Results Oriented

My Texas Holdem tutorial of the day is to not be results-oriented.

I'm sitting in my home game on the button. We get the typical no-foldem limpfest, and I limp behind with pocket sevens. A raise won't thin the field with this bunch, so I've just got to limp along and try and flop my set.

Ann lo and behold, I do hit a set, on a king-seven-four flop. One of the blind leads out, he gets one caller, and I raise it up. Both players call.

The small blind is a god-awful player - he's calling with any king or four, trying to hit two pair or trips. I of course hope he hits one of them.

The turn is some type of brick, and they both check to me. My big question is bet size - will he call a big bet, or should I keep it manageable. This time, I decide on a big bet. My awful opponent thinks for a long time, agonizes a bit, and then folds. He hates folding top pair.

I won the pot but I'm not happy with the final pot size. I think I left some money on the table.

Fast forward 1 week, and I'm in another cash game with the same player. We're only 3 handed because we're waiting for players to get knocked out of the tourney. I call a minraise from the blinds with King-Ten, and see a super nine-queen-jack flop. Hello nuts!

I check and one of the two players bets, and my friend calls. I'm definitively checkraising, I just need to choose the bet size. Remembering last week, I opt for a smaller size this time, and my friend instantly calls.

What I'm not happy with is the turn card - a king. It turns out my friend is holding ace-ten, and I get stacked.

They joy of poker. Play poorly and win a small hand, play great and lose a big one.