Gonebroke,

here was my explanation to Bart, et al. Hope it makes sense.


Let me explain my thinking, since
I did not have the luxury of seeing everyone's hole cards in the Barry (7h) vs.
Avo (Q).

Though Avo's image is that of a solid player, he is savy enough to make moves, much
like Vic Park, and unlike Dr. BB, Ken Berg and Ed. As an aside, you may remember
a hand that I laid down pocket 8's when Avo bet out on a KQx board holding a 5 and
a 6. It is not above Avo to bet with a draw, a missed draw or nothing. If I were
to fold a pocket pair everyime overs hit the board, I would never play a hand.
On the pocket 7s with a Q on board, I would have to have given credit to Avo for
a Q and a Q only. Could he not have had an ace, a King, AJ pocket 10s or ?

When Avo bet and I called, I did not see Avo as representing a Queen. Well, he
actually could have been representing it, I just didn't give him credit for it.
Would not you, too, make a continuation bet when a high card hits if you raised
or called a preflop raise? I believe I was first to act and raised preflop which
he flat called (I think). This did not represent any significant holding.

The flop had a Q, I checked, Avo bet. Not unusual or suspect. A King comes on
the turn, I check and he checks behind me! Did the K scare him, did he not have
a Q, just maybe A 10, or AJ or just two suited connectors? His check a) gave me
information that he did not have a strong hand and b) allowed me to get my flush.
Who knows, if he was playing a 56 again, everything mssed him and not only did I
have a flush draw, I had a middle pair. Maybe I was still good. I bet the river
after the 4th heart fell. He raised me all-in with no heart! What did he put me
on the whole time? Surely not a pair of 7s! If he had thought I was chasing the
flush, well I got there and since he didn't what the hell was he bluffing at?

I do not think (at least in this case) that you cannot bluff me out of a hand. However,
if a "supposed" pro has 2nd pair with a 4 liner flush on the board and
he believes his opponent was chasing the flush, why the f*ck do you bet? Wasn't
I representing the flush with my value bet on the river? Was I to believe that
his overbet was representing a bigger flush? Could I not have had a J Q K or 10
of hearts?

Further, his 6K bet on the end screamed bluff to me. I did not feel he had a heart
(though not positive). He had invested some substantial coin in the pot, and did
not think he would win at showdown. There was enough money already in the pot,
why bet large...unless you couldn't stand the heat. His bet was telling me he didn't
want a call. If he had the goods and I had nothing, he would have won at showdown.
If he thought I might have a hand, maybe a re-raise (of a lesser amount) would have
given him the information, especially if I re-raised all in.

All in all, I think Avo's play was suspect and not all that great. Maybe mine wasn't
great, but through my thought process (as twisted as it may seem) I figured I was
good and made the call. If the ability and talent of a player is judged by laying
down winning hands because the bets are large, then I submit there is an intrinsic
flaw in the evaluation. If that were the case, and overbets ALWAYS represented
strength, then every initial re-raise would result in 8-way folds. At some point
EVERYONE bets to represent a holding other than the true cards, and gets looked
up. Sometimes they get unlucky and lose. That's poker.

I still feel I played the hand well, and you are free to disagree with me. Remember,
you have the luxury of seeing all the cards and then extrapolating the thought process.
We do not.