Slow-playing or More Aggression?
Posted on April 7, 2008
Filed Under Personal
I took a break from playing live for about a week. My friend called me middle of yesterday asking me if I wanted to come deal at his $1/$3 game. I made plans and agreed. It’s been awhile since I’ve dealt cards and oh how I miss it. There’s something about flicking cards and shoving mountains of chips to players that I love, lol. Every game has their own rake system and it took me a few minutes to get used to my friend’s.
After dealing for about an hour and a half, I started playing. The first big hand I got involved with sucked. I’m sitting with about $210 and I limp in UTG with 99. Another player limps in behind me and then the button raises to $15. He’d been playing pretty tight and every hand he showed down earlier in the night was usually the best hand or the nuts. I pondered for a second figuring he has AQ or AK so I decided to call, hoping that I could take the pot down should no face cards come on the flop. The other limper called as well. The flop came 783 rainbow. I checked, the other checked, and the original raiser bet $15. It felt like another continuation, position bet to me, so I flat called to represent to him either a draw or the impression that “hey, I hit the flop, and I don’t believe you.” The other player folded so it was just me and the original raiser heads up. The turn came a 9 which worked out very well. I checked the turn, and to my surprise he checked as well. I would have figured for him to make another bet to see where he was at, if this card hit me. He actually seemed more confused, not having any idea what I have. The river brought a J. I lead out with $50 into about an $80 pot. He flat called and turned over JJ. Damn, set over set, lol. So that set me back quite a bit.
As the night progressed, I eventually would make my chips back. I took down a decent sized pot with AQ and doubled up with AK. There’s another interesting hand I’d like to discuss. I’m a little upset as how I played it as I felt that I should have taken all of this player’s chips. Perhaps your input might help 
.
At this point, I have a pretty tight, solid image at the table. Every hand I’ve shown has been premium hands or the best hand, which is the image I want. I took down a few small pots to pay for my blind money using this image to make some pure, garbage bluffs. Anyhow, I’m in middle position with 55 and I contemplate raising for a second. But because I had to go soon, and I already made enough money to pay back my 2 debts plus a decent profit, I decided to play it safe. The button and small blind limp in and BB checks. The flop is 663. The SB checks and the BB bets $10 into a $12 pot. I have a good feeling that he has a 6 because I highly doubt he’d be betting with a 3. He only has about $90 behind him, which is short-stacked compared to the rest of the table. I think if he had a pocket pair, he probably would have raised pre-flop, so I’m not worried about that. Half of me thinks there’s a good chance he has a 6 and the other half doesn’t quite believe him. But I also take into consideration a few things:
1.) If he does have a 6, it only costs me $10 to see the turn and potentially hit a 5, which will really pay off and I’ll most likely take the rest of his chips.
2.) Again, it only cost me $10, so if I miss on the turn, depending on his bet size, I can get away from this hand or continue to the river.
3.) There is a potential straight draw, so if the turn or river brings a potential scare card completing a straight, I can take the pot from him that way as well.
4.) He could just have a 3, 44, or 22, or a straight draw himself, in which case, I’m also good.
So taking into account all these factors, I decide to call the $10 . The turn brings a 5 (wooohoo!!) and now I’m set . He bet out $20 on the turn which case I’m very confident he has a 6 now. I’m not sure whether I should just raise or call. Considering my tight image at the table, I’m afraid that if I raise, I’ll scare him into folding because the 5 does complete a straight or he either thinks I have a stronger 6. I decide I’m just going to try to represent a “I don’t believe you hand” or being on a draw, so I flat call. The river brings a 7, so there’s a 1 card to a straight. He checks in a manner which I can tell he’s very afraid of me, which isn’t good because th chances of taking the rest of his chips now may be difficult. I decide to bet $60. He sits and ponders saying “well I have a 6 and I think you know that, but I really don’t think it’s good.” He eventually folds, and I’m like damn! I think I should have done one of the following 3 things differently:
1.) I should have raised on the turn, I think at that point, he wasn’t quite sure of what I had. Perhaps by raising on the turn, I could have made the extra money from him calling my raise. I really don’t think he would have folded to a re-raise on the turn with a 6.
2.) I should have went all-in on the river, perhaps by betting large here, I can represent to him that “I really want this pot with my mediocre hand, and I think my tight image will fool you into folding.” Over-strength here I think might would have enticed a call.
3.) I should have made a cheap bet on the river to either entice him to come over the top or just make extra money. A small value bet here would have been very unlike the image and betting patterns I’d been representing. Just about all of my bets had been very strong bets, so I think making a value bet would have been different to him and enticed a call.
Any thoughts or opinions?
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