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Author : Kevin Marsteller (k06mars on THF)
Article Written : 4th March 2007
I was originally going to post this in my blind hand thread, but then I realized how much I wrote about the hand. Anyways, here's another big pot I won Monday night, along with my explanation for why the donk (me) had a legitimate reason for calling these bets down the entire way with a vulnerable hand:
Hand Number: 412,843,879
Table Number: 5,782,003
Event Name: Gold League $100 Table Scalise (#3713104)
Event Started: Tuesday February 27th 8:38:00 PM CST 2007
Event Type: Real Money Ring Game
Game: No Limit Hold 'em
Stakes: $0.50/$1 Blinds ($0.25 Minimum Chip)
Seat 2 : ittledous starts with $63.50
Seat 3 : Argee starts with $45
Seat 4 : diesel23 starts with $34.25
Seat 5 : satxx666 starts with $165
Seat 7 : k06mars starts with $154.50
Seat 10 : paddy_o_dour starts with $109.50
Seat 3 : Argee has the dealer button
diesel23 posts the small blind $0.50
satxx666 posts the big blind $1
>>>>>>DEALING HOLE CARDS<<<
k06mars dealt down 7d 7h
k06mars calls $1
paddy_o_dour calls $1
ittledous folds
Seat 6 : wellitried starts with $100
Argee folds
diesel23 calls $0.50
satxx666 raises $5 to $6
k06mars calls $5
paddy_o_dour folds
diesel23 calls $5
>>>>>>DEALING FLOP<<< [ 8h 4h Td ]
wellitried: hey argee
Argee: hey m8
diesel23 checks
satxx666 bets $5
k06mars calls $5
wellitried: did u win last night
diesel23 folds
>>>>>>DEALING TURN<<< [ 7s ]
satxx666 bets $5
k06mars raises $20 to $25
satxx666: 10's
Argee: 2nd
satxx666 calls $20
>>>>>>DEALING RIVER<<< [ Jc ]
satxx666: sweet
satxx666 bets $29
k06mars calls $29
satxx666 cards were Th 2c
k06mars cards were 7h 7d
k06mars wins $134 with three of a kind, sevens
There were a couple reasons for playing this hand the way I did © I'll go through each betting round:
The preflop call, while it may be a bit loose, was simple © villain was raising with crap on a regular basis. I had played with him the night before, and it ended with me calling his $20 preflop all in (25/50c blinds I believe) with KJ © and winning (he held KT). Against any other player I would have folded, but again © this player was raising, saying he had aces, etc. © and then showing Q7o. So, I felt I had a hand here, and based on my read, would be able to accurately determine where I was.
The flop call, I'm sure everyone here is going to say, was loose, shouldn't have called it, etc. However, based on my read, and in general how harmless that board looked, I figured I could pay to see another card. $5 into a $19 pot isn't too big of a bet, it seemed he was rather weak. I could be walking into a semi©trap (he could be holding something like TT), but that just didn't seem to be the case. I felt at best he had a straight or flush draw.
Ahh, the turn, such a magical card. Villain bets $5 again, at this point I'm convinced he has nothing or something, no draw at all. So, I raise him, and am quite surprised to see his call © interesting. Pot now stands at $79.
The river is one of those cards you hate to see while holding a set, as there's an inside straight draw out there. Now, besides having to worry about him possibly holding 88, TT, or JJ (while I deemed it unlikely, it was still a possibility), 56 and 9x also have me beat. Villain bets $29 © between 1/2 and 2/5 the pot, giving me 3.7:1 odds on my set. To be quite honest, I insta©called here. I'm not even sure I saw the exact amount of the bet, just that it was under $50. I just had that gut feeling that I was being set up the entire time for a big bluff, and villain had obtained the perfect board to pull it off with.
There is one more element to the call. While at the time, I wasn't consciously aware of it, I'm sure there was some subconscious part of me that also saw the amount villain had left himself with © exactly $100. Is it just me or does that sound odd to you, if this is a bet coming from a player with the straight? If you have the straight, you would bet $30, as the difference between $29 and $30 at this point is minimal in terms of pot odds, and, well © who thinks $29?! The bluffer, that's who. Villain was determined to make a bluff here, but he also didn't want to go below the $100 mark © quite the simple explanation, really, and I've had to force myself not to act this was as well: $100 had represented a decent night's profit for villain (he had claimed to have bought in for $50). If he's called here, it sucks, he loses © but he's still up $50 on the night. While realistically, there isn't much difference between $100 and $99, especially at .5/1 © a single big bet © psychologically it's huge (just think, if it weren't true, wouldn't everything be sold for an even dollar amount, not $4.98, etc.?). I repeat, I did not consciously see villain had left himself with $100, but in hindsight, I believe I saw it subconsciously, which made my decision that much easier.
Okay, so I hope this has helped everyone get rid of one annoying factor that you may not be aware of that is hurting your attempts at bluffing. If you instead took this as "leave yourself with an even amount of chips when you have the nuts", that could also work too © just make sure you are seen as a donk and are playing against someone who knows psychology (or at least pretends to know psychology, like me) :D
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