More Poker Playing For Me!
Posted on April 10, 2008
Filed Under Personal
I just recently finished a live $1/$3 session a few nights ago and ended up more than doubling up my buy-in. The first big hand of the night I got dealt was AA in middle position. I made my standard $15 pre-flop raise and had 1 caller. The flop came 10J10 rainbow. I lead out and bet $45 and the player called. The turn brought a blank, 4c I think. Again, I lead out with $55 and got called again. Given my tight reputation at this table, I really can’t put him on a hand. I know he’s a tight player and more importantly, a player that is very observant, so I know he’s aware of my tight play. I highly doubt he’d be in there with A10, K10, J10. If he had JJ, he would have raised me on the turn most likely. I’m thinking maybe he has QQ or KK and has the same worries as me, which is why he’s calling. The river brought another blank. After taking everything I thought into consideration, I figured if he has KK or QQ, then he’ll call my all-in bet on the river. I went all-in for about $85. He didn’t take too long to call and turned over AA, lol. Figures 
Another interesting hand I got involved in was with a loose, aggressive player who’d been raising pre-flop $8 all night. Anytime he thought it’d be a good time to raise, he’d make it $8. Essentially, he’s doing the same I’m doing with my $15 pre-flop raise, except with $8, which being a little lower, allows him to make the raise more often. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to decipher whether he actually has a hand when he makes this raise. There were a few physical tells that he displayed which to me helped me decide whether or not I should avoid his raises. Anyhow, he made his standard $8 raise from early position, UTG I think actually. I looked down and saw 6d7d. I forgot to mention that he’s a pretty abc, poker book player. I heard him having discussions all night about how hands should be played and him constantly criticizing everyone else’s play. His UTG $8 raise led me to believe that this was a raise that actually had meaning. Possibly QQ, AK, KK, or AA even. But because he’s also a book player, I know he’s been making basic observations at the table, including observing me. He had a big ego and prided himself in big calls or big laydowns, so with my image, I knew I could get away with almost anything given the flop. So with all that in mind, I called from the small blind and the BB called as well. The flop came 7c3d5d, a perfect flop for me. I lead out with an $18 bet. The BB called and the original loose raiser made it $35. I decided that I will take this pot no matter what it took. I was confident he didn’t flop a set, but if he did, then I still had outs to my flush. I pondered as to how I could “appear” to be slow-playing a big hand to this prideful player. I decided to just call as did the player to my left. The turn came Qc. I checked, player to my left checked, and the original raiser made it $65. This is when I decided that I would let loose the floodgates. Knowing that at this table, every time I’ve gone all-in, I had the nuts or close to it. And that’s what I did, all-in . The player to my left folded. It didn’t take too long for him to fold and once he did, all he could say was “My AA can’t hold up when he’s flopping straights or sets on me.” That’s what a tight reputation allows . I actually love players that pride themselves in their poker play. I let them talk and feel like they’re in control. In doing so, you can take advantage of such factors.
My online tournament play hasn’t been working out too well. I do a great job in the early and middle stages of the tournament. I can accumulate chips and I pick great spots to be super-aggressive. However, when it comes to the late middle stages and early final stages of the tournament, I just can’t seem to hold on to my chip stack. I seem to donk it off very easily, lol. I guess I just need more practice.
Anyhow, I plan to add a few more bloggers to this site. These blogger will have experience in running their own game as well. It’ll be interesting to hear perspectives from others that run their own home game. Stay tuned!
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