A Strange Sequence

A recent hand I played combined several of the qualities that make cash-game limit hold'em so interesting. It combined tells, reads, and decision-making, and was a bit humorous, as well.

The first unusual thing about this particular $30-$60 game was where it was located in the cardroom. Typically, all of the middle-limit games are clustered in the same general area. This one was located where low-limit games are commonly spread. As a result, it had no locals or pros in it when I was called to play.

Typically, pros spend some time each hour or so scanning the available games to look for the most favorable spot. When they find a greener pasture, they jump on the change list to be first to move to it. Since this game was off the beaten path, no pros had found it, and I was sitting with nine total strangers, none of whom played very well.

Las Vegas professionals play with strangers all the time. Making rapid assessments of how people play based on very limited information becomes one of the skills that pros have to learn to optimize their earnings.

In this hand, I had developed what I call a "presumptive tell" on a tall, bearded player (TBP). Once, when he raised before the flop, he looked around to assess his position, to see where the blinds were, and then put his chips in. On another occasion, he just raised when it was his turn without looking around at all. On this scanty evidence, I theorized that when he held a good raising hand, he knew he was going to raise and just did it. With a marginal raising hand, he paused to assess the situation and confirm in his mind that raising was a good idea.

This is not an unusual tell, as many players raise preflop with different timing based on the quality of their hands. Some even use a reverse tell, pretending they are thinking of calling, and then raising, as if they changed their minds. This act almost always signifies a big pair.

I was in the big blind with the A 4. After three players folded, TBP exhibited his look-around tell and then raised. I took that to mean he had a mediocre raising hand, perhaps a medium pair or a hand like K-J offsuit. Everyone else folded to the button, who called.

He was another stranger, but he was young and seemed to have been fairly active in the previous hour. I had designated him in my mind as an "action player (AP)," a guy who wanted to participate in several pots. He was fairly aggressive, so I thought he would three-bet with a big pair or big ace. In fact, he might even have been the type of action player who reraised with any pair in that spot.

The small blind folded, and I had to decide whether to call. Normally, that decision is easy. I strongly dislike playing ace-rag. I dislike it even more when I have to call a raise, and I truly hate it when I have to call a raise from out of position. I almost always muck this hand without a second thought after a raise and a cold-call. This time was different, however, as my reads convinced me that I likely had the best hand. I called the raise.

The flop came A 6 3, so I had top pair and a terrible kicker. If I was right, though, I had the only pair of aces at the table. I don't always check to the raiser in this spot, but in this case, I wanted TBP to bet so that I could trap AP for an extra bet if he called. So, I checked, and TBP dutifully bet, which he almost certainly would do with any hand. Now, however, AP raised!

What was happening? I came up with four possibilities:

• He had a medium pair and raised to eliminate me and find out from subsequent action whether his hand was good.

• He held an ace.

• He had a flush draw.

• He had 6-6 or 3-3 and had flopped a set.

None of these possibilities made a lot of sense to me. If he had one of the first two holdings, he most likely would have reraised before the flop, being an action player. If he flopped a set, he probably would wait for the turn to put his raise in, and he still might have three-bet preflop with that holding. If he had the flush draw, he might be better off calling and letting me in to help pay for his draw. The flush draw seemed to be the most likely, though, so I three-bet from the blind. TBP folded, so that took care of that concern. AP called.

The turn was a disappointing 10, completing the flush draw if he had one. In fact, I was rapidly running out of hands I could beat. If my flush-draw assumption was correct, he just drew out on me. If he didn't, I was wrong earlier, and he was ahead all the time. In either event, it was bye-bye Barry. I checked, he bet, and I folded.

My fold elicited an unusual reaction from AP. He stared at me in disbelief. Perhaps he had never seen a sequence in which a player three-bet the flop and then check-folded on the turn. He slowly turned over first the K and then the Q, while staring me down.

His actions made me happy, of course, because it confirmed that I had played the hand well, at least post-flop (I am still not that happy about playing the A-4 to begin with, even though it was probably the best hand). I put in the maximum amount of money when I was ahead, and folded immediately when I was drawing dead.

Sometimes, out-of-towners who play well among their friends lose in Las Vegas, and go home suspecting they were cheated. They do not realize that some people in Las Vegas who play for a living read things into hands that their friends simply do not see. Some of the top players I have been privileged to play with can make astonishing reads and call opponents' hands with incredible accuracy. I sit at the same table and see the same thing that they see, but I sometimes have no clue how they reach their conclusions. In fact, the only error they make is announcing their opponents' hands, thus giving out the information that they can decipher hands that well.

In this hand, I made a series of logical plays based on my observations and assumptions. As you read it, it certainly appeared that my plays were at least reasonable. However, to my opponent, it must have seemed that there was at least a hint of strangeness. If that helped me by making him more afraid of me in subsequent hands, it was a good thing.

Barry offers poker lessons tailored to the specific strengths and weaknesses of the individual student. Please visit his web site at http://www.barrytanenbaum.com/ or e-mail him at pokerbear@cox.net.

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