Using stats as reads

[PokerBob]

things are really bad for me right now so i am attempting to go over my game with a fine tooth comb. i'm not sure this hand illustrates all that much other than the fact that i suck at luck, but the stats of the villain struck me as peculiar. This guy was like 23/17/2 over at least 100 hands. I thus assumed that he was somewhat knowledgable, which may be a mistake but in the day of HUD's and multi-tabling I think it is common. Given the fact that I had not seen anyhting from him, his #'s and what I thought they meant were all I had to go on. I don't think I could have played this hand any better, but I think it is important to think about HOW players ACT, not merely WHAT they LOOK LIKE.

Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (6 max, 5 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is BB with 8[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
UTG calls, MP calls, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, Hero checks.

Flop: (3.33 SB) A[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">UTG raises</font>, MP folds, Hero calls.

Turn: (3.66 BB) 6[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
Hero checks, <font color="#CC3333">UTG bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, <font color="#CC3333">UTG 3-bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero caps</font>, UTG calls.

River: (11.66 BB) 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">UTG raises</font>, Hero calls.

Final Pot: 15.66 BB

Results in white below: <font color="#FFFFFF">
Hero has 8h Qh (flush, ace high).
UTG has Ad 6c (full house, sixes full of aces).
Outcome: UTG wins 15.66 BB. </font>

[thesharpie]

Looks good to me. He's unlikely to have flopped a set, A6 and 55 are the only credible hands you fear. When the river card falls he could easily have a lower flush or 3 pair, or even something like ace with a heart.

Edit: Well you've also gotta worry about a higher flush obviously, but that probably doesn't raise all the time.

[spydog]

Maybe he misclicked preflop. It happens. The rest of the hand he played fine. Maybe some arguments can be made for not raising the flop. And, his turn 3-bet is not the best. I probably call the turn CR and raise you on a non-heart river.

[noir]

The details of this hand are precisely what I include in player notes.

Openlimped A6o UTG
Overplayed two pair on flushstr8ed turn

I certainly see what you're driving at with regard to use of stats, and I think that zeroing in on small but strange facts helps you draw a more detailed picture. Yeah, it's blurry, but so are many great works of art. The fact that it's complicated is what makes it better than others.

I'm thinking about Monet right now.
Rouen Cathedral, Impression: Sunrise, Houses of Parliament

The basic impressionist technique actually is the opposite of the process of gaining player knowledge, but what he did with these series applies to this matter.

Each painting in each series is different because sunlight, atmosphere and weather have changed.

The more you ponder it, the more you'll gain. In poker, and otherwise.