I thought I would go over a hand that involved me and a Loose (semi-) Aggressive Player. This was the ultimate in hand reading that I experienced in a while. I could have easily lost this hand and a lot of just too boot.
Just to set up. I’m on Full Tilt Poker and playing a $5 SNG. This is the third had and I’ve noticed that there’s a player who plays every hand and really like to scare people out of the pot. I’ll post the hand history throughout the blog. The villain here is “daivho” and I’m on the button.
Pre-Flop
Dealt to Humble Guy [5c 5s]
daivho calls 30
CK8808 calls 30
Humble Guy calls 30
Kalvin0 checks
Pot: 135
Basically daivho (the Villain) calls. There’s another caller. I limp, the small blind folds and the big blind checks. We go in four handed and I limp. The reason I limp is basically the blinds are really small at this moment, so I don’t really want to go crazy. I’m looking for trips and if I don’t get it, I’m folding to any big bets. It’s worth risking 30 of my 1,500 chips to set mine.
All of the limping tells me at this point that no one has a premium hand at this point.
*** FLOP *** [Td 2s 7s]
Kalvin0 checks
daivho checks
CK8808 checks
Humble Guy checks
Pot: 135
Everyone checks around, which tells me two things. No one has a hand or someone is trapping. The flop is not that great for me, because there are two overcards on the flops. Of the three other players, anyone could have a 10 or a 7, but at the same time, it’s even more likely no one has anything. If someone had a 10, I’m sure they would have bet out. It’s possible that someone has a 7 and that their just scared of the 10.
I check because I really don’t want to invest any chips and have someone come over the top. I’ll take the free card hoping for trip and in the back of my mind, I’m thinking that the next round of betting will tell me a lot.
*** TURN *** [Td 2s 7s] [3c]
Kalvin0 checks
daivho bets 150
CK8808 folds
Humble Guy calls 150
Kalvin0 folds
Pot: 435
So now the villain decides to bet 150 into a 135 pot. This is what we call an overbet. First the 3c is a great card for me, because if no one had anything on the flop, then I certainly have the best had at this point.
Now what I know about the villain is that he’ll try to steal pots. The overbet tells me that he is trying to steal the pot and probably has nothing, which is why I called and did not raise him. My feeling was that if he had two pair like 7-3 or 10-3. He would have bet smaller to try and entice me to call.
It’s funny, but I would have folded to a smaller bet, rather than call the big bet. His bet was definitely meant to scare everyone out.
*** RIVER *** [Td 2s 7s 3c] [As]
daivho has 15 seconds left to act
daivho bets 555
Humble Guy calls 555
Pot: 1545
The Ace of Spades on the river is a scary card. He could have completed his flush or he could have the Ace. Daivho decides to overbet again; putting 555 into a 435 pot. I had to think for a moment. I still believe that the overbet means bluff. I was thinking that if he had the Ace or the Flush, he would have gone all in. Also, I’m thinking that he could come in with any two cards, but I just don’t think he had a 10 or 7.
Finally, I decided that his bet was to get me to fold rather than get me to call. I’m also looking at my chip stack and if I lose, I’m down to about 750 chips and it’s possible for me to come back from that. So I call crossing my fingers.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
daivho shows [4d Kc] Ace King high
Humble Guy shows [5c 5s] a pair of Fives
Humble Guy wins the pot (1,545) with a pair of Fives
Daivho shows me his K-4. Wow, what a crappy hand and what a bad investment on his part.
The worst part is that the next hand I’m dealt A-J. Daivho is in the big blind. I’m hoping that I can entice Daivho to shove all-in. He has 680 chips at this point. There’s one limper and it comes to me, so I limp too. Daivho does shove all-in and the limper calls it. I’m thinking that I’m beat at this point. So I fold, since I didn’t invest that much.
Daivho shows A-4. The limper shows K-9. Jack on the flop and I’m kicking myself. Daivho doubles up to normal chip stack and this LAG is back in the game.
As it turns out. Daivho and I make the money in this SNG. I finally take him out in 3rd place thanks to some good bubble play and then I go on to win this one.
For me this hand was all about hand reading and identifying betting patterns.
