 Good post, Arjonius
I think Arjonius hit it right on the head.
People think binarily. So when they're >50% to win a hand, they expect a win, especially if it's 2/3 or better. Anything less than a win is a 'suck out' in that circumstance, right? It's the same thing mentally as expecting more from pocket pairs than they're able to deliver.
Also, I'd add that many players who would call themselves skilled make most of their key decisions pre-flop and post-flop, while more than a few calling-station-types will wait for the river to consider folding because they drastically overweight the probabilities of drawing. Well, in doing so, skilled players are not making use of the river themselves in making their betting decisions, so it's more often a negative surprise than a positive (if you've got a great hand, like trips, you often have less outs than your opponent and your hand is more likely to get worse than better relative to said opponent).
I think it's a combination of those two things. After all, if you're praying for a river card then you shouldn't have been in the pot right (great pot odds aside)? Well, then you're less likely to be happy with the river than mad!  |