Clear Headed Evaluation

A hand I played recently went like this:

Hero in cutoff with K-10o

Folds to hero who raises

Called by sb.

Heads up, 2.5 big bets

Flop is 10d-5d-8s

Check to hero who bets

Sb makes a snide comment and calls

Heads up, 3.5 big bets

Turn Qd

Check to her who bets

Sb calls

Heads up, 5.5 big bets

River 2c

Check to hero who bets

Sb folds

The fellow in the small blind I hadn’t played with before but had been watching him closely for a couple hours before this hand.  He had a fairly big stack in front of him and was playing very aggressively.  He was playing a great many hands, probably closed to 70% and the cards I saw him show down with were pretty weak starting hands, things like A-rag and off suit one gap connectors.  It was clear to me that he was losing more showdowns than winning but was far more than making up for those losses with fold equity.  Player after player were folding to his aggression on the turn and river.  I was in good position to exploit this type of play, two players to his left.  When I started catching a few hands to play and he was open raising I began three betting, knowing I was likely ahead of him and also making it difficult for those behind me to call three cold in order to play.  Upon connecting with the flop I took several big pot from him.  I also showed down a few hands against other players, losing on the river with my busted draw hoping to get a fold.  Seeing these hands, this fellow assumed I played like him not realizing that my hand selection was really much tighter than he imagined and much more sensitive to position.  On the flop of the above hand, this guy blurted out loud, “I just don’t know what you have?  I’m gonna call.  You are one of those weird players that comes in here.” 

The session I played this hand in was one of my biggest.  I finished with five times my original my buyin.  But, the satisfaction from that win was not nearly as good as the glee I felt from this fellow’s comment.  He is a decent player, aggressive and observant.  Many times I’ve played against his ilk and felt intimated, like I was being targeted and made mistakes in my anxiety.  This time, however, I was able to calmly analysis what this fellow was up to.  I realized the logic of what he was doing and made adjustments to my strategy to exploit the weakness in his game, namely just playing too many hands.  He, on the other hand, was not able to figure out my play.  He failed to make adjustments to his strategy and consequently just kept losing to me.  I imagine his comment was an attempt to needle me.  As if to say, “you don’t play like I expect you to so you must be a poor player.”  But, the effect was the opposite.  I was proud and thrilled to be so confusing this guy.  I was pleased he could not or would not adjust to the game I was playing and profited from it.  It was an important step forward for me as I continue to try and derive some meaning from the habits of my opponents and avoiding my own insecurities and confidence issues that can blind me.