…running really bad is harder, running really bad is even harder. I’m glad that the running really really bad seems to be over, although I’m still in the bad level “orange”…example from an early SnG hand…he’s short and calls my raise preflop (!)…he then pushes on the the flop…I push over the top..all fold…

So not only did he call short preflop with T6o out of position, no, he also pushes on the flop with second pair no kicker and hits the turn and river like a champ. Nicely played sir. You just made my day…NOT. So instead of sitting second in chips with five players, I’m sitting with 1k with six players. Win some lose some and I’m in for the exit in 5th with A10 vs AQ…too bad I was the BB…too bad he was the SB…too bad there was an Ace on the flop…too bad that I didn’t smell it…oh well…what else is new. The next one was quite similar. Lost some big pots with the best hand, then donk-trapped myself to make yet another 5th place exit.

I then gave myself a last shot in a HU match, which I ultimately won once his card-luck ran out…he pushed his flopped MPNK into my overpair…but before that…wow…no chance the turn and/or river didn’t hit him BIG, no matter what I bet on the flop or preflop…sometimes I wonder if you have to play donkey-strategy to win at those donkey levels…then again…I was winning consistently before this bad run…playing how I always play(ed)…patient but aggressive when the hand(s) commanded it…

On another note: I don’t know if it’s all the “bad luck” I experienced recently, but in the six-handed games tonight, I felt like I lost it. I just couldn’t put some opponents on hands, even after some orbits. Now this isn’t out of the ordinary if you consider that some of the opponents you face at the donk levels are soooo out of it that it’s next to impossible to put them on a hand, but still. I feel like the cards are against me and the rest is going with it…maybe it’s time to do something different…maybe I’ll try to get my feel back by playing some MTTs again…or maybe even some cash games…we’ll see…

…at least that’s what I keep telling myself and it worked out pretty good tonight – not that I won anything, close but no cigar, but at least I took the usual beats with a smile. So, basically…I’m still trying to get back to normal, but things aren’t coming together, at least not yet.

Just like I promised myself (and you, my readers), I didn’t play a single hand of poker over the entire weekend and tbh, I didn’t miss it all that much either. I guess that’s easy to say when you’re running as bad as I was/am. But really, it made me think that maybe I should incorporate the “poker-free day(s)”-concept into my playing schedule, after all the consistent grind can wear you out, especially if you take the worst of it on such a cold run. If you’re running bad enough, everything will go wrong…but I’ll come back to that topic later.

Before I get to a closer look of tonight’s session, I’d like to take a moment to talk about some other poker related things.

1. I started to read Navarro’s book on tells (or “non-verbal behaviour”) and so far, I really like it. Some of the things he’s talking about in the first pages of the book make you wonder: How many of these things have I thought about so far? Did I spot something like this before? As I said, I’m just through the first twenty odd pages and after the introduction and everything he’s talking about the most reliable source of tells…the feet…lol…never thought of that before…but if you think about it and watch closely…he may be on to something here…although looking under the table as the flop/turn/river comes down isn’t a real possibility…although he comes up with some hints about how to spot it anyway…I’m really looking forward to the rest of the book and one thing’s for sure: this stuff can and probably will improve my live-game…although it takes work! But I’m up for the challenge…

2. Although I’m currently running bad, I’m still going to do whatever it takes to keep online poker alive, hmm, that sounds a little weird, maybe I should rephrase that to “I’m going to support the people who will do whatever they can/it takes to keep online poker alive”. So I joined the PPA a while ago (see here) and on saturday my “welcome package” arrived. It contained a letter, the membership card, a pin and a nice T-Shirt…maybe I’ll get around to take a pic of the stuff tomorrow…to make a long story short: Because I’m over here in Europe this whole US legislation doesn’t affect me personally (apart from the fact that good games could be hard to come by in the next weeks/months), but I’m not too blind to see that one thing could lead to the next and before you know it, the games dry up for good and other countries could adopt a similar stance on online poker and I don’t want that to happen. Think about it, even if that doesn’t happen, it’s still going to be a loss. Online players turn into “full time live players”, full time live players have no hand histories, no tools to track their play (to the same extent as in online poker) and before you know it, other stuff, like poker blogs, disappear too…and although that might increase workplace productivity, it would be a real shame. So, if you are (remotely) serious about your (online) game, join the PPA!
3. Full Tilt’s downtime on sunday: Bad but good. Why? Just go back and read the second paragraph. As I promised myself not to play any poker this weekend, I would have missed the bloggerpods tourney on Full Tilt, fortunately (for me) they had some server issues, so the tourney had to be postponed. I guess it’ll be played next weekend and I’m looking forward to it. Maybe I’ll get close like last time, maybe I’ll get the junk kick earlier, maybe no junk kick at all and I listen to my favourite jams on an ipod soon…who knows…one way or another, this is a cool tourney, thanks again to PokerOnAMac for hooking us up!

