Kinda happened to me this weekend...

Was playing drunk 1/2 in biloxi early sunday morning and this older fellow was playing and i had already won 2 pots from me by raising flop. He had a Vietnam vet hat on and i already have a soft spot for those military vets.

Well anyway, i raise QQ in ep he flats and i cbet a KQJ flop $30. he raises to 100 and i quickly say all in and he SNAP calls. He thought i just had $300 and i guess didn't think to check for bills(they play nbiloxi) and i had about $400 in bills to go with my chips. (bills were visible and i had also announced to dealer i was adding them to the table a few hands prior. He just sat there shell-shocked for a bit and reloaded 200 but didn't play very long before leaving. I know my money was at risk too so i shouldn't feel bad but the expression on his face made me feel uneasy...sigh /emo

Would it make you feel better if he turned over KK? Shake it off. You're there to make money. He knows that.

I understand your feelings and everyone who plays poker and isn't a sociopath (including me) has had them or will have them to some degree. Two things though:

(1) your opponents are playing the game voluntarily and they know the financial risk they are taking by playing; and
(2) if you don't win their money, someone else will.

i always feel bad if i take someones money that really cant afford to lose it. but i take it anyway as he is going to lose it to someone and i am there to play and cant let him deter me.

but if you play poker while drinking you are going to be the one getting broke sooner or later and that is a fact of the game.

As a military vet, I appreciate your thoughts on that.

I've also played a lot while stationed in Biloxi (Beau). I only feel bad if it's a bad beat and it's someone I play with regularly and am friendly with. Like yesterday...

I sit to the left of an acquaintance, Jeff, who says he's been having a bad day, while I give a sympathetic ear. About 5 hands later, someone raises to 20 under the gun. Jeff reraises to $55. I look down at QQ. Jeff's stack is $250, I'm at $550. I reraise to $175, so I can't fold no matter what he does. UTG folds. Jeff thinks for a second, then shoves. I say "call" and start moving chips to the middle. He says, "I have aces."
"Seriously?"
He shows them.
I spike a queen on the river.
I did feel bad about that one.

think about that one. live its a raise and a reraise to you. how do queens do in that spot.
just because he has only 250 doesnt mean you must call. plus you have the original raiser behind you.

Oh for sure. I felt original raiser was weak. He bets $20 as pot builder and bets $30 for real raises. Jeff is able to 3bet with down to AJs and 99 or better. Especially since he knows the other guy too. I was right about the first raiser. Jeff was, of course, at the top of his range, while I was at the bottom of my 4bet range.

There were other reasonable options here, and I definitely took a very aggressive line. Knowing the players helped make the decision (though it turned out to be wrong, and I got lucky). If it had been two players who I know were very tight and who had bigger stacks, I would have played it differently.

It wasnt me, but i thought this was weird.....

On a cruise i went on, the Carnival Legend ship......we were 7 handed.....guy to my right had about 300......his wife stops by with the kids....he takes the kid and sets him on his lap......the kid starts hitting all the buttons and puts him all in.
There was one call with A's against his 5-8 off suit which didn't hold up. The winner a few hands later pulled out a 100 dollar bill from his pocket and gave it to him. He took it of course....

The way I approach it is that I am always happy to win money at the table; that is, after all, why I am there playing. But that said, there are people I would prefer to win from than others. For example, I would rather felt the loudmouth guy who is berating everyone than one of my regular "poker friends". But I don't feel bad about felting them either, just as they don't feel bad about felting me.

As Herm Edwards said, "you play to win the game".

This was maybe my 3rd or so foray into live poker. I sat down at two seat to my left was a bald gent, with a very large, very noticeable scar on his head. It was obviously some sort of brain surgery scar. Every time a new dealer sat do he would inform them he was blind in his right eye. Did not take m long to notice that he was a bit slow witted.

I quickly picked him as one I wanted to get heads-up with. On the drive home I wanted to feel bad about looking to take his money, but I didn't.

I never did get into a large pot with him, and have wondered if I did would I have felt different.

0 remorse or feelings... they play of their own free will

My best story: Villain in this hand is a dealer at another casino in the area who I know but who doesnt know me.

1/2 NL. Villian has 900, hero covers the table. Hero has AsKs in LP. 2 limps to villian in MP who raises to 10, hero raises to 40, 1 badlimper calls, villain calls.

Pot ~120
Flop: TsQs7h

Check to hero who c-bets 80. Bad limper goes all in for 110. Villain c/r's to 250. Hero thinks for about 10 seconds, and shoves for villains last 600.

Hero assumes villain is iso'ing badlimper with AQ, QT, or even 77 and was good enough to fold these hands.

Villain tanks for about 5 minutes, and then calls with TT (oops).

Heres where **** gets weird. Dealer then puts out blank turn and Ax river. Badlimper jumps up and flips KJ and is super pumped that he tripled up, villain has best hand with TTT. It is then brought to attn of dealer that he didn't burn a card, and that the turn and river need to be shuffled back through and redealt.

2nd deal: turn blank, river is a spade and boom goes the dynamite. Table goes ape****.

Hero scoops a 2k+ pot from badlimper and villain who tanked to make an awesome call and probably had his entire paycheck at the table.

I stfu and stack my chips and ask for an escort to my car at the end of the night, lol

I think I should have felt bad.

Nope, never.

No, because I know they'll happily take mine.

Well if the dealer didn't burn a card, then its still random the 2nd time, villain has no right to complain. Don't feel bad about it, I sure wouldn't.