"Wishing and Hoping" is not a viable strategy in Texas Holdem Poker

I see this a lot in tournaments with a small buy-in. An aggressive player will go all in repeatedly and pick up small pots for a while. Ultimately they go all in and someone calls with a better hand and they are gone. Is it because the buy-in is small? Or are they just  "wishing and hoping"?

Same thing happens with a sizeable pot and someone goes all-in with a fllush or straight draw. It can pay off and does from time to time but does it pay off often enough to make it worthwhile? If you have A X suited and the flop comes up with two of your suited cards, this is worth pursuing some of the time. Especially if you are ahead in the chip count and the price to see the next card is not excessive.

But I see players with two small suited cards pursue the flush when all indications are that someone who is calling has the A and even if they hit they will lose. Also the straight they are pursuing is on the bottom end and a possible high end straight is on the board. They are betting based on "wishing and hoping" that they will hit and it will be good. Sometimes it works out but most of the time it will not.

Recently I had Q 3 of diamonds and  10 J 4 diamonds came up on the flop. I bet modestly and one player called. Then the K of diamonds came on the turn. I bet again and he called. The 8 of spades came up on the river and then my opponent made a pot-sized bet. I called and sure enough he had the A of diamonds and took the pot.

Was I wishing and hoping?

Not really. He could have had a lower diamond and my Q would have been good.

Should I have gone all in when I flopped the flush?

I had more chips than my opponent so he may not have been willing to call an all-in for a flush draw. On the other hand he well might have called and then I would have lost even more than I did.

In retrospect I would pretty much play it the same way but perhaps a larger bet at the flop based on his chip stack to make it more expensive for him to draw out on me. It was early in the tournament and I didn't have a clear idea of whether he was an aggressive or tight player as yet.

In any case, base your decisions on good solid play and never go all in "on a wing and a prayer!"

If "wishing and hoping" is a major part of your poker strategy you are better off playing slot machines.