You never see the other side of 'why' people bet what they do. I cashed in both RB FR's today finishing 43 and 18, but in both of them there were countless times that IF I had played those 'donkey' hands, I would have placed much higher. When you sit through dozens of hands watching terrible hands hit time after time, it gets frustrating.
Sure, you can't play them all the time, but when that side of a streak is running, how do you ignore it? Unfortunately, I resisted that urge and near the end it got even worse. Any good hand I had went south and every fold would have been a winner. Every impossible combination hit.
This isn't the first time, and won't be the last when Lady Luck just says "you shoulda bet, you donkey, hehe". When inexperienced players see this happen to them, I'm partly convinced that this accounts for a lot of the so called 'donkey' bets we see. They just hit so often that it makes those bets irresistable to the casual player.
Long run, you can't bet those hands all the time. But it sure explains why some people bet the way they do, counting on nothing more than a smile from 'ol Lady Luck. I almost bet a few of them, but said "NO, NO, NO" and promptly kicked myself for not doing it. Everything in poker seems to run in streaks, and hitting donkey hands can be one of those streaks.
Nuff said, I have to finish kicking my no-donkey-butt around the room... 
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5 comments
First of all, it sounds like you have a pretty handle on basic ***** - pot odds, drawing odds, etc. - along with a good understanding of the long term. Don't ever forget those things.
That said: be prepared to gamble sometimes. Times of your choosing. Make sure that you dictate those times, not the other players at the table. And trust your gut.
but now when you have pocket aces and are forced all in... you fold and would have gotten 4 of a kind... you should just go drink toilet water... really : P
myself, i love when 4 or 5 people limp in when i'm sitting on the SB with K4s, or 75s. I never get to play those hands, but this time I do. Yippee! and 900 times out of 903, I end up check/folding the flop, but it's so fun to take down a pot with crap, just because nobody had the balls to raise the dang blinds.
i guess i'm saying that i indulge my gambling urges in situations like that, where i'm getting huge odds to call, and have some semblance of a hand.