"That's Poker"

Okay... I have to get something off my chest.

When somebody wins a pot (and usually it's a huge pot) that they shouldn't have won and they KNOW they shouldn't have won, why is their first response ALWAYS, "that's poker"?

I'll tell you why...

Because people play horrible starting hands, call bets they have no business calling and get lucky and suck out... THAT'S WHY.

You call 3 bets preflop with 9-7, flop bottom pair call all the way to the river and hit your miracle set on 5th street, cracking AA on a Jack high flop? "That's poker."

You defend your big blind from a button raise with K5 offusuit and the flop comes down A55. Your opponent holds AK and you scoop a huge pot? "That's poker."

You hold 6-7 suited diamonds against your oppenent's 1010. The flop comes down 10-A-K with two diamonds. You call 4 bets on the flop, 4 bets on the turn and then hit the deuce of diamonds on the river to crack a set of 10s and top two pair. "That's poker."

You have 8-10 suited in the SB and call a raise because you "already have $2 invested, so what's another $6?" The flop comes down 9-6-2 rainbow. You decide to check-call 2 bets on the flop with your gutshot, turn an 8 for one pair, call another bet on the turn with a small pair and then river a 10 for two pair. Your oppents both hold pocket pairs. "That's poker."

I'm sick of hearing "that's poker" when a donkey gets lucky. Let's just substitute "that's poker" with "oh shit, I sure got fucking lucky there... but since I got lucky this one time, I will continue to play like this for the rest of my natural poker playing life."

...And it's always the donkey that is at the table for like 15 minutes top. The guys that insist that their "luck will change" if they stay too long.

So here's the truth:

If you play for 15 minutes against me, you will probably get lucky... I'd say a 15 minute session requires only 5% skill and 95% luck.

If you play with me for a couple of hours, I'd say you probably will still get lucky as that session only requires about 25% skill and 75% luck.

You play with me for a year, and your luck will run out. 50% skill and 50% luck.

You play with me for life, and you will lose every penny to me. 95% skill and 5% luck.

So go ahead... sit down for 15 minutes at my table with your $40 buy-in. Get lucky on a hand, say "that's poker" and get up and leave. I know that you don't stand a chance against me in the long run... and you know that too. That's why you leave.

So keep calling 8x the BB raises with tiny pocket pairs knowing your opponent is holding AA and hoping to hit your miracle card on the flop. Because you know what? When you hit that miracle card the first time, you'll call a 40x the BB raise the next time with the same hand and lose.

Keep calling all-in bets preflop with nothing but AQ offsuit. Sure, you'll get lucky, hit your 3-outer and crack AK the first time. But do it again another 8 times and you'll lose every time.

Go ahead and call my bluff bet on the river with a board of A-J-4-6-6 when you hold Q4. Because you know what? I won't be bluffing the next 5 times I bet that river and you'll lose every time.

What you donkeys don't understand is that winning poker is a lifelong struggle to understand pot odds, betting patterns and develop a winning strategy. It's not about "having a feeling" or getting lucky. That's lucky poker. So while you will frustrate the hell out me today when you get lucky and take down a big pot with a hand you had no business playing, when I see you tomorrow, or next week, or next year and you make that same play... I will win the big pot.

I've had one losing session in the last 8 months. I'd be willing to bet you've had 10 times that number of losing sessions in that same time period.

When we meet again, I can only hope you bring a lot of money and have a lot of time to kill. Because if you do, I'm winning my money back and taxing your ass for the rest of it.

Now, "THAT'S poker."