A Mistake by Any Other Name Is Still a Mistake

  Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke had a hell of a coming out party during the 2007 Aussie Millions. Basically he hung around in hands he had no business winning and got luckier on the river than Moses did the day an Egyptian princess found him floating in the Nile and decided to call him sonny boy. On the plus side he came in second, won a boatload of money, and started to make a name for himself outside of cyberspace. The downside is that very little of his success had anything to do with skill.  We are not taking anything away from Mr. Fricke, he is a fine player and had the stones to walk a tournament tightrope without a net and was fortunate enough to have it all turn out well for him, but most of what he did was a mistake.  A good example of this was a hand he played against the eventual winner of the 2007 Aussie Millions, Gus Hansen. Gobboboy was holding an encouraging Ad/Jc while Gus had a suited 3/2, both spades. The flop was an 8h/4s/3c. This gave Hansen a pair of threes and Jimmy a whole lot of nothing, but he just kept calling Hansen's bets. The turn was a Qd, and Gus bet 330k. Even with nothing to really hang his hat on, Fricke called the bet. This was a mistake. Under most circumstances he probably would have lost a lot of money by calling the bet. Luck took over and he caught an Ace on the river, and won the hand.  This is an aberration and not the norm. If you suck out a win of this type, consider yourself lucky and don't let it become an event that reinforces bad play. Recognize a mistake for what it is, even if it turns out well for you.