in my micro stakes online game, i recorded some hands ive played. Now these players were wreckless, wild, overbet the pot, bluffed way too much had no starting hands, had no clue was positive and negative ev was, pot odds, implied odds basically didnt know anything about poker. I could tell by the calls they made how they bet etc. For one instance when we were going to ex showdown equity on the flop I would never continue w.o being ahead. But in the last couple of games it seems these players have gotten so lucky.

One play I had 1 pair and knew they had nothing on the flop. They go all the way to the river with absolutely nothing and catch a high card to beat me.Negative Ev play for them though correct?

Another play i have a pair on the board and they are way behind calling me with 3-5o and catch two runners to get 2 pair. Negative ev play in the long run for them right?


I jam all in with QJ and they jam with QT to catch a Ten. they catch a ten on the board and win.

Another play i have 33 and jam and they have k6 and catch a 66 on the flop.

another play preflop i jammed with AQ and the kave K8 and catch a 8 on the flop to win.

Another play we both have top pair of a king on board but i have higher kicker. I have king ten they ahve king 3. On the riber they catch a 3 to win the hand.

Basically these people in this microtstakes games never had beat me on the flop except for 2 occasions but made they hand on the river. Is this a true donkey?am i crazy or is this variance. Wasnt i the favorite to win every hand that i went in with? And i picked their hand ranges well because when i did jjam or call i always was the favorite by a pretty reasonable amount.I never went in unless i had over a 50 percent chance of winning. no fair fights. these people usually only caught cards on the river to win the hand. So up until the river i was leading by a signifiant amount and had the most equity. I should never ever play like that right? is this just a typical case of variance? or am i crazy?

basically i never would chase a draw with only 4-5 outs because i only ahve a 20 percent chance of winning. But it seems these people online were catching them. If i chased a draw i always had substantial outs to do so . These people would beat 3-4 times the pot and just were crazy. Sometimes they would block themselves out of chasing profitable draws because they manipulated the pot odds horribly to do even make it a mistake for them to call. And with these people i would always go for value bets but it seems like a couple times online these people got super lucky. And NO they were not hustlers they really were horrible. Is it just me or is this variance and if i want to be a poker player should expect this?

in microstakes games this kind of nonsense comes with the territory. youre going to catch more crazy beats because your going to be going to showdown against calling stations that never fold anything much more often than in "normal" stakes games. if youre getting your money in as a favorite thats all you can do. the results are beyond your control. just remember that just because you have the best hand you arent entitled to win the pot. youre entitled to a certain % of the pot (If the pots $100 and youre a 70-30 fav, youre equity is $70 not $100) that will find its way into your pocket in the longrun. just keep getting it in good and everything else will work itself out eventually.

If lots of players want to get to showdown that badly there will be way more suckouts, but also way bigger pots when they don't suck out which makes these the most profitable games (in blinds anyways ). Just keep doing the right thing, don't tilt from their lucky mistakes and don't stop playing your A-game just because they aren't as good as you are and you'll be better than fine.

Why are you shoving qj or 33, with qj you will usually only get called by a hand that dominates or your a coinflip at best, 33 you are always a coinflip or 80% to lose. -ev plays

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree. Your assumptions are also true 99% of the time.

But against OP's opponents that call with K6o... They'll also call K7, K8, K9, 64o for all I know. All these hands you have about 55% equity. If stacks are short and there is already a bit of a pot it's +EV.

Oh well, anyways. Don't jam with QJ or 33 unless stacks are very short.

You described some horrible plays. You also know that they were bad beats you say so yourself. You got your money in ahead, but were probably lucky to do so since you're not ahead of much w/ QJ or 33.

Stop whining, go to the strategy forums for your respective game, and get better at poker.

oh no i was short stacked when I jammed with 3-3 and AJ. they had a 2-1 chip lead over me becaus ei made a huge value bet on the river when they caught a jack being a calling station. Both times i had to jam with these i made value bets on the river that lost because of a suckout so i had to jam when they had a 2-1 chip lead over me

Are you talking about cash games or sng's. If cash then just rebuy and your not a short stack!

I bet for every one of the above example there was probably 4 hands that you won (statistically). They don't stick in your memory like suckouts though.

If you feel you are the unluckyest player in the world and you are losing you are likely to be giving your opponents too big implied odds by either putting in too little money to stop them from drawing profitably or by putting too much money in when you are beat.

People that will draw to any out will lose a lot on early streets and only win when they get there. Maximise the money they lose when drawing and minimise the money they win by not paying them off when they get there. Of couse it's hard to know so when they make to pair on the turn with a 3 .

solution: go all in because you know they will call..

oh i hate this!!! main reason why people are beating my AK

A few points:
* If you get your money in ahead, don't think twice about it. To be a good poker player, you have to have mental toughness.
* mark these people as fish and look for them whenever you play. You make a lot of money off these people in the long run.
* Luck evens out eventually (not in a few sessions obviously).
* when at a table with loose aggro fish, tighten up a little, wait til you hit a flop hard and bust them. Suckouts happen.
* always rebuy in full to bust them. You are in microstakes - no excuse for not buying in full with fish at the table. If this is a problem, you don't have an adequate bankroll.
* if these people tilt you, move up where they are far fewer of them. But after playing some solid players, you will wish you were back at a table full of lucky fish.

Happy angling.

Not knowing whether you were playing Cash, S & G or MTT, it's hard to give an accurate answer IMO.

If you are playing cash with players like this and are pushing with the hands you mentioned preflop, you need to look at your game rather than your opponents. With players at these lower limits that will chase bad draws, attach to weak Aces/Face cards, etc., you are taking away any advantage you might have if you consider yourself to be a better player by moving in preflop.

There are a few ways to play these types of players. Play tight and wait because they won't notice whether you play every pot or every 20th. Flop big and bust them, miss the flop and try again later.

Myself, I'd see lots of flops and when I hit, string them along and take all their money knowing they won't lay down.

Just some of my thoughts....