Thursday, September 13, 2012

More live tells

More hands from last Friday:

I can't quite remember exactly how the hand played out, but by the river, I was heads-up with a poor player who mainly relied upon luck and improbable bluffs to win at poker.  I'm somewhat certain that I had at least a top pair, top kicker or and overpair by the river facing a 4-straight 4-5-7-8 -type board.  I remember checking to the the player who led large (the pot was somewhat large so this bet was consistent with pot size).  However, he did not think about the prior action, and how unlikely it would be for him to show up with a 6.  More interestingly, almost immediately after putting out the bet, I started counting chips and thinking about the hand.  Due to his "impatience," he called out "I have the straight," while looking right at me.  Then, "realizing his mistake," said,"Oh, you didn't call, huh...  you haven't called yet...  Damn...  We'll I'm going to be nice and let you know that I have the straight.  You should fold and save yourself money."  It was so poorly timed / coreographed, that I wasn't sure whether he was trying reverse psychology.  This attempt at accidentally calling out his hand was so poor that I thought he was trying to make me think that he intended it to be a false tell.  With nothing left on his end or mine, as far as betting, I started talking to him.  I asked him after he started insisting on the straight that he show me the cards.  He flat out refused.  I said show me one card then.  Immediate and sharp refusal.  After working up the profile, I concluded that he was bluffing and made the call to take the pot vs. his AJ two overcard bluff.  Almost a week later, and I'm still stupefied that someone could bluff so poorly.  His tell was precisely so poor and obvious, looking at me while acting shocked and embarrassed that I hadn't made the call after telling me that he had a straight was just awful.

9 comments:

  1. You have to know your customers -- good job.

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  2. You sound like a real donkey. What's ur win rate? Are u even a break even player?

    --James

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  3. Ummmm... Thanks James! I guess it's evident from my posts and bankroll that I am a donkey. Nah - not even a break even player - sounds like you'd love to play me, so let's arrange a time & place, no? I'm in; are you?

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  4. It just sounds like you've been playing a long time and you're still playing 1-2 NL. Why aren't you playing 2-5?

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  5. umm... Well James, I have played a bit of 2-5. I suppose it's just a matter of time before converting to a full 2-5 player. For now, I'm trying to learn the intricacies of a live poker game since my game is much more geared towards online. But thanks for the comments!

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  6. James is a bit of a douche bag I suspect...

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  7. I agree. Please continue your blog Sir, I find it very interesting and informative.

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  8. nice read, but you already had it figured out from the beginning. i try to go with my first intuition if that strong since the mind is so good at sifting through everything in the background.

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