[aggie]

I don’t normally do this, but I will give you the full explanation for the hand. BTW, this hand haunted me more than any other in over 30 hours of playing. I came as close as you can to calling, but you will see below as to why I did not.

I agree with AZK’s assessment of the table. In fact, I hated to see him arrive there because it was Vanessa to my immediate right and no other solid players. In fact, people were raising PF with ANY ace and any two face cards . . . seriously. And they were calling big re-raises with KJ, etc. It was a fantastically good table.

I had JJ UTG. I know that if I raise UTG, even up to 200, all it will do is make a giant pot – like four callers and me – and I will be in the worst position not knowing what my opponents could have. So, I limp in, and when it is raised to 75 I just call, knowing that re-raising to 400 may still very well produce three callers. Again, I do not want to play a 1200 pot on the flop with JJ UTG against people who will call with any overcards.

On the flop, I was looking for a check raise, but when AZK raised to 700, I don’t want to re-raise him and commit 2000 or my whole stack with an over pair against what I perceive to be a very tight opponent. I want to gain more information on the next street. At this time, I had only played with or remembered playing with AZK one time before and he was extremely tight. I know that he is a sound player and also know that he could have made the 700 bet with air, KNOWING the donks will not likely call that raise given that there was a 100 bet and one call only. So, I just call and see what he will do based on my knowledge of him as a player. Part of that knowledge came from the hand I had played with him earlier where I called him on the flop, checked the turn and made a relatively small value bet on the river when I had trip 8s and he had AA. So, I know he is aware of that hand that happened an hour or two earlier in the session.

So, I place a small bet on the turn (800), thinking that if he has a monster, he will now make a huge re-raise and if he has a draw, he will likely fold with only one card to come, and he may also fold thinking I am on a draw with the Ad, and so will fold if he does not have part of the board. Lastly, he knows I value bet him in the earlier hand. So, my 800 turn bet was defensive and for information, and for value if he has A, 10, and can not lay it down. I wanted to make it a strange amount to confuse him so that he would not know what I had and also freeze him into making a bad play – whether it was a bad fold, call, or failure to raise me.

On the river, I am nearly certain that he does not have clubs, but I also know him to be very tight and I have not seen him make one big move – ever. And, with the lineup I am used to or remember playing, I know few players capable of making a big all in move on a missed draw. You are one of them, Clint, and that is why I think so highly of your play. My solid, strong rule of thumb is that if I have seen a player play very tight, and he goes all in on the river, OVER THE TOP of my value bet, then a vast majority of the time, he is not making a move on me. Add to that that AZK saw me and value bet the river when I had a very big hand, then my value bet here of 1000 shows strength, and only a reckless player will go all in over the top on a bluff. I did not read AZK as reckless . . . quite the opposite.

When AZK went all in on his hand, I remembered that although tight, he raised PF and called PF raises with some tricky holdings. He could have had 6,7d; he could have had T 8d, and think that I would lay down a set by moving all in, he could have 3,4 of clubs, or 3,4 of any suit and thought that I would lay down a set. Since I can not beat any of these hands, and since I have not seen him make a move like this ever, and since I read him as being smart enough to remember that I value bet the river when I had trip 8s, I think he would not make a reckless move, and I lay down my hand. Believe me, I wanted to call, and I almost did, but when I put it all together, I did not go against all the information I had about him and our session together.