As for tonight’s session…I started with some “new stuff”. A cheap-ass triple shootout to the sunday million. Two bucks, short handed, chance to take down one of two seats. The first table was a real up and down and when all was said and done, I took it down. Almost an hour played, shorthanded, didn’t make any bad decisions (had to push one time with a marginal hand, because I got short, but that worked out okay…and not really a bad decision…or is it if you’re “forced to play”?). The next table was totally different though. Four out of the other five players where really “pushy”. The played almost every hand and the deck wasn’t too kind to me. I started out with the best…didn’t connect…had to let it go, time and time again. Made my exit with a 60/40 kind of hand, so not really a bad beat…it just wasn’t meant to be, but at least I got an hour of play…out in 22nd of 216.

After that I decided to try a three-table SnG and play was worse than I could imagine in my worst nightmare, really, it was THAT bad. I kicked one player out before getting my junk kicked yet again by a lovely two outer. Oh well, what else is new.

After that I went to the HU section and thought I’d give it a whirl. It was a good match, although it was kind of boring, not much between my opponent and me…first in usually takes the pot as we were battling 6-high vs 7-high on a regular basis. He was cool though, we chatted a little and I predicted that soon enough it’ll come down to one hand and to quote Scotty Nguyen “…it’s going to be all over” and I said it’s probably going to be something of the regular HU-nature, two pair vs set or something. Guess what? I was right…lol…although this isn’t too hard to predict either as it’s basically around a 33% shot (either that, T/M/BPxK vs x or monster vs monster are the usual scenarios).

I hold A4o on the button and I fire it up to 3x preflop…he calls…pot is 180 (blinds 15/30). Flop comes down A46 rainbow. Groovy! He leads out with a pot-sized bet (180). I reraise to 480, he insta-calls. Hmm…pot is 1140 (of the 3k in play) and the turn is blank (8)…he checks…I bet 400…he calls…pot is now 1940…so there’s basically no way the money isn’t going all-in…river is Kh…he pushes…now I’m worried about a small range of hands here…either AA (which would be a real cooler with the case Ace on board), AK (which would suck less, but still suck)…or he could have made a really bad call on the flop and turn and hit a set here (KK)…or I totally misjudged the situation and he had a hand similar to mine and his kicker plays as well (A6, A8)…or coolered by a flopped/turned set (44, 66, 88)…man, if you’re running bad…too many (bad) scenarios creep into your mind…maybe he has a hand that would make sense here, which is second best (AQ, AJ, A10, A9, …)…I make the crying call…and he shows?….KK for the set…now, if he any other hand mentioned above…I go straight to my closet, get out a hat and write “payoff wizard” on it…but KK…come on…two outs…again…sigh…now I don’t want to sound like a broken record here and repeat it over and over…but I just can’t help myself…why oh why? Why….oh why?

I guess the (short) weekend break wasn’t enough, as I can’t stand it…at least not any better than last week…I find myself in the same spot, complaining, moaning about the bad luck, feeling empty and annoyed and (maybe) annoying you with it…maybe I’m waaaay to deep into it all atm and I should take a longer break from it all? Maybe I should just learn to deal with it in another way? Maybe I shouldn’t play anymore at all? I really don’t know, one thing I know for sure though is the reason for all of this: I care about winning! I care about making good decisions! I care about “being better”! I care about beating my opponent(s)! I want to win every game I’m playing! I expect to win if I outplayed my opponent(s)! (I despise people “stealing” from me! I despise people making horrible plays and still winning with it! …) …I care about winning!
Maybe a bit too much – at least for a poker player?! Most certainly, as this whole “correct decision, correct play, wrong outcome, no reward”-stuff is still taking too big a toll on me. There’s no such thing as justice in poker – love it or hate it. All poker players do both…you love it when you’re running good and/or if you made a good/great play and it worked out, you hate it when you’re running bad and/or if you made a bad play or a good/great play that isn’t rewarded. The best way to deal with this fundamental “flaw” of poker, would be to be totally indifferent to results.

