[jkinetic]

...so I find playing hands straight up and fast is the best way againt him most times.

Since he is a "known" poker player he expects people to try to make moves on him and throw a lot of curveballs.

He told me a few weeks ago that since he has been on TV his earn in the cash games have gone way up because of what I just said.

He does some funky ass ish as you probably know. I have seen him just check call with the second to the nuts that was clearly the nuts against that particular player and have seen him make moves in a spot that he just can't represent and then get there.

Also, I have seen him pay off people that I thought was just horrible and then laydown Kings before the flop vs. Aces without spending a cent of his money preflop. The latter being in a private conversation as we know Phil never shows down hands unless he has to.

As for hand 1, I would have just bet 2/3 the pot on every street and take control. Obviously after his flop call, Phil clearly has a hand here, as to how strong of a hand that remains to be seen.

But based on that board, if he calls you on the flop he will likely call you down to the river. You could hope to get lucky in that spot and hope that he has like the 7,8 and attempt to make a move on you on the turn, but the stars are rarely aligned like that.

Your only quandry is, if he indeed did have the 5, you would be kicking yourself because you would probably feel you could have made more.

And he could have the 5, because he comes in with funky hands against bad players because he gets paranoid that someone else will get their money before he does.

An isolation attempt by you against the live one won't work against players like Phil, because they are not thinking about you, they are thinking about them. And to all the posters out there wanting to learn pot odds, implied odds, etc. etc. what I just said is the key to no limit poker.

As for hand 2, I don't like it, I think the flop was the time to make a move, not the turn. The turn looks too much like you are trying to make a move, especially with the two hearts on board. He is too saavy for that.

BTW, Riverboatking, you asked for my name on some post that you responded to a while ago, my name is Jasper.

I have been sick for the past 2 weeks and haven't made it out to Commerce in a while, I had to recover from the all the madness at the Bellagio tournaments.

Are you Armenian? Just asking. I am the late 20ish Korean dude. See you at the Mecca...