Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Know your customer

I played live $1/2 NL hold 'em Saturday. A guy joined the table and sat to my immediate right. The first hand he straddled. When the betting got around to him, he raised and everyone folded. The next hand he raised again at his turn.

Mr. Aggro played just about every hand, and played them aggressively. Here's an example: The guy to his right raised preflop to $12, and he was the only caller. The flop was Q-Q-X rainbow. The preflop raiser had about $60 left, and bet $12. The aggressive guy moved all in. The preflop guy said: "I have to call. If you have a queen you've got me," and turned over A-A. The next two cards were dealt and Mr. Aggro mucked. He was representing a queen, that he didn't have.

Even though guys like Mr. Aggro can be tough, I love playing them. Two orbits later, several limped, Mr. Aggro limped, and I raised to $17 from the button -- only Mr. Aggro called. The flop was A 10 2. He checked and I bet $20 into about a $40 pot -- he called. The turn was the 5. He checked and I checked. The river was the 9 and Mr. Aggro bet $50.

I called and turned over A K. Mr. Aggro mucked.

I never saw what he had, but because I checked the turn, he thought it was his duty to take the pot away from me. Whoa, buddy, not so fast. Besides winning a nice pot, there were meta-game considerations. The next time that situation comes up, he may not be so fast to try and steal from a nice old man like me.

12 comments:

  1. I read your commentary and think, "This sounds very interesting and like it could be fun," but I don't understand the language. What language do you speak? Must be pokerese! ;-))

    Have a great day!

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  2. ". . . nice old man like me."

    Uh huh.

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  3. MM-You're a nice old guy too? I also am a heck of a nice guy. Old, too.

    I will usually fold even a pair of kings when that dang ace shows up on the board. So many people stay in with Ax.

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  4. It is our duty to un-whipper those snappers.

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  5. ditto to the above...

    I love it when a plan comes together.

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  6. Nice - For SURE.. Old Neh.. not so much.

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  7. Thx to all who left comments.

    @Jacob: You listening to me talking about poker is probably like me listening to you talk about photography.

    @DiverJoules: Have you had your eyes checked lately. You could prob use glasses, lol.

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  8. Haha, I like the unwhipper comment! Good play with the turn check. Worked like a charm! :)

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  9. Well done! Understanding your opponents tendencies is great play!

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  10. There's no "nice old men" in poker... Aggression is everything, but it's got to be selective - someone who tries to dominate EVERY hand is easy pickings.

    Well done.

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  11. You must be right, Wol. I can attest to the facts that MM is nice and very old in person, or at least thru electrons. But at the tables his results, repeated many times, must mean that he lies, steals, bluffs, misdirects, everything not nice. Just playing at the stakes he does would give me bad dreams. MM, in case you are wondering, we are giving you max complements.

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