Why do we Call when we know we are Beat? w-h-i-n-e
I’m still scratching my head over a call I made Monday night. Sunday night I had won. Monday night I was feeling very focused and was on course to win and, then, I called a guy’s post-flop All In when I new I was beat. I mean I KNEW IT!
Game: No Limit Hold’Em
Runners: 38
There were 3 of us left at the final table. My opponent was the short stack and I was in the middle. The blinds were 3000/6000. I had 92000 in my stack after the blinds. My opponent had 56000.
I had limped in. My opponent had limped. The flop was something like 8 K 2. Two clubs. My opponent checked. I had Qs, so, I wanted to know if he had a K.
I bet 6x the Big Blind. He insta-called with a shove All In. So, my brain flashes to that Jenn Harman commercial when she tosses the K’s saying, “when you’re beat you’re beat”. So, it is clearly confirmed for me that he has a King.
I start out acting like I’m going to call… counting my chips and all. <– That’s what I wanted to do. Then I called! Huh? <– That’s not what I wanted to do 🙁
He immediately turned up a K and I was left begging for another Q.
Idiot! Lost 56000. It didn’t knock me out, but, it was the beginning of my demise as I was unable to re-build my stack fast enough. I beat myself on that hand. I wasn’t outsmarted and the cards didn’t beat me. I simply decided to defy the truth. I had asked the question and he had answered directly.
So what is it that makes us make the calls when we know that we are beat?
Is it ego? We want to be right so badly that we will call even if it is detrimental to our tournament life.
Is it because we are adventurous and want to be perceived as a dare-taker, living on the edge?
Are we junkies driven by the euphoric feelings we get upon sucking-out, so, we are willing to put our tournament life on the line?
Is it because we want to give our opponent a beating and put him in his place?
Or are we just cocky and feeling invincible because we have sucked-out in the past?
Are we acting deliberately, setting the stage for future hands and future games? Trying to manipulate perceptions?
Are we simply fatigued and disconnected with the outcome, so, 2nd or 3rd becomes good enough?
I don’t know what the cause is. I know that that one bad call overshadows the excellent decisions that I made throughout the first part of the tournament. Yesterday, it was that call that kept replaying in my head and not the 5 excellent plays I made earlier in the tournament that brought me to the final table.
I’ve seen Daniel Negreanu do it…and Scotty Nguyen. I’ve done it before, and hopefully, will not do it again for a long time.
What about you? Why do you think we make the calls when we know we are beat? Click the title of this post to go to the page where you can leave your thoughts.