"Do as I say ..." [Chapter 4]: Don't Let it Get Personal

There’s a back-story to this, that’s interesting in itself, but due to its minimal relevance I will only relate some of the highlights. I’m at the Hustler Casino, and on the first hand I am dealt, I river the nut straight on a guy that turned two-pair and under-bet. So a little bit of acting, some gamesmanship, yadda yadda yadda, I busted him. After this, he and his buddy go “V for Vendetta” on my ass, raising every time I limp, re-raising every time I raise, encouraging others not to give me action when they think I have a monster. And so we come to the hand that will serve to exemplify today’s discussion …

Jamin: Until I pick up A-8 on the button …
Jamin: One of the guys raises UTG [under the gun] pre-flop to 5 bucks, and I call because I'm tired of being pushed around. A few other guys call. The flop comes 9-8-2 rainbow. The same guy bets 7, one guy between us calls, and I call. The turn is an ace, giving me dead man's hand ... which turns out to be symbolic.
Billy: 9s?
Jamin: Close enough. He bets 20, the other guy in the hand folds, and I get excited and push all in for 90 (he has me covered). The guy calls immediately, and shows me pocket 8s.
Jamin: And no, I didn't river the ace.
Billy: Ouch.
Jamin: Yeah.
Jamin: I was too shaken up to re-buy.
Jamin: So my next chapter is going to be about not letting it get personal.
Billy: Hahaha

So what’s the lesson here? Any poker player will tell you it’s hard to get away from Aces Up, especially with a board so seemingly-innocuous. There’s no way I’m going to just fold to a $20 bet when I have what figures to be the best hand.

The mistake I made (and what I want to caution you against) was playing with emotion. I didn’t push all in because it was the correct play. I over-bet the pot by a large margin. I could have easily just called his bet, and waited for more information on the river (which would have showed a third flush card, and may have given me pause). Or I could have made a smaller raise. I could have recognized that his was a value bet, not trying to push me out of the pot at all. Had I been playing my best poker, I would have stopped and considered the size of his bet. But I wanted to punish him for his attacks on me and my stack. I wanted to show him I was the better player. I wanted to take over the big stack at the table and show him how it feels to be pushed around.

I let it get personal.

Big mistake.

As always, this is just advice – you can take it or leave it. But if I took my own advice, I could have waited a few more hands for him to make a mistake. I could have taken down his stack little-by-little rather than going for the big score. I read something in a poker book yesterday that has changed the way I look at the game. The writer said, “Don’t try to beat the other players; let the other players try to beat you.” Words of wisdom.

So do as I say, not as I do …