Knowing Your Opponents CAN Backfire On You

[gamer4life27]

Just played a live tournament yesterday at a home game. We usually play a $30 buy-in, $5 bounty and $5 goes to the big tournament at the end (which we do twice a year. It's to a WPT or WSOP event). It's usually 10-16 people (average 12) who show up regularly.

This time, we decided to do a bigger buy-in tournament and cap the people at 27. We were calling people left and right asking them to come, but we ended up with 16 people (because a bunch of people who were going to bring some people flaked).

We usually start out with 2,500 chips, 20 minute blinds with blinds starting at 25/50. Blinds go up in weird increments (not my idea, but it is their rules). Blinds go from 25/50, 50/100, 100/200, 200/400, 300/600, 400/800, 500/1000, etc. every 20 minutes. But for this tournament, we started out with 5k in chips. Break after end of every 4th blind.

After the first break, I have roughly 11k in chips. Catching some cards (and bullying here and their, but not too much) I brought that up to 22k in chips by the time we combined to one table with only one bounty chip in my possession.

I get my cards and put them under my gold card protector marked with a big 'O', and in smaller print across it says what it stand for, Omaha. The O in H.O.R.S.E. I look at the person UTG and he limped with blinds at 600/1,200 100 ante (ante was only added for this tournament). It is folded to me and I look down at JJ and decide to raise to 4,200 total. Folds around to Amature Ann's BB who is not paying attention and delays the action for a minute. All the while the limper is still looking at me, thinking about the call. After a while, he calls.

The flop comes out K 7 4. He bets 2k and I throw in my all-in chips after 2 seconds.

Now let me explain why this action is very suspicious to me. The limper is a VERY methodical, thought out player who is capable of laying down HUGE hands. I have been playing a style where I would show 23os for a boat, K 10 for a straight, AA for trips, and nothing but extremely quality hands, but only once all the cards were out. I was playing confusing poker basically, making them want to see my cards, and every time they did they would lose.

The person I am going heads up against is someone who is interested in winning, and is very good at reading players. But I am the only person that he does not have a read on (he is still, to this day, calling me down with crap just to see my hands). I see him make AMAZING reads on the other players, but me he can not for some strange reason.

At this point in the game, we are 7 (or 8) handed, and blinds are pretty high except for half of the table. Everyone else has <8 BB in their stacks. I am going up against the chip leader and I know he doesn't want to play against me because he knows I am the only person who can knock him out of the tournament. And if I take him out, I will be almost guaranteed at least 3rd place ($130).

My raise pre-flop was pretty standard for me. Every time their was no raise, and I was first in the pot, I would raise myself with whatever I had. So me raising didn't put me on a hand, but it did indicate that I was playing (I even raised PF with 45).

So he can not put me on a hand, but I can put him on a range on hands. 1010-AA, A10-AKsuited, AQ-AKsuited, JQ/QK suited.

Once the flop came out the way it did, I was looking at him. Of course, very little to no reads. But I did pick up on some weakness.

On the flop, there is ~11k in the pot. His 2k bet told me he had an ok hand, but it wasn't strong. If he could beat my jacks, he would have either checked, or bet more than that. So this told me he was making a feeler bet, see where his hand was. I could minimize my hand range down to 1010, QQ, QK suited, and AQ (not of hearts). Only one of those hands beats me, so I have a 1/4 chance of being right that I am ahead (even with KQ, he will lay it down. And I am also assuming that he will lay down QQ).

Once I go all-in, I am pretty sure he is going to lay it down. Many things factor into the fact that I know he will lay it down. One is that he does not have a read on me. Another is that the hand range I put him on he will fold most, if not, all of them to my re-raise. And one last one is that he was thinking for a good 7 minutes before he made a decision.

While thinking, he was in a lot of pain. He was not saying anything until about 4 minutes into it. And even then he didn't talk to me because everyone knows I do not talk back to them in a live game while I am in the hand (especially while I am all-in). So he was counting the pot odds (of course, not in his favor). He was talking to the other players in the third person saying things like: "What the hell could he have? Aces again? No. AK maybe? Damn, I don't know." He was lifting his cards up, grabbing both of them and smacking them against each other. While looking at him through my glasses, under my hooded jacked I make no movements as I think he is about to fold.

Then, that's when my heart dropped. He then announces: "You know, if it was any other player, I would lay it down. But I wanted to see your cards all night. So I am going to call." And he flips over KQ os.