I’m trying to get there…but hell, it’s not easy, no, it’s HARD…and how could it be any other way?

He’s back…but just for a quickie. Stuck to my original plan not to play and full table SnGs today, only played two HU matches and no, luck didn’t change a bit, I will spare you going into too much detail as it’s obvious that I’m on a nasty unlucky downswing…so what’s the point of repeating the same sentiment over and over again (just two quick examples: K4 vs K5…flop KK5…we both slow play each other into oblivion and by the third min-re-raise I call to see the grim news…I still wonder how I could not go broke on that one; A2 vs 45 (happened twice in the same match) flop A24…major betting…turn 3….no, I didn’t go broke the first time, the second time did me in though)…

So…just a quick note that I won’t be playing this weekend, not a single SnG, not a single MTT, not a single hand, period. I think this is the kind of unlucky spell that you can’t play through, so why ruin my weekend? I’ll probably see you all at the WWdN on tuesday…until then…may all your monsters hold up and your opponents draw dead 😉

Played a nice little session at PokerStars tonight and boy, the cards and chips were in the air and luck was swingy, swingy, swingy. I started the session with some HU play and everything started on a bad luck trip. Lost the first match to an absolute fish who couldn’t even spell poker, lol, good for him that his cards could everytime he needed help, he got it. Not good. The next match was similar, although I can’t blame my opponent for that one, I blame myself and the deck. Some serious set over set on an all-rag flop etc and I was in a deep hole early. Fought my way back, just to run into another cooler. Not good either. The next to matches were better. Won the first one by value-betting my hands to death and the calling station was more than happy to pay off hand after hand. He did get lucky once or twice, but in the end I won it. The fourth one was similar, bet bet bet bet bet…win.

After that I tried out some 6-handed action, after all this whole “strictly HU” isn’t going to cut it in the long run. In the monetary sense it probably could as my winning rate is currently at 55% (it was higher, but due to some bad luck recently, it’s dropped quite a bit) – so after rake I’m still up, but considering the time spent on the tables, it’s not really good…apart from the fact that all those luckboxes sucking out on me is taking it’s toll (for those of you following my adventures, it was kind of the same at bodog, where I played HU matches with a vengeance and totally kicked ass…then the winning rate started to drop into the 5x-60%ish area and all the sucky sucky stuff made me pause my play there). So, I kicked some ass in the short-handed game, too. Down to headsup (ITM) and I’m sitting in the chiplead. It is a real push-fest early on and I fold fold fold. Once I pick up a decent hand I go with it, no chance. Same game again, no chance. Then I go into push modus myself and I can’t catch anything either. So I finish second. Not bad, but not really groovy either considering the 65% / 35% payout structure. Oh well, can only play what the cards give me.

After that I considering calling it quits for the night, but I didn’t. I saw that a 15+1 WSOP turbo DS satellite to sunday’s 650$ qualifier was about to start, so I jumped in. The full hundred players entered, so to advance to the final table you had to get through 9 players. I did well early on, won some small pots and waited for a good chance to double up. I tried to with AQ from the cutoff, no such luck…BB wakes up with Aces…they hold up. So I’m sitting on 250…and as the blinds are already up to 100/200, there’s no point in waiting for the next monster. I get the coveted 74o, 92o etc in the next hands though, so I wait for the next best spot. It comes once I’m UTG…I think that my A7 s00ted should be good enough to win a hand…although there are three callers…not really surprising with the blinds at 100/200 and the winner takes all format. I’m happy to win the main pot once I rivered a third seven. Sucky sucky, outy outy. I likey! *lol* So that’s when my luck started to turn around. I got good hand after good hand and took down pot after pot, knocking out player after player in the process. Once we’re down to three-handed, the other “medium to big”-stack knocks out the third player though, so he enters headsup with a 3-2 chiplead. It all comes down to two hands. He plays his hand perfectly with Kx…he pops it preflop…I call it with my A7o…flop comes down K7x…he bets…I call…turn is another blank…and he pushes…now I’m stuck…either get the money in and hope to be ahead/suck out, or fold and play the next hand blind with the blinds at 400/800 about to go to 600/1200 the chances of “playing” with a 2.xk stack isn’t all that great. So I push in and he flips his Kx…then something out of the ordinary happens….7…ding ding ding, slot-machine 7-7-7, boom headshot! I sucked out big time. Wow. Feels great, now I know why all the others are always that elated when the suck out on me, it feels great. Getting lucky is the new good these days, lol. So I’m up 5-1 in chips and in the next hand it’s all over…I hold an A6…poor opponent pushes in with his 44 and the aces on the flop is all it took. Wow again…I won a coin-flip in a crucial pot and that after sucking out BIG TIME the hand before that. Wow.

