Before I start this, I have to say that I'm not a great poker player; I'm probably not even a good poker player. I'm better than most people I know, I'd say I just scraped into the top three, but mostly because I only know two other people who play regularly. I know I'm not likely to ever turn professional and I'm certainly never going to win the WSOP (whether the W stands for World or Wigan), and yet I seem to come across people online who I assume are more experienced and definitely see themselves as superior players who struggle to grasp two very basic concepts.
1. If something can happen then sometimes it will happen and,
B. If someone bets like they've got a certain hand then it's probably not worth wasting a good chunk, or all, of your chips to find out if they're bluffing.
I suppose that gives me another thing to clarify. I've not yet managed to get these things into my own game. I'm way too curious to find out whether someone is trying to have me over. It's one of the major reasons that I'll not call myself a good player and it's got to the stage where I'm breathing a sigh of relief when some one in front of me calls the big bet that the big stack across the table has just made.
I know that the call in front of me, makes it more attractive for me to put some chips in, it certainly improves the odds I’m getting, but at the end of the day, it’s a whole lot cheaper to stand aside and watch the cards that would have busted my pair of Jacks hurt someone else instead.
Back to my point about these two concepts. Not only are they things that would allow me to step up my own game, they are ideas that would save a few others the odd heart attack or seven. The next time someone hits their gut shot on the river, ask yourself whether you could have played your hand better. If the answer is no, then learn something, if the answer is yes, then take a minute to get over it then get back to playing.
Blowing your stack does nothing but give the rest of the table a giggle.