03- 9-05, LearnTexasHoldem:

Playing A Bad Hand Because Of A Feeling

Question:I just first wanted to say thanks, your poker site (well your site and Doyle Brunson's book, but mostly your site) has made me go from coming in last in my friends home tournaments to actually winning them and winning online, and i've only been playing for a month. You have great material on this site.

Alright, Once in a while, meaning maybe two or three times per tournament, if im comfortable with my chip stack, preflop I will call a smal bet with a trash hand, or a nice size bet with a mediocre hand. I do this because i get a feeling when i look at my cards that i am going to hit something on the flop. It's just this weird feeling and i can't ignore it. So i call and here comes the flop. I'd say atleast half of the time i hit top pair, two pair, a set, or even the nuts. Well, when i do hit something and take the pot sometimes the other people get upset and make fun of me for playing that hand to begin with. They dont want to hear me say, " I had a feeling." So my question is, is this bad poker? and also do you or any other good poker players you know do this or anything similar to this?

Thanks

J Austin

Top 3 Beginner Rooms

Answer: Is it ideal, optimal poker to play bad hands everynow and then? Probably not, but who cares. Players -- even pros -- play bad hands for all kinds of superstitious reasons; the hand has won other pots all night, they like the hand, they have a feeling, they see it in the cards, they want to get on a rush, etc. Am I suggesting that you go out and disregard good fundament poker strategy and consult a psychic before playing? Of course not, but occasionally throwing in a bad hand can make playing cards more palatable.

I like playing shorthanded poker because it allows me to play more hands -- which is fun. Sure winning is fun but I like playing cards more. The best advice I can give you is to not listen when other people say stuff. When you start playing in cardrooms you'll have all kinds of "experts" and pissed off people making remarks (even though they will do the exact same "error" in the next hand that they are commenting on you doing). Just have fun, play your game and if you have a "feeling" and want to pay to see the flop, it is your business.

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