I sluggishly take down my hood and proclaim: "Wow, good call. Your ahead." in a low monotone voice. I flip over my Jacks and take off my glasses and set them to the side of my chip stack, which I think is going to go all the way to him (i didn't have an exact chip count, and didn't know who was ahead). He then stands up and and shouts: "HOOO!!!! Yeah baby! Wanted to see his cards ALL NIGHT!" All while clapping and moving left and right.

The turn falls another King, giving him trips. I am a statue, looking at the board in aww, still reeling at the situation of me being behind after all of that thinking. He looks at the board and yells: "That's TRIP KINGS! YEAH!!"

All I can do is sit their as my fate was in the cards that were about to fall. I could not do anything except hope my two outer comes on the river and take down this huge pot in which I thought so hard and played perfectly to take down. Knowing his style, using it against him, and yet, here I am, a %5 underdog about to send almost if not, all my chips to a very powerful player.

The river, falls the worst blank of all, the 2 . At this point, all I can do is hope that I am not behind and have more than 2 or 3 BBs left. We count it out and I am left with only 1,700 in chips in a 7 (or 8) handed game that pays top 5.

Edit: Forgot to mention that everyone their thought he was going to fold, and that i had a monster hand. They said that it took real balls to make that move and that i should have won that hand for the way i played it. [/EDIT]

I played my a$$ off to build up my chip stack to 10k in 3-handed play.

Blilnds now at 1k/2k 200 ante, I am in the SB with 56os. Chip leader (the person I lost all those chips to) was OTB and folded. I look down and reach for my cards, then re-think and make a call. Amature Ann (the nick name, her real name isn't Ann) checks. The flop comes Q Q 6. I move all-in, knowing that she is VERY tired (she is not used to playing long hours at the poker table and has been saying she wants to go home. She has been calling with crap to have an even chip stack over all) and will call with pretty much anything. Once I go all-in, she looks at her cousin (the chip leader) and asks what she should do.

He then states that he can not help her because it's one player per hand. So she states: "I'm tired, and you are a good player. Here is a double up. I call." as she turns up A 5 for Ace high. I turn over my pair of 6's, 5 kicker without too much enthusiasm because I want to see all 5 cards before I even crack a smile. Knowing she is a %27 underdog (roughly, I do not do exact calculations) made me a little happy, but with her luck, you never know.

The turn falls the 4, giving her a backdoor club flush draw and giving her a TON more outs. And of course, to my amazement, i sneak a peak of the card to come as it's about to be flipped over and all I see is a clubbed pip. At that point, I stand up and walk away from the table to contain my frustration and anger.

Now I am not that angry or mad because I moved all-in with the best hand knowing she will call with anything and hopefully double me up. I was mad about the way I got KO'd. Come on, to a backdoor flush?! Who isn't going to reel on that after a while? But of course, after a minute, I cool off and come back to my senses as they hand me the money (doesn't money always bring people back to their senses? )

I collect $130, and $10 in bounty's ($5 per person) for a total of $140 in a 16 person $50 tournament.

But overall, I am very happy with my play at this game. I played to the best of my ability, and took 3rd (even through some small spells of no cards). I battled, fought, and clawed my way when I was short stacked, and I was making great reads, even better plays, and became chip leader (before the incident happened).

I can not complain for knowing my opponents, nor about the bad luck that I received through the tournament. That's poker. I had very little to no cards and still made it to third place. And when I did get cards, I milked it for all I could get. So how can you be mad at that?

[gamer4life27]

LMAO! I was typing this thing for so long that it actually logged me out and I had to copy and past it into another thread post.

[gamer4life27]

Love bump for all those who want a good read.

[Esqueleto]

The first hand was palyed very well, not liking the guy hooting and holaring after his call.


The second hand you win 7 outts ten times, just fell in the unlucky 3.

Souns like you should be proud of the way you played!

[gamer4life27]

I was extremly proud of the way I played. Nothing I did was -EV (well, ok, one thing. But it turned out to be a great hand for me. 32os SB. limped around to me. Don't look and I call, which I normally do. BB checks. Flop comes out K 7 2 rainbow. I have the chip lead, and check dark. Checks around to Button who raises 3/4th the pot. I look down at my bottom pair bottom kicker. I know he has TPTK, so I call, thinking I won't get re-raised and will fold on the turn. But the turn falls a 3, for two pair. I check raise him, he calls. And the river is a 3 for a boat. I bet HUGE, and he thinks for a while, and calls.) But other than that, I made all +EV plays all day, making great reads, and can't complain for falling victim to a little bad luck.