Learning Discipline

Hey guys, I've got a general question and two hands to show you. First, the hands:
EDIT:The hand converter took out the stack sizes, but the villains and I have about 100bb in both hands.
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FullTilt Poker NL $0.02 Texas Hold'em (9 handed)
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is BB with Kc Ac
4 folds,
HJ calls $0.02,
CO folds,
Button calls $0.02,
SB calls $0.02,
Hero raises to $0.12,
HJ folds,
Button calls $0.12,
SB folds

Flop: 6c 7h 4c ($0.28, 2 players)
Hero bets $0.28, Button calls $0.28

Turn: 5s ($0.84, 2 players)
Hero bets $0.84, Button raises to $1.68, Hero calls $1.68


I had been butting heads with this guy a little bit, and had an okay read on him. He would call just about anything to see the flop, but would drop it pretty quickly if he missed it completely.

On the flop, I bet to get some money in the pot for my flush draw. Also, I had him pegged for a face card and something random. He typically raised his pairs on the button. So, his range was probably [AKQJ]4s-[AKQJ]T. Because he called, I figured he either had: a pair, a straight draw, or a worse flush draw.

The turn is where I started really being stupid. I made the bet without much thought. When he plays back at me, I should definitely have folded, but I didn't, even though his range easily gave him a complete straight. I was just hoping to get lucky and hit the flush.

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FullTilt Poker NL $0.02 Texas Hold'em (9 handed)
Pre-flop: (9 players) Hero is HJ with Ad Kh
4 folds,
Hero raises to $0.08,
2 folds,
SB calls $0.08,
BB folds

Flop: 2d 6h Ks ($0.18, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.12, SB calls $0.12

Turn: Qc ($0.42, 2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.28, SB calls $0.28

River: Qh ($0.98, 2 players)
SB bets $0.65, Hero calls $0.65

Final pot: $2.28

SB: ($1.62)
Hero: ($2.05)

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I was starting to get a read on this player. In this spot I think he's playing any Broadway with an 8 or higher, and pairs up to 9's.

I bet for value on the flop and when he called; my inclination was that he had a dominated King. I felt good about the hand so far.

The Queen comes on the Turn, and KQ is solidly in his range, but it doesn't worry me too much, although I definitely remember thinking about it. I bet for value again here, but think I could have made it a bit larger.

And the River. I distinctly remember saying to myself, "Dude, he's got a Queen. You have to fold!" And then I clicked CALL. Aside from that, I think that I played this hand okay... although I don't like the Turn too much.

In both of these hands, I made obviously stupid calls, and in both cases I knew that I should have laid down. My purpose in posting these hands is mainly to embarrass myself into not making such poor decisions. But I would appreciate general critiques of the hands, as well!

My question is, does anybody have suggestions about how to fight this? Any Zen tricks for dulling your emotions? In bigger pots like these, I am trying to force myself to verbalize my line of reasoning during the hand, but I'm just not quick enough to do so before time runs out. (Ex. "Okay, I am going to raise him here because I think he missed his flush draw, and I can take the pot now.") Thanks in advance for your help!

Hand 1

Most of villain's calling range on the flop has you beat on the turn. There are a lot of two pair hands and gut shots that connected.

Hand 2

If villain had raised the turn, you might have considered a fold, but I generally think the hand is fine.

Any Zen tricks for dulling your emotions?

There were articles I was going to link you from the Poker Training>Poker Psychology section of FTR, but they arent there. They were there last week, because I read them, and they helped me a ton. Anyone know what happened to them?

Yeah, with both of these hands, it was like I had already made up my mind before seeing the cards. I was swearing to myself as soon as I clicked the button.

Hand 1- Check/jam on turn is so much better than bet/call. You obv don't mind getting all in with your NFD + overs draw, and when getting it in with a draw it's a lot better EV-wise if you're putting the last bet in since you're going to have a decent amount of fold equity on a board like this. He can stab with overs, his own club draw that he'll bet/call with that we have dominated. He might bet/fold two pair, TP, a small overpair or a set (probably not a set though lol).

Hand 2, fine as played. Fold to any aggression after the flop obv, but betting both of these streets is massively +EV

Originally Posted by dranger7070

when getting it in with a draw it's a lot better EV-wise if you're putting the last bet in since you're going to have a decent amount of fold equity on a board like this

This makes a lot of sense, thanks!

A further thought: In this particular hand, I feel like I would lose some of that fold equity for the straight because I represented a different range preflop. Is this correct?

They probably aren't thinking like that. They'll just see the 4 to a straight and fold lol, but you can still rep 66-AA so you do have a couple sets and a lot of overpairs.