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The guy in this hand hadn't been particularly active thus far in doing anything crazy/stupid but was very tight or just getting alot of shitty cards. He didn't strike me to be the kind of player to defend his blind with any two so right off I suspected that he probably had a pretty decent hand. When that flop came down and he led into me that didn't really jive with what normally happens in this type of situation given this type of opponent and when something doesn't fit the mold my bullshit radar goes off pretty quickly. Of course he could have some holding like A9 or perhaps any pair from 88-JJ but I think that with the majority of those hands he would have went for a CR here. Against nearly all opponents it would be safe to eliminate the bigger pairs and sets here as well as him having flopped two pair.
I raised here in an attempt to get to see the next two cards for free if needed (I had
![[As]](https://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/As.gif "The Ace of Spades")
![[Kc]](https://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Kc.gif "The King of Clubs")
by the way). When greeted by that three bet I was not very happy as I figured he had 1010-QQ. I could either call getting 9.5:1 but then would be faced with calling a turn bet getting only 6.25:1 drawing to what I believed were still 6 live outs (ca. 6.8:1 so not enough to justify a call) but if I capped it off that would likely get me to the river in most cases for 2.00 more instead of 4.00 and as a biproduct if the guy led into me again I would have the odds to call for the river if my read was correct. I thought for sure the guy would check the turn after I had raised preflop and proceeded to cap it off against him on the flop on this ragged board even though he held an overpair. When he led into me again on the turn that just didn't fit with acceptable protocol for what he could possibly have here. When he doesn't reraise me preflop I can pretty safely throw out him having AA or KK here and I have two of those cards as well but with me raising preflop and then proceeding to cap it off on the flop It would take a daring player to lead back into me on the turn holding QQ-1010 here and from my read on him he just wasn't that type of a player and if he had held a set the VAST, VAST majority of players are not going to play the hand the way he did on the flop. So what does that leave that fits this guys resume, in my opinion two big suited diamonds, most likely AJ or AQ. He bet the river and showed down
![[Ad]](https://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Ad.gif "The Ace of Diamonds")
![[Qd]](https://livepokerforum.com/images/smilies/Qd.gif "The Queen of Diamonds")
and I won the pot with AK high. If he would have checked the turn and bet the river following my turn check I would have had a very difficult time calling that bet after being three bet on the flop but with his bet on the turn after my cap I was almost positive of what he held.Pot manipulation, hand reading and an ability to recognize when something just doesn't jive in the play of a hand are extremely important components in fully maximizing your abilities in limit holdem and poker in general. I only wish I had close to the mental capacity to break down 60-80 players while multitabling.
Statistics: Posted by piersmajestyk — Mon May 22, 2006 8:32 pm
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