Serious question, did my buddy just save me $500 at the poker table last night

I was heads up in a $1/$2 cash game at the card room near my place, down to the final hand with this guy who’d been bluffing all night. I had top pair, decent kicker, and was ready to shove my stack into a $200 pot when my buddy Kevin leaned in and whispered ‘He’s got a set, fold.’ I listened because Kevin reads people like a book, but part of me thinks I should have trusted my own read instead of his. He was right this time, the guy flipped over three sixes, but now I’m wondering if I’m losing my clutch instinct by leaning on friends in the moment. On one side, folding saved my chips and kept me in the game, on the other side, you gotta make those calls yourself to get better. Has anyone else had a spot where listening to a friend in a high pressure moment either saved you or made you second guess your own game?

2 comments

2 Comments

brooke5284d ago

Your buddy Kevin just saved your stack and your ego at the same time. $500 is a nice night's work for a whisper. But here's the thing - you're paying for his reads without getting the receipt. Trust your gut next time, even if it costs you. That's how you get out of $1/$2 and into bigger games.

evangarcia4d ago

...and that's exactly why I stopped trusting my brother's advice at the tables. He'd always lean over with some read, and half the time it was garbage. Last year he told me to fold queens preflop against this tight old guy, cost me a $400 pot when the guy flipped ace-king and missed everything. @brooke528 makes a solid point though, you gotta pay for your own lessons. Now I just put my headphones on and play my own game, even if it means losing more sometimes.