Recall

Posted by wynn on Mar 12, 2010 in Bad Beats, Rounders | 0 comments

[This post is part of my series on Mike McDermott quotes from the movie Rounders]

“In Confessions of a Winning Poker Player, Jack King said ‘Few players recall big pots they have won, strange as it seems. But every player can remember with remarkable accuracy the outstanding tough beats of his career.’ Seems true to me. Because walking in here, I can hardly remember how I built my bankroll. But, I can’t stop thinking about how I lost it.”

Recall for poker players is a big deal. Remembering how you played certain hands with certain players on certain flops.

I can’t remember if I tipped the dealer 10 seconds after dragging a pot. But I can, for damn sure, recall bad beats from 10 years ago.

Remembering the outstanding tough beats on hands like A-9 suited to resist the temptation to play these types of trash hands.

Recall is also important when it comes to your opponents. I have a mental database on every player I ever played with in two or more sessions. And if a player should hand me a bad beat, I seek them out anytime we are in the same card room with a mission to get my money back.