Three Live Hands

The Game: Live NLHE, $1/2 blinds, $5 to call. Typical PF raise is to $15 or $20

The Villain: Wildly loose and aggressive player, but also very friendly. He’s the kind of guy you want at the table because he looses everyone up, but also puts them at ease with friendly chatter. Since I had the identical playing style as him (except for all his talking), we locked horns at every possible opportunity including these three big hands in one Friday evening session. I’m in seat 2, he’s in seat 7.

Hand #1: After 2 folds, he raises in MP to $20. After one caller, I raise on the button to $60 with AK-hearts. He raises to $120 total. Guy in between folds, and I call $60 more and we’re heads up. I’m thinking he either has AA, KK, or re-raised with just about anything to squeeze out the other guy and get HU with me. Pot is about $220.

Flop is 8-6-3, two spades. He bets $120 and I call. Now I’m putting him on a continuation bet, and I plan to take the hand away later. Pot is about $440.

Turn is (8-6-3)-4, did not complete a spade flush. This appears to change nothing. He counts out chips as if he has every intention of betting, but then looks at me and checks. In his split second glance, I read strength and that he was going to CR me if I bet. So, I check.

River is (8-6-3-4)-7, did not complete the spade flush. He bets $200. I make like I’m thinking long and hard about the call, but what I’m really thinking about is how badly I fucked this hand up. I fold.

Analysis: Except for maybe my PF call of his raise, I think I played every street poorly. If I call on the flop with the intention to take it away later, I need to follow though. But, my read on the turn may have saved me chips, because Hand #2 below was very similar and confirmed 100% that he hs the ability to slow play a monster all the way to the end. At the end of Hand #1, I really thought I misplayed it, but after Hand #2 I think my only mistake was the flop call.

Hand #2: This hand is only relevant for one purpose. After no PF raise and smallish bets on all streets, including his check-call on the turn, the river is Ac-Kc-Qc-Tc-6h. He checked on the river, and I bet $60 on a pure bluff (I had no club). He checked-raised to $160 total. I folded, and he showed Jc-9s for the royal flush. He check-called and checked the river with a Royal Flush, setting me up to make my river bluff! Very well played by him. He also collected the $950 club-Royal Flush jackpot.

This hand confirmed that I believe he was slow-playing me on Hand #1, because I saw him play strong hands like this against two other players. Note to self: this slow-playing mofo is dangerous.

Hand #3: Mind games from past hands came into play on this hand. Villain and I have built up the biggest stacks at the table over several hours of play, and I have around $1300. He has me covered by a bit.

Lots of limpers to a flop of A-Q-Q, rainbow. Villain bets $20 in EP, and after one caller I raise to $80 total on the button with Q6. Villain raises to $200. I put him on an ace, and I think that he thinks that I’m either on a draw or stealing -- I don’t think that he thinks I have a Q. Other guy folds what I assume to be some sort of straight draw, and ducked out of what would likely become a very expensive pot. I call, thinking that I have the best hand. Pot is about $440

Turn is (A-Q-Q)-K. Villain ponders a bet, but checks. I think he may have AJ, AT, Ax, maybe a Qx hand. I do not think that Villain has JT, and my read of the guy that got squeezed out on the flop was that he had JT based on his reaction on the turn. (Yes, reading players that folded already in a hand can come into play at times.) I do not think that Villain has AQ or KQ, or even QJ or QT, or he probably would have raised PF. I bet $300. Villain thinks for a long time, then calls. I get the strong sense that he does not really like his hand here, that I am ahead or at least we’re tied because we both have a Q, and his hesitation is true and not a slow-play (all past history to the contrary). Pot is over $1000 now, and I have about $800 left.

River is (A-Q-Q-K)-T. He looks genuinely scared and checks. I quickly push, with the intention of signaling, “Well, I have a boat, so there’s no way I can just check here. That should be very obvious.” Villain goes into the tank for an extremely long time. This is the longest that I have ever seen anyone take to make a decision in a cash game. He counts it out, and he has only a few chips more than me. He groans. “Why are you doing this to me?” He clearly is in a bind about this decision.

I sit motionless, and as things drag on I am 95% certain that he has a J for the straight and has me beat. JT? J9? AJ? I’m giving off full-house vibes with my body language: Call if you have the jack, because I obviously have the boat. What else would I have here? I have to have a boat to make this play! Fold, and save your money, or you are an idiot! You don’t want to blow that whole stack that you worked all night to build up with just a straight on that board, now do you? Fold, fold, fold! You are beat!

He calls with extreme reluctance. I flip over my Q6 and he flips over – Q5.

Villain explodes with great relief and comes around the table for a fist pump and a hand shake. “Shit, man, what a hand!! Wow, you had me scared there!” We exchanged a friendly “What are you doin’ playing a hand like Q6/Q5?” But we both knew the answer – we play these hands to catch flops and win big pots. And we both thought that this was the one – the winner sits with $2500+ in a freakin’ $1/2/5 NL game!. I asked him if he thought I had a boat, maybe KQ? Or QT that got there on the river?

His response was somewhat incoherent, and I think the tension and release of the hand prevented him from speaking. The only thing that he said which made any sense was, “I just didn’t think that you had AQ, man, or you would have raised pre-flop.” Yeah, but what about KQ or QT? Or even QJ?! Any reasonable Q-hand beats you. You really thought you were making a good call? I didn’t say any of this, of course.

Oh well, chop it up and play on. But we were both extremely cautious of each other after that. I ended the night around $1500, and he was very congratulatory as I left.

I generally like playing against weaker players, but I also genuinely appreciate these mind games at the table once in a while against someone who shows good sportsmanship and is not afraid to win or lose. It makes for some very fun poker.