I like! So…I wait until the last table finishes and we’re off to the races at the final table. Top 2 will receive their entry (or 650T$)…third and fourth win 72$, 5th 56$…6-10 is out of luck. The table starts off with a bang, the very first and people are shoving like crazy…I’m a little surprised to see 78o win against 910o…well played sirs..*lol*…so we’re down to nine handed and we got an early 2-1 chipleader. I wait and wait and fold and fold and people are playing like crazy…I wonder if I should sit back and let them shoot themselves in the foot…before I can think about it though, it’s all over…A8 vs AK…no miracle for me…and I finish in 8th…the luck-cycle has indeed come full circle in this one…bad luck (AQ vs AA)…good luck (coming back from 250 chips to win the first table)…to bad luck (A8 vs AK)…oh well…what can you do? Now that I’m writing this I’m really a little confused. I guess it all comes down to strategy here. As it’s a turbo, you can’t wait for the nuts till eternity, so you need to get your move on sooner or later, but was A8 s00ted really worth risking all the chips? I guess not really as I watch the table after I bust out, it becomes pretty obvious that at least four of the players have (a little more) shootout experience. Two of those four are firing relentlessly, every second or third hand they’re in there mixing it up. One of them was the early chipleader, so it was pretty easy for him. He picked up small pot after small pot and then some bigger ones when he really had a hand and ppl were tired of being pushed around. I guess he as on the “good side” of luck. The other player firing all the time was similar, he got is money in without looking back and it worked out – and even more important, they were playing for the ticket. The other two sat back and watched the carnage. One of the two was especially clever, he didn’t play a single hand. He just sat there and mucked, mucked mucked. After the bubble burst he laughed about it and said he didn’t have any cards to play, which I doubt. He was just a little more clever than some others, including me. Well, one things for sure, they weren’t really playing for the two tickets, they were more worried about getting the money and then…if it happens…it happens…in this case it didn’t happen as they were not able to come back from such a big chip disadvantage (the two players firing like crazy held a combine 7k of the 9k in play)…but at least they made a profit.

So, am I mad about my play. Hmm…tough question. I would say, yes and no. The spot I picked, was as good as any other. I held a decent hand, folded to me…I pop it, get repopped by a big-stack…which could mean any two cards…I thought I was ahead…I wasn’t…too bad. So, the only thing that I could be mad about is that I got involved in the hand(s) at all. I could have sat back, just like the other one, and watched the carnage for a little longer (with blinds at 25/50 and a 1.4k stack there’s no need to rush it, yet). Then again…tbh I played to win a ticket (read 650T$ to fuel my SnG run), it didn’t work out…so basically it’s the old dilemma…you may want to, but you can’t have your cake and eat it too 😉

Well, I didn’t play all that much today and really, there isn’t much to tell without heading straight down “cold deck street”…one thing’s for sure…Ace rag is the new nuts, no matter at which level you play and even if you hit an Ace…Ace rag will still prevail as it’s such a powerful hand, maybe even more powerful than two s00000ted cards 😉

Anyway…one upside of the junk kickings at Stars today was the fact that I finally cleared the anniversary reload bonus…so the junk kicking is on PokerStars tonight, both figuratively and literally. After that depressing session at Stars (2W 6L), I head over to FullTilt to see if they finally managed to put some of the hog-wild donks back into their stable. Not really is the correct answer. What does it take to beat a really bad player? 1. The bad player must hit at least his TPNK 2. You must catch some cards. If it’s the other way around (let’s say AKs preflop, or 99 preflop, or similar) noone will fold to a 3x or 4x pop, why should they? They’ve got two cards! Two cards! …and if that wasn’t enough, they’re usually s00000ted…and below T…so why not? If you’re happy to flop top two then on a two-gapper-like board, rest assure that mr. donkey has either hit the jackpot, with or without even noticing it, or at least has got something “real players” call outs (usually < 4)...so mr. donkey will call you no matter what you do. Solution to this problem: Wait for the nuts...and while you're waiting...rest assured that if you have the nuts, the donk will have zilk for shizzle-dizzle...and it doesn't matter if you're playing for 1$, 2$, 5$ or 10$, believe me, I've tried them all... 😉 Oh well...enough ranting...I'm done with FullTilt for now (less than five bucks left in there)...so I don't have to worry about their donks anymore (at least for now)...and I sure hope that I can get some better results at Stars over the next few days, as these bad swings really tend to make me wanna slap somebody, lol...good luck at the tables all...

