SpaceAce
03-17-2005, 04:39 PM
Tuesday night at the Bellagio. The game has been pretty good but it's a little tighter than usual. A couple of the people at the table actually have a clue but it is not a "tough" table by any means.
The lineup:
The villain in this hand is an Asian gentleman who is a real poker basket case. His starting hand requirements are: none. I take that back; I think he requires two cards. He raises seemingly random cards: 57o, J3s, 22, etc. He also likes to bluff (or maybe he's value-betting) things like bottom pair if anyone shows the slightest sign of weakness. He'll occasionally get way out of line post-flop, going multiple bets with air. When he really believes his hand is strong, it's pretty obvious to me.
The villain's girlfriend or wife: She's a terrible player but she is capable of folding occasionally.
The button in this hand is a college kid who is definitely not a fool. He's tight and fairly aggressive. He has a healthy respect for my play.
The big blind: Me.
Pre-flop: the action folds to the villain's wife who limps. The villain raises (surprise), the cutoff (a friend of mine and another 2+2er) folds. The button makes it three bets and I am certain he is just trying to isolate the villain. I don't get a sense of real strength from the button and I think he is re-raising here with KQs/o, Aces down to A8 or so and pretty much any pair. The small blind folds and I peek down and see two eights. I make it four bets, believeing there is a very good chance the villain's wife will fold. In addition to the fact that I am likely to be well ahead of the villain's random junk, I believe I can move the button off a hand better than my eights unless the board is really friendly to his hand. I also believe I will have no trouble getting away from my eights if the button has me beat. If I end up heads-up with the villain, there will be a showdown. The villain's wife thinks for a while then calls three more bets (darn). The villain calls and the button, obviously unhappy about my throwing a monkey wrench into his plans (he muttered something like "that's not good" when I four-bet), calls.
The flop: 236 (approximately, definitely a deuce and a six with no cards above my eights) with two diamonds.
I lead out, the villain's wife folds, the villain calls and the button calls. No one seems too excited by the flop.
The turn: Qs
I bet, the villain calls and the button folds. I still like my hand but I have the sense that the villain does have a piece of this board. I'm not sure what he's got but a weak Queen is not out of the question.
The river: I don't remember but it was not an Ace or a diamond. It may have been an offsuit 9 or 7.
The villain will bet somewhere in the neighborhood of 100% of the time if I check here so I do so. The villain bets and I call.
So, who folds these bad boys and who puts in the fourth bet trying to knock out the wife and take control of the hand? Does anyone just call pre-flop? Comments welcome on all streets although I think post-flop (with the possible exception of the river) pretty much played itself after I made it four bets pre-flop.
SpaceAce
The lineup:
The villain in this hand is an Asian gentleman who is a real poker basket case. His starting hand requirements are: none. I take that back; I think he requires two cards. He raises seemingly random cards: 57o, J3s, 22, etc. He also likes to bluff (or maybe he's value-betting) things like bottom pair if anyone shows the slightest sign of weakness. He'll occasionally get way out of line post-flop, going multiple bets with air. When he really believes his hand is strong, it's pretty obvious to me.
The villain's girlfriend or wife: She's a terrible player but she is capable of folding occasionally.
The button in this hand is a college kid who is definitely not a fool. He's tight and fairly aggressive. He has a healthy respect for my play.
The big blind: Me.
Pre-flop: the action folds to the villain's wife who limps. The villain raises (surprise), the cutoff (a friend of mine and another 2+2er) folds. The button makes it three bets and I am certain he is just trying to isolate the villain. I don't get a sense of real strength from the button and I think he is re-raising here with KQs/o, Aces down to A8 or so and pretty much any pair. The small blind folds and I peek down and see two eights. I make it four bets, believeing there is a very good chance the villain's wife will fold. In addition to the fact that I am likely to be well ahead of the villain's random junk, I believe I can move the button off a hand better than my eights unless the board is really friendly to his hand. I also believe I will have no trouble getting away from my eights if the button has me beat. If I end up heads-up with the villain, there will be a showdown. The villain's wife thinks for a while then calls three more bets (darn). The villain calls and the button, obviously unhappy about my throwing a monkey wrench into his plans (he muttered something like "that's not good" when I four-bet), calls.
The flop: 236 (approximately, definitely a deuce and a six with no cards above my eights) with two diamonds.
I lead out, the villain's wife folds, the villain calls and the button calls. No one seems too excited by the flop.
The turn: Qs
I bet, the villain calls and the button folds. I still like my hand but I have the sense that the villain does have a piece of this board. I'm not sure what he's got but a weak Queen is not out of the question.
The river: I don't remember but it was not an Ace or a diamond. It may have been an offsuit 9 or 7.
The villain will bet somewhere in the neighborhood of 100% of the time if I check here so I do so. The villain bets and I call.
So, who folds these bad boys and who puts in the fourth bet trying to knock out the wife and take control of the hand? Does anyone just call pre-flop? Comments welcome on all streets although I think post-flop (with the possible exception of the river) pretty much played itself after I made it four bets pre-flop.
SpaceAce