JJ sb 20-40 capped pot

[mike l.]

i have JJ in the sb. bad player raises, awful player 3 bets almost all in, okay player who normally plays 80-160 caps it on the button. i call for time thus stupidly revealing my weakness and call. bb folds. others call. 4 of us, 1 player is all in.

i bet the flop in the dark. the flop comes T94. the usual confusion ensues where bad player doesnt know where the action is, doesnt know what those 4 chips sitting in front of me are for, he tries to check, but is then told there's a bet, bad player asks "when did i bet? the flop hadnt even come yet" and dealer tries to explain. in the meanwhile im staring at the preflop capper who is looking at the flop. the capper looks at me and says "why are you looking at me, it's on him". i tell him "im studying your face". he seems slightly irritated. the bad player folds and capper raises. i call.

i bet the turn in the dark. it's a 7. the capper calls.

i bet the river in the dark. it's some rag. capper calls.

comments?

[ZeeJustin]

The capper could make the preflop cap with hands that aren't typical capping hands. AA KK QQ JJ TT 99 AK AQ all come to mind right away. I suppose 88 KQ and AJ are off possibilities, but not likely.

He could raise with any of the likely hands on the flop. If he had AK or AQ, it's probably a free card raise, and I would expect him to fold the turn. Maybe your bet in the dark is throwing him off.

I'd put the capper on QQ.

Why are you betting in the dark here? I don't play live nearly as often as I play online, so maybe I just don't understand the use of this play. Personally, I would have check raised, or likely check-reraised the flop.

Also, I don't think a fold preflop is out of the question, although a call is better.

[andyfox]

You're supposed to watch the guy surreptitiously and then, if you're caught, and he asks why you're looking at him, you tell him he reminds you of your first husband.

Anyway, I sure wouldn't like my pocket jacks much here.

[mike l.]

"you tell him he reminds you of your first husband."

that's awesome man. i was gonna say "you just look really pretty in this light", but i didnt have the guts. it's a 55ish guy who usually brings his wife in so any variation on that wouldve been funny.

[mike l.]

"I suppose 88 KQ and AJ are off possibilities, but not likely."

i think theyre more likely than you think because this guy's a little too good to call 3 bets cold with anything.
at least that was my read. the extra bet to get the blinds out is too worth it in this position. any playable hand becomes a 4 bet hand.

"Maybe your bet in the dark is throwing him off....Why are you betting in the dark here?"

it confuses people and then they misplay their hands. especially if done consistently. at least so far that's been the case, ive been having great success with it. the real reason i started doing it is cause tommy does it and i want to play like him. if you cant innovate, just imitate.

"Also, I don't think a fold preflop is out of the question, although a call is better."

yeah that's what i was thinking. it was a very close decision for me.

[Tommy Angelo]

"i bet the flop in the dark."

Strong.

"the flop comes T94. the usual confusion ensues ..."

And suprisingly often, I think players fold for one bet when they would have called a normal, predictably-tempoed flop bet, because of the gap in the action, and because there's a guy looking at them who just bet dark into a bunch of raisers and doesn't even seem much interested in what the flop turned out to be.

"[On the flop] the bad player folds and capper raises. i call. ... i bet the turn in the dark."

All I can say is ...


DOOOOOOOD!!!!!!

"comments?"

The reason I know that dark betting is strong is because I really don't like it when the other guy does it.


Tommy

[andyfox]

"the usual confusion ensues"

Guy is in the blind and I raise and he calls and it's just the two of us and he says to me, "I check blind, you're gonna bet the flop no matter what it is anyway." I say, "You're right" and I bet the flop blind behind his check. He calls blind. Now the dealer puts out the flop and she looks at him, and looks at me, and looks down at the bet and the call in confusion and he tells her go ahead, take the chips and deal the turn card. She looks at him and she looks at me again and finally, hesitantly and unenthusiastically, pulls in the chips and as she's doing it he says check and I bet blind again (I caught an Ace in the bush to match the two in my hand, so my view was clearer from this blind) and now she burns and turns and he says "call" and puts out the chips to call. And now she looks at me and he says go ahead and deal and she says to me "it's a bet" and . . .

You get the idea. Talk about a poor confused lady.

[nykenny]

i am with Tommy, Dooooooood! LIKE!

[Rick Nebiolo]

[ QUOTE ]
...i call for time thus stupidly revealing my weakness and call...

[/ QUOTE ]

My guess is down in Oceanside you are often playing with the same core players. You need time to think in hands like this so don't be afraid to call it and use it (I hope you took the time to consider folding JJ BTF for 3.5 more bets and three opponents out of position). Given that you need time to think here but wouldn't with AA, KK, and AKs, take time on the big hands too to make it clear that you calling time doesn't necessarily mean you have a tough decision and marginal hand. It may piss people off when they see you call time for no good reason other than to throw them off but you piss people off anyway and it works for you /images/graemlins/grin.gif.

[ QUOTE ]
i bet the flop in the dark. the flop comes T94. the usual confusion ensues where bad player doesnt know where the action is, doesnt know what those 4 chips sitting in front of me are for, he tries to check, but is then told there's a bet, bad player asks "when did i bet? the flop hadnt even come yet" and dealer tries to explain. in the meanwhile im staring at the preflop capper who is looking at the flop. the capper looks at me and says "why are you looking at me, it's on him". i tell him "im studying your face". he seems slightly irritated. the bad player folds and capper raises. i call.

i bet the turn in the dark. it's a 7. the capper calls.

i bet the river in the dark. it's some rag. capper calls.

comments?

[/ QUOTE ]

If you won I bet your opponent was visibly pissed.

~ Rick