Well, I don’t want to bore you too much today, so only a quick post. Played some more HU today and in the very first hand I got coolered (88 vs KK). Then in the second match I was coolered again…but I sucked out (88 vs 1010…I made an ugly four-flush). From there on out I just went on a total tear and annihilated opponent after opponent, winning another three straight until I headed out for footie training and some drinks. After I came back I managed to squeeze in another three matches (2-1)…so I’m very happy with today’s results and my play…nuff said…

Honestly, I didn’t even want to play tonight. Then I logged on to see if anyone was around. I see that CC’s Thursday Bash is about to start, I hesitate though as it’s early in the morning and I don’t really want to play for long. So I go to my usual feeding grounds, the HU SnGs. In the first match I still feel the effect of yesterday’s session – maybe you know the feeling when you got sucked out on so bad and in such rapid succesion that you don’t know what to do with marginal hands. “Could it be that he got me again on the (turn/river)?”  and other similar thoughts creep up on you. Indeed he did get me sometimes on the turn and river, but you can credit that to some hesitation on my part. Normally I, at least try to, let my opponents dance to my rhythm…controlling the action, keeping pots small with marginal hands or draws…getting the money in with a (near) lock. Today that rhythm was still a little off, so no big deal that I messed up the first match.

In the second match I shook that off and after a long battle, with some nice suckouts on both sides, I was finally able to score the W. I totally controlled the action and I even picked up some bluffs – nothing better to boost your confidence when you pick of a big bluff with Queen-High…

The third match was even better. Not only did I play good, apart from two bad calls, but my opponent was the kind of opponent I would like to see more often. Not because he was weak, he wasn’t. But because he knew how to behave himself without the banter and shit. He played a good game and after a long fought battle of over a hundred hands I finally conquered him. I see a free flop in the BB with 8h2h….we’re almost even in chips and there are 200 in the pot. Flop comes down Ac8c2d…push comes to shove and he shows the A7o…basically no redraw except the 6 outs…none of them hit and I take down the monster pot. I’m up 2700 to 300 and then something unexpected happens. Usually ppl will play a mean shortstack pushing every hand, sometimes getting lucky and doubling up…maybe even more than once. So I wasn’t ready to mark it as a W yet, but my opponent did. He typed gg in the chatbox and folded to my reraise. He then folded the SB. He then folded the BB. In the next hand he was all-in with 50 and we chopped…next hand he was auto-allin and I won the pot and the match.

Now I don’t advise anyone to do that, after all you can get lucky and if you double up with such a small stack, you’re up to 600….one double-up more and you’re back in contention. Still I wasn’t exactly going to stop him from folding 😉

So…I finish the night with 2-1…and I’m ready to hit the tables again…maybe not tomorrow…but I’ll certainly play a match or two once weekend time rolls around…good luck everyone…

Well, I guess I should have seen it coming after being put in the freezer after 30 minutes in the WWdN, but I didn’t. My first and only mistake today was that I broke one of my oldest rules: If you play well and get cold-decked and/or unlucky in the first x matches, log off and never look back. So, basically I should have quit after the first three matches, but I didn’t, so that’s on me, but the hands that went down, unbelievable. This is officially the sickest day I’ve experienced so far. Unless I held the stone-cold nuts, there was no way I was going to win the big ones. The small ones, yes, as my opponents had nothing in those hands, but the big ones? Not a single one of them.

