An amusing experience from the Bike's 5/10 game:

In LP with QJo. Open-raise to $40. Get called by the guy to my left, a regular there who is not a terrible player but is also not the brightest bulb. He's the kind of player who thinks of very common situations in skewed ways- overvaluing hands, thinking there's "no way" the other guy can call/fold with whatever hand, etc. Anyhow.

We're heads-up to a flop of KT9. Ah, sweet sweet nuts. I bet out $60 to get some money in there, plus I know he'll call light. He calls. Turn is a brick, but does put a second club out there. I bet $125, he pops it to $300. Yay! Now I don't know what he has here, it's a fairly wide range. I'm fairly sure it's a made hand though, he knows me as a tight player so he likely won't raise if he's planning on folding to a reraise. I have about $1500 and he has me covered. I reraise it $525 on top of his $300. I expect he'll fold here, but he calls.

So I'm thinking he's either got a set, two pair, or the same hand as me. Two pair is the unlikeliest since even this guy would fold many 2-pair hands to the reraise. I intend to push the river, although I'm praying like hell the board doesn't pair.

River is the . Well I guess it could have been worse, but still- what a shitty card. I push for my $900 and he goes into the tank. Deep, deep, deep into the tank. I stop worrying about the random flush as soon as he starts thinking, and then he tells me he flopped a set trying to get a reaction. I try to flinch a bit when he says that. I think it was working, as he starts with the "I can't believe I'm going to have to call this" line. But he's still thinking. Finally after a couple of minutes Grumpy Asshole at the other end of the table calls for a clock, and my friend who was on the verge of donating $900 to me times out.

He wouldn't let up after the hand dwelling on it. This is what I meant earlier when I said he views common situations in skewed ways. When the board is KJT9x with two clubs, when is a set EVER good with that action from a tight player? He is going over (out loud) the hands he thinks I could have and never once does he seriously consider QJ "because there's no way you raise with that preflop." He's completely thrown by my reraise on the turn and can't for the life of him figure out how I could have had a queen.

What were we all saying in the other forum about Occam's Razor?

I got 4th leveled here good and proper:

Hadn't been at the table for long. Get in LP, open-raise for $40, get three callers. Flop is - not too shabby. I bet $120, and before the SB calls me the BB flings his Q4s face-up in disgust (and a sidenote- why exactly did you call my raise with Q4 if you're going to fold in disgust to one bet on the flop THAT YOU HIT?). Anyway, SB calls the $120.

Turn is a brick, SB checks again. Now I gotta think that he's drawing too or at least weak, since a queen has been exposed. I bet $300 now, I want him gone. He calls.

River is a brick, I've now got a very strong hand of jack-high. He checks again. I still think he's drawing so he missed too, although he might have a queen. If he has a queen and a queen was exposed, I want him to think I've got an overpair, so I bet $600. He calls me with Q4sooooooted.

While I think "donk", he later proves over a bunch of hands to be a pretty damn good player. Hours later he explains to me why he called. Says that once the queen was exposed he found it much tougher to put me on a queen, and he never put me on an overpair because of the $40 preflop, he figured I would have raised more (and he's right). Then he said that my $600 was a perfectly-sized value bet for a hand like AQ, which in his mind meant that I didn't have AQ. Again he's right, the bastard. I told him I wished I knew he was a good player before I lost $1000 bluffing at him.

Thankfully I did get the $1000 back from him where my bottom two pair held up against his KK. He totally shoulda folded.

Nice of him to show....

gogogogo

Nice cash sir.

another awesome TR from Eli

Fantastic Tourney Recap man - really enjoyed that.