Here fishie, fishie

To illustrate you how much the player’s suck where I play, here is a hand I played against one of the “better” players. He watches the action and knows what’s going on, sorta. I made the mistake of giving him too much credit. I get AK early, raise and he’s the only caller. 

Flop:

9 K 2 rainbow. 

I bet and he calls. I raised preflop, so he knows I have a good hand. Maybe he’s just floating to see what I do on the turn. Possibly slow playing KK. Maybe Q10 or QJ. 

Turn:

4

I bet and he calls. So now I’m pretty sure he can’t get away from QQ or has a strong K. I’m thinking K because he didn’t reraise me preflop. I just don’t feel he has AK. But what does he think I have? How can he call with just a K? 

River:

9

Hmm? Could he have had a 9? I check and he bets. Damm! That A-hole had A9 and was hoping for another 9 or an ace. I’m thinking I should fold, but I glance at the pot and see about $28. That gives me 7 to 1 odds. All I have to do is win 1 of 7 times to break even. I can’t fold. I call and he proudly shows KJ. I show my AK and he angrily mucks his cards. I don’t think he even considered what I had. He knew he had a K and when I checked the river he thought he was good.

That reminds me of a trip where my cousin went with me and raised preflop. The board was 44K94. He was betting all the way with authority. When he turned over his pocket kings everyone was saying that they thought for sure he had quad 4’s. Really? As I was patting myself on the back I calmly said I knew he had pocket Kings. What would he be doing raising preflop with a 4? Only 1 guys really thinks about it and say, “Oh, yeah huh.” Everyone else didn’t even seem to get it.

People say the darnest things

Here are a couple tidbits of my last trip that I thought I’d share.

This first one goes under the heading of the players that can’t bear to be checked raised.

Turn:

7d 3c 10d 9d

P1 bets, P2 calls.

River:

Kh

P1 check and so does P2. P1 shows Ad 2d for the nut flush and says I was scared you had the straight flush.  What? Really? 

Here’s another.

I flop a set with two hearts on the board. I bet the flop and the turn with one caller. Before the dealer throws down the river, the player asks the dealer to put another heart on the board. The heart comes and the player bets. Ug! I turn over my set and fold. Player shows his flush and say, “Good fold!” 

I get pocket aces and hope they get cracked for the bonus. I end up heads up post river and I can tell the aces are good. I turn them over and say, “Unfortunately I win”.  The other player folds his cards and says, “That’s what I put you on.” Huh, really? And yet you called all the way to the river! 

Here’s a few more.

If I break even, I consider it a win!

This seat is unlucky!

(After four hands) I can’t get anything!

I hate AK (that’s why I play all kinds of other junk)!

The dealer is screwing me today!

I rather be lucky than good! Too bad, because you’re neither.

I thought you had a straight! (Oh really, and yet you bet all the way to river)

I knew you had the straight! (Oh really, and yet you called all the way to river)

Angle Shootin

I just returned from another successful trip of $2/$4 limit, but something bothered me and I’m not really sure why. When I play poker I try and do a lot of things to induce a call or bet from other players. Strangely, off hand I can’t think of anything I really do to induce a fold. Maybe if I bluff I might try and looked relaxed, but that’s about it. On a hand from this trip a players was betting all the way to the river and an older gentleman was calling. Once the 5 cards were out, the aggressor holds up his two cards so only he can see them and says, “I only have two pair”. The older guy didn’t hear him and shows bottom two pair. The aggressor mucks has cards. To me this is borderline cheating. 

I looked up Angle Shooting and this is what I found:

A poker player who uses various underhanded, unfair methods to take advantage of inexperienced opponents. The difference between an angle shooter and a cheat is only a matter of degree. What a cheat or thief does is patently against the rules; what an angle shooter does may be marginally legal, but it's neither ethical nor gentlemanly. Nor is it in the spirit of the game. Unfortunately, poker is not a gentleman's game

Showing your cards

Unless I feel I can gain something, I rarely will show my cards. Usually is doesn’t matter because no one is thinking past the next hand anyway. However, if there are good players at the table, I will expose some cards. On a trip to Reno I was watching a game while waiting for a seat to open. The table was filled with good tight players. Locals feeding on the tourist. I finally got a seat and was dealt AK. I raised. Two callers, I C bet the flop and they folded. Next hand QQ. Same scenario, but callers folder after the river. A couple hands later I’m on button and limp with 57o. After the flop it was checked to me and I bet with air. It gets called and then checked to the river. I show my 57 and know this is the first time anyone has seen my cards. The very next hand I’m dealt 99, raise and flop a full house. The locals are fighting over each other to see who will take my chips. From then on I was the table caption.