The first two matches ended in similar fashion: jab, grabble…slightly down in chips…let’s flip it…opponent shows 10d-10c….I lose. 0-1. Second match goes down the same way…let’s flip it…opened shows 10d-10c…now I don’t get out my tinfoil hat, but what are that chances of that happening (and don’t even get me started on the “the deck has no memory” crap, ty)?! Result…tens hold up…I lose. 0-2

Third match was quite interesting too. I’m ahead a little (less than 300 chips) and I get my money in…with A10 s00ted on a 10 high board…turn gives me a flush draw…river is blank…opponent shows? 10-10…I can’t remember the suits and I’m too lazy to look it up, but wouldn’t surprise me if it was 10d-10c 😉

Oh well..down 0-3. The next match is the classic freezer. Opponent min-raises…I call with 10-3o…flop comes down K-10-3….opponent bets BIG…now I’m stuck, how can I lay this down? What beats me here…KK…why would he lead with such an overbet (unless he’s an absolute donk)…so I rule that out. AK…more than likely…so I call…he shows? K10o…ty very much…. Down 0-4. The fifth match, just before footie practice is an episode of “I’m on tilt, I know it, but I don’t care, let me just punish this dude and if not, I can always blame the cold deck”…I promptly lose and I’m steaming. Time to head out to footie practice. Now, this is totally unrelated to poker, but as soon as I head out to get in the car I notice that the central locking system isn’t working. Hmm…weird…all digital gages aren’t working…hmm…starter…dead. Nice. Wouldn’t surprise me, but then again I had the same problem last week and I put in a new battery and everything seemed to work just fine for the last week. Not so much today. My resident car guru tells me that it’s probably the generator. Damn! So I’m stuck without a car, but I’m more than happy to borrow my dad’s car. BMW 730i…time to cruise, lol.

After footie training I’m cooled off and after watching the latest episodes of Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker I’m ready to roll again. My goal is not to get even, but to get back just a little. Finishing this horror day on a high note would be really appreciated. Haha, says the dealer and throws everything at me that he can find in the freezer deck. Despite that I win the first match easily against a player who would make a rock look loose. Nice, so I jump into the second match of the “evening session” and shit hit’s the fan once again. I’ve honestly not seen so many draw-outs since Antonio Esfandiari vs Todd Brunson in the third match of the Poker Superstars III final. We played three bigger pots. I shoved three times with the best hand. He drew out on me three times. How did he do it? Backdoor flush, backdoor flush and flush on the turn with three dominated aces. Nice job sir, fry in hell! 🙂

So I’m sitting there…thinking…quit or try just one more match in an effort to at least finish one session up ahead. It all came down to one big hand again…the hach (73o) vs 10-4 s00ted….flop comes 7-10-3 rainbow…push comes to shove and we get it in…turn 4….river 4…not that he needed it. Thank you very much again sir, I’ll leave now before I crap on your virtual felt.

So…what does this teach us:

1. There’s no justice in poker (Who didn’t know that?)

2. If you’re cold, you’re cold and there’s shit you can do about it.

3. Even the most sophisticated play, even the most solid play, even the biggest advantage can’t win you a thing if you’re not 100% to win the hand.

4. Poker is a game of skill…that’s the skill to stay sane while continuing to play [ in the long run I will get it all back, in the short run shit like this is still hard to take… 😉 ]
This rant has been brought to you by cold-deck 2000, the premier pocket deck-freezer, exclusively used at PokerStars.com and a crappy ass 1 minute photoshop job….*lol*…good night 😉

*lol* Played some nice matches tonight. Played some of my opponents like a fiddle, got played by the deck in the others. Now I’m not one to argue that yeah, paying off, is kind of an error on my part, then again…if I crap my pants with a “monster” shorthanded or headsup I might as well stop playing…so…conclusion: Sometimes you’re bound to lose (your money) and there’s shit you can do about it…still makes me mad when a douche who can’t even spell poker (*lol*) is hitting like crazy and there’s nothing you can do but either pay it off or fold till eternity…
I leave you with my last hand which is presented by the “classic four-handed wheeee your hand was good enough to make the second best hand Inc.” 😉

Oh wheeeeeeee….played good for the most part tonight, just couldn’t help but pay some hands off. This is the ugliest part of poker if you ask me, hands where you just know you’ll have to pay your opponent off. Happened to me time and time again in one of the matches, just couldn’t catch a break. 10-10 vs JJ, AQ vs AK, etc…those are hands headsup where there’s not much choice, especially with heavy raising and reraising, whatcha gonna do? Lose. Oh well, I’ll remember what it feels like next time I hold the better hand in such a spot  😉