He played it perfectly...VNH!
For some reason this is one of the all time favorite hands I played and lost.
It taught me alot about my game and alot of people seemed to relate and like this one......the players wife actually wrote and thanked me in the original post:
I had cashed twice in the nightlies and my small ball game was going perfectly. I believe I was applying stage 3 thinking well....but in a few random events I get demoted.
In this nightly I truely own my table. I have built a monster stack with nothing more than HEAD GAMES.
After felting another victim a new guy takes his chair. This guy wants to steal my moves. I have a belly full of victims and he is bugging me.
We get into a dry pot with me holding a PP. The flop is AAx and he bets hard. I have 3 to 1 chips in my stack on him.
I want to felt him so bad and go back to being king of the mountain...but how can I call? Chipping him up would be counter productive and who bets into a dry pot without a huge hand?
I fold and he shows a small PP...to make matters worse I turn the boat. (errors compounding) I might have even said "Nice bet..without it I felt you!" I know I at least thought it.
For the next little while he hogs the fish and the spots with his newly aquired chips....I can't wait to lay the hurt on this guy.
I pick up a monster and so does he. (It ends up we were 43% to 56% pre-flop, with him holding the slightly better.) Better but vulnerable...his overbet smells of a tinge of fear. I control my fear of bieng slightly behind and consider all the implied odds I am getting. His chips and all the others he is taking from the rest of the table.
At the very least I want this guy to know he will not scare me with a reraise. When I say I have it your gonna have to give me a better reason than chips.
[b]But I underestimate my opponents abilities and make a huge mistake. I don't consider his thought process and what he thinks I have. He walks me right into it. He plays it perfectly and leaves a back door.....
THE HAND
I have 15k in the first hour of the Thursday 1k.
Been battling it out with the player a few positions ahead of me and he has about 22k now. The table average is maybe 6k.
I get AK hearts and raise to 900 (blinds 300)
He reraises to just over 4k. I think about folding, I know its a dangerous hand, but its a good chance to go huge. I have position too. He wouldn't bet so big without a hand that wasn't vulnerable.
Call. Flop comes down Q 3 7, one heart. He bets I would fold.
He checks. I take the free card. Rag heart. He bets 1200.
I have to call. Odds are good, still two overs and the nut flush draw. River drops the 5th heart.
He bets 4800. I think " I got the nuts" and push. So stupid!
He shows QQ. "SO!?" Then I see that final heart pairs the board.
Why wouldn't he check the flop? Rag, rainbow board with top set.
He fights his fear to let me catch up and not to scare me off
He gathers info on the turn so he is prepared if my draw hits and he squeezes a few more chips if it doesn't. I don't call anything if I miss with only Ace high.
Had I slowed down a little more, thought the hand back like I described it, there is really only one reason for him to check the flop. His set. I knew he had a pair pre-flop, I knew it was not kk or AA and if it was, my hand was good.
I didn't have to go broke here either. Why is he betting with flush out there? Maybe I talk myself into hoping he had a lower one, or that he he is making an attempt to save a hand gone wrong.
But I know he has a pocket pair so why don't I pay attention to the story that isn't adding up to my delusions?
Folding would have been a monster laydown and left me with an average stack. The kinda fold a WSOP champ could make. Just calling would have been a very top play too, and very understandable.
I don't think folding preflop would have been right either. I made the best hand I could have hoped for. Had an Ace or King dropped on the flop with no queen, I would have taken it right there, 90% sure. His slow played set could have back fired too and he would have had to call a value bet. One of us was destined to go deep.
Once the tilt clears, now we can see what real poker is about. Taking the time to break it down makes me aware of my demotion in thinking and the leaks in my game.
It taught me alot about my game and alot of people seemed to relate and like this one......the players wife actually wrote and thanked me in the original post:
I had cashed twice in the nightlies and my small ball game was going perfectly. I believe I was applying stage 3 thinking well....but in a few random events I get demoted.
In this nightly I truely own my table. I have built a monster stack with nothing more than HEAD GAMES.
After felting another victim a new guy takes his chair. This guy wants to steal my moves. I have a belly full of victims and he is bugging me.
We get into a dry pot with me holding a PP. The flop is AAx and he bets hard. I have 3 to 1 chips in my stack on him.
I want to felt him so bad and go back to being king of the mountain...but how can I call? Chipping him up would be counter productive and who bets into a dry pot without a huge hand?
I fold and he shows a small PP...to make matters worse I turn the boat. (errors compounding) I might have even said "Nice bet..without it I felt you!" I know I at least thought it.
For the next little while he hogs the fish and the spots with his newly aquired chips....I can't wait to lay the hurt on this guy.
I pick up a monster and so does he. (It ends up we were 43% to 56% pre-flop, with him holding the slightly better.) Better but vulnerable...his overbet smells of a tinge of fear. I control my fear of bieng slightly behind and consider all the implied odds I am getting. His chips and all the others he is taking from the rest of the table.
At the very least I want this guy to know he will not scare me with a reraise. When I say I have it your gonna have to give me a better reason than chips.
[b]But I underestimate my opponents abilities and make a huge mistake. I don't consider his thought process and what he thinks I have. He walks me right into it. He plays it perfectly and leaves a back door.....
THE HAND
I have 15k in the first hour of the Thursday 1k.
Been battling it out with the player a few positions ahead of me and he has about 22k now. The table average is maybe 6k.
I get AK hearts and raise to 900 (blinds 300)
He reraises to just over 4k. I think about folding, I know its a dangerous hand, but its a good chance to go huge. I have position too. He wouldn't bet so big without a hand that wasn't vulnerable.
Call. Flop comes down Q 3 7, one heart. He bets I would fold.
He checks. I take the free card. Rag heart. He bets 1200.
I have to call. Odds are good, still two overs and the nut flush draw. River drops the 5th heart.
He bets 4800. I think " I got the nuts" and push. So stupid!
He shows QQ. "SO!?" Then I see that final heart pairs the board.
Why wouldn't he check the flop? Rag, rainbow board with top set.
He fights his fear to let me catch up and not to scare me off
He gathers info on the turn so he is prepared if my draw hits and he squeezes a few more chips if it doesn't. I don't call anything if I miss with only Ace high.
Had I slowed down a little more, thought the hand back like I described it, there is really only one reason for him to check the flop. His set. I knew he had a pair pre-flop, I knew it was not kk or AA and if it was, my hand was good.
I didn't have to go broke here either. Why is he betting with flush out there? Maybe I talk myself into hoping he had a lower one, or that he he is making an attempt to save a hand gone wrong.
But I know he has a pocket pair so why don't I pay attention to the story that isn't adding up to my delusions?
Folding would have been a monster laydown and left me with an average stack. The kinda fold a WSOP champ could make. Just calling would have been a very top play too, and very understandable.
I don't think folding preflop would have been right either. I made the best hand I could have hoped for. Had an Ace or King dropped on the flop with no queen, I would have taken it right there, 90% sure. His slow played set could have back fired too and he would have had to call a value bet. One of us was destined to go deep.
Once the tilt clears, now we can see what real poker is about. Taking the time to break it down makes me aware of my demotion in thinking and the leaks in my game.
Comments
There is not enough action to tell you you're behind, and you have position. A call isn't too bad after he re-pops it, a 3-bet is also fine, but folding is horrible IMO.
Flop check / check is fine, the turn 1200 into a pot of 8k is a weak weak bet. The worst part for you here is that you've nothing you can represent to push overtop. River, well, it's dangerous, and with those two weak bets, I start to get nervous (oh yea, and I make sure the board didn't pair
Mark