Good player: What is he doing?

[DeuceKicker]

Party .5/1

I didn't play this hand, but I was watching and I'm still baffled by it.

EP2 is a little loose-passive, MP2 is loose-aggressive, and MP3 is a player who I've played hundreds of hands with and know him to be a very solid, tight-aggressive player.

EP2/LP has J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
MP2/LA has A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] T[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
MP3/TA has Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

EP2/LP raises, MP1 calls, MP2/LA calls, MP3/TA 3-bets, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, EP2/LP calls, MP1 calls, MP2/LA calls

Flop(14 SB): A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

EP2/LP checks
MP1 checks
MP2/LA bets
MP3/TA raises (raise with an A on the board?)
EP2 calls, MP2 calls

Turn(16 BB): J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

EP2/LP bets (liked J. Pre-flop raise probably means set)
MP2/LA calls (GOT to have an Ace, right?)
MP3/TA raises (again?)
EP2 calls, MP2 calls

River(22 BB): Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]

EP2 checks, MP2 bets, MP3 calls, EP2 calls

So he riverd his set, but I still don't get it. I haven't seen this guy make a maniac play like this in hundreds of hands. I don't think he was advertising a maniac move, because I think he knows few at this limit would notice.

Can anybody offer any insight? I'd be surprised if he wasn't a reader/contributor here, so if he remembers this hand maybe he'll tell me his reasoning so I can sleep tonight.

[crockpot]

there is no way you can tell me that MP3 is a solid, tight-aggressive player on this hand. he grossly misplayed the turn and river. the only excuse for his river flat call is that he was going for the reraise if EP2 check-raises, and this is sufficiently rare that raising will win much more on average. besides, someone may three-bet it.

perhaps he just wasn't playing his best at the time.

[HajiShirazu]

Well, there are lots of possible justifications for his play. He could be drunk, on tilt, or perhaps just "feeling lucky". Since it's a Friday night and a lot of drunks tend to be on Party around this time, I'm going with that.

[lil']

The flop raise is questionable, the turn raise is horrible, and the river call is inexcusable. This explains why he still plays .50/1.

If you can spot how badly he played the hand, you're probably better than he is.

[SpaceAce]

That certainly doesn't look tight-aggressive to me. Maybe he was frustrated.

Since he is acting last, I think his three-bet on the flop is OK. Not great, perhaps, but OK. I think it's better than calling, anyway. However, after three-betting the flop, he probably should have thrown it in when they bet back into him on the turn. The point of the three-bet would be to find out if someone really had the Ace and/or to buy a free card on the turn. Someone betting into you on the turn after that three-bet does two things: it tells you that someone has the Ace (or better) and it kills your hopes of a free card. Time to let it go.

SpaceAce

[DeuceKicker]

I agree with all of your comments.

I have played over 450 hands with this guy at 1/2, and 250 hands with him just yesterday (couple different sessions) at .5/1. At 1/2 he VP$IP a rock-like 10%, and at .5/1 he's up to 25%. At both levels his PFR% is about 8%. That's tighter and more aggressive than I. He seems to loosen up for .5/1, but that still doesn't explain the crazy raises (and lack thereof on the river).

I don't think he was on tilt, as he had almost doubled his buy-in over two hours. Maybe he went to the restroom and let his nephew play this hand. I guess he had a chuckle when he got back and saw a 25BB win.

[umdpoker]

ha. i think i played a hand almost identical to this a couple days ago. i don't think this was me though since i don't play 1/2 much. btw, when i did this i was on crazy tilt after i had 2 flopped full houses rivered by bigger houses and then layed down 2 winning hands in a row to 3 maniancs who just loved betting garbage. i guess i was determined to not lay down another winner. my flop % is right around 25% though and i normally play tight-aggressive. very interesting. anyways, i am sure whoever did this was also on tilt.

[Moyer]

Hmmm. JJJ vs QQQ, no flush possible, no pair on the board, and neither bet on the river. Frickin crazy.

[Barry]

Raises when he should fold and calls when he should raise...

I think that you need to change your opinion of him based upon this hand.

[DeuceKicker]

I still don't understand the missed raise, but I think I've figured him out. He pulled a similar stunt twice the next day. He plays few hands, but when he gets a premium hand he plays it very, very aggressively. I was able to take advantage of this against him once... and it only took me 750 hands to spot his leak!