[MLerra]

I have some male and female roommates; all the guys play poker, and one of the girls does too. The girl is a very good player, albeit very conservative. In a casino, she has the patience to play only TT-AA, and AK and perhaps AQ. Recently, she's begun check-raising, and it's an absolute gold mine for her. I think there's two types of male poker players: the ones who can't fathom being outsmarted by a girl, and the ones who think they can bully the girl out of every pot.

Either of these types pay her off every time; even new home game players who play with us will do it too. They just can't wrap their minds around the fact that they could have checked behind and gotten another card (or showdown) for free... they can't believe that this girl outsmarted them and got them to bet there, so they call every time. Then there's the macho guys who get pissed, and instantly reraise all-in as though that will somehow push her out of the pot with Aces or a set or something.

Anyways, it's funny to see you write about this, as we sort of figured out this skill of hers (or advantage or whatever) a few months ago. It's interesting to see your experiences are similar. The next step is finding the third type of guy, like me, who actually respects the check-raise from people like you... and using it with absolutely nothing to get me to fold good hands. My roommate, I fear, is just starting to do this very thing :-(