, the question is not why people play badly, but what is bad poker, and this is worth of being discussed.
In my opinion, there is only ONE basic motivation that should drive players to improve their skills or to think about their strategy or their moves, money or no money, and this is the love for the game of poker.
All the “emotions” you mention could be had somewhere else, too. Why not play bingo, for example (I’m not being ironic), if one ONLY looks for amusement, excitement or socialisation?
What you say doesn’t do any justice to the game of poker, and this is a great pity.
When I first started here, after having played for some years at a real money site, I told to myself, either I take it seriously, or I don’t join at all.
I must confess that I strictly stuck to my principles the first months only. Now I am ermm… somewhat more flexible. LOL
I’d just like to add, for more clarity, that of course there is nothing wrong if people play as they think it best for them.
Nevertheless, I don’t see the least contradiction between playing an objectively good poker and experiencing all those “emotions” you mentioned, Whittaker. Quite the opposite.
In addition to pride, enjoyment, excitement and amusement, which are the very essence of playing poker, there would also be the satisfaction of improving day by day one’s own ability to value probabilities, to read other players’ intentions, to be stoically able to fold (which is hard for most people), to raise or to bluff at the right moment, and much more.
Exactly! Thank you Miri. I couldn’t have said it better
It’s really nice when playing a game, to learn how to play it, and to keep improving , without sacrificing the fun, enjoyment, amusement, excitement and socialization factors.
