DO POKER GODS EXIST?

[MANTIS01]

Something remarkable happened to me during a £50 F/O tournament at my local casino on Sunday night. I will tell you about this in a moment.

The right-side of my brain is the dominant force in my life. So when playing poker my thoughts are ruled by theory, people, feel and I am inclined to believe in poker gods. People like Chris "Jesus" Ferguson are left-side brain orientated and play poker with far more emphasis on the mathematics of the situation. I wonder if people like Chris Ferguson believe in poker gods? Science Vs Mystical or Faith Vs Factual.

Following the excellent live coverage in Manchester at the weekend I couldn't help but think that El Blondie was destined to win. He could do no wrong and proceeded to win all the crucial races. And any of us who watched Jamie Gold literally cruise to victory in the WSOP Main Event must agree that his "luck" was quite extraordinary.

So Sunday night £50 Freezeout....

There are 10 players left, two 5-handed tables and I am the clear chip leader. It has been one of those rare days when literally everything has gone right. I have not lost a single pot so far! I feel calm, serene and quite certain I will win, and win in a canter.

I look down to see    and standard raise. The BB announces all-in immediately...for about 40% of my stack. Although I would almost always call in this situation I decided against it. I reasoned that it was the final table bubble, I was chip leader and did not need to gamble right here and right now. I declined an opportunity to play poker even though the tournament had been one big rush. 

My opponent showed    ....Quite weird in itself 5-handed

I can't explain it but things felt different after that. I played 4 further hands in the competition and lost all 4.

Hand 1:

   Vs    ...all-in pre-flop

...board          

Hand 2:

   Vs    ...all-in on a flop of     

....river 

Hand 3:

   Vs    ...all-in on a flop of     

....river 

Final Table & Hand 4:

Now short-stacked and push in SB with    ...BB calls with    .

I have never seen so many Aces and Kings. In fact I think that the dealer actually dealt out 10 or more community cards and they were all Aces and Kings. The board looked something like this  . And they weren't regular cards either....they were those big comedy cards Bruce Forsyth uses on Play Your Cards Right....or that's how it seemed anyway.

Driving home I was convinced that turning my nose up at the 10s gamble rankled the poker gods in some way. Before then I hadn't lost a pot but after that this ridiculous series of events occurred.

It would be interesting to know what the accumulated mathematical odds are of losing those 4 hands in that manner when the chips actually went in. I think the results would be quite freakish.

I would be intrigued to know whether other players actually believe in Poker Gods and how they work. And do religious poker players believe in poker gods or is that just blasphemy?

[matt674]

win lots of pots at the beginning of a tourney that perhaps you shouldn't have won followed by losing pots at the end that maybe you should have won.

Just sounds like the evil overlords "probability" and "law of averages" toying with you.

I'll carry on making my weekly chicken sacrifice though just to be on the safe side in case they do exist.

[kinboshi]

That's fête.

[Royal Flush]

People who say bad play gets rewarded should look at this thread, you did everything right then folded TT 5 handed, your bad play certainley didn't get rewarded!

[ItsMrAlex2u]

I wouldnt have folded the tens, but a bit harsh in your response there flushy to be honest. Esp to a fairly new member

[Rookie (Rodney)]

I wouldnt have folded the tens, but a bit harsh in your response there flushy to be honest. Esp to a fairly new member

lol did you expect anything less?

[redsimon]

I think he owes us £2..

[BigTomatoes]

I wouldnt have folded the tens, but a bit harsh in your response there flushy to be honest. Esp to a fairly new member

lol did you expect anything less?

 its starting to get to the point where you dont expect anything more

[Royal Flush]

I wouldnt have folded the tens, but a bit harsh in your response there flushy to be honest. Esp to a fairly new member

lol did you expect anything less?

 its starting to get to the point where you dont expect anything more

Be careful using this thread, George Bush is personally tracking it looking for those who know the 'truth' about 9-11!

[kinboshi]

Was it the Scandies?

[BigTomatoes]

 you can ignore me , you can laugh at me , you can slag me off , but you cant argue facts with me.

 thats why you have to resort to childish nonsense.

 pathetic.

[Royal Flush]

 you can ignore me , you can laugh at me , you can slag me off , but you cant argue facts with me.

 thats why you have to resort to childish nonsense.

 pathetic.

lol 'facts' do you mean internet videos?

[BigTomatoes]

 if you want to see some videos , i could show you hundreds.

 if you want to stay in your box , and believe your media / state fed propaganda tunnel vision views thats up to you
 
 either way , i couldnt really care. i know what i believe , if you believe otherwise thats your perogative.

 no need for the petty replies ,  snidy comments which your becoming famous for.

 i cant decide if your like a broken record or an old lady at the bingo bitching about her next door neigbour

[Royal Flush]

if you want to see some videos , i could show you hundreds.

 if you want to stay in your box , and believe your media / state fed propaganda tunnel vision views thats up to you

I have seen many, none of them are backed up with anything credible, like say some evidence.

I don't live in a box, nor do i intake any 'state fed propaganda' and i certainly don't have tunnel vision (that is what someone who believes all the media is state propaganda is suffering from)

I believe in things that are proven to me, not things that support any political or social agenda whether they are true or not.

[BigTomatoes]

 
 somebody is yet to prove to me the official version of things , and i have seen and read and studied so much material to the contrary i now consider the story weve been told as the conspiracy , but whatever , we could go round and round in circles all day.   

 anyway were getting off topic again

 i dont believe in poker gods as such mantis

 i do play by feel a lot of the time , but i also know my odds and calculate pot odds etc in different situations.

 sometimes you have to go with your read , sometimes if your getting 10 to 1 on a pot you call with any 2

 theres so many situations come up in poker , thats why we never get bored , thats why were all addicted to it.

 there is definitely luck involved , and as such , bad luck is involved , but i dont think it is due to some River Buddha deciding if you have good or bad Karma or wether your going to get 2 outered on a river.

 that im afraid is just mathematical and comes down to the deck of cards and the randomness of the shuffle etc

 thats my opinion anyway