THE PERSISTENT IRRITATION

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Jeff H. does it again, pulling off another stunning victory after being on the ring ropes for much of the middle portion of the game. How does he do it? And more importantly, how do we take him down?

Anger bet management

A bad beat. An annoying drunk at the other side of the table. Troubles at home. They're all triggers for an anger bet. And as many of us know, an anger bet can be the most costly maneuver in poker.

Over at the RPL, we get our fair share of anger bets, although for the most part the rage tends to be directed inward toward the individual, a self-flagellation for poor play. Invariably, this behavior is exploited by other players for comedic effect more than actual financial gain.

A cash game among strangers is a different story. Angry  players don't like jokes. And more often than not, they don't like you. 

Finding the angry bettor is easy. He's the one with his chair pulled tight to the table and is hovering over his chips. He's complains repeatedly to the guy next to him about how he was wronged, and generally puts all of his emotions on display for everyone to read. He's on tilt, and poised to make his next big mistake.

Consider this recent example:

An early position player is Super Loose, playing every hand and making big raises on every flop. He's won six, seven, eight hands in a row, and many at the table are getting testy. No one has the guts to go against him, and it's clear that he's exploiting this fear.

Fear leads to anger.

A late position player, having been smacked around by Super Loose a few times, finally gets a hand and goes in hard. A monster bet clears the field of everyone except Super Loose and a strong player in middle position. Everyone at the table is thrilled to see Super Loose go down. You can see it in Angry Late's eyes; clearly, this is about more than just the money.

Anger leads to hate.

Fourth street hits. Angry Late bets hard, Super Loose calls, as does the other remaining player.

Fifth street brings nothing, and Angry Late knows he's sunk Super Loose. He bets hard again. Super Loose calls. So does Middle Strong.

Hole cards are flipped and indeed, Angry Late beats Super Loose. Only problem is, Middle Strong beat them both.

Hate leads to suffering.

Angry Late focused his game only on the object of his ire. Any reasonable player would have seen that Middle Strong was the real threat. Middle Strong knew he was playing against low cards and high emotions. His  smooth calls kept the focus on the other players. Not once did either player even give Middle Strong a passing glance. And in the end, he took down a huge pot.

Ironically, Angry Late took some satisfaction in besting Super Loose. A small consolation, I suppose.

Ask the P.I.

Dear PI –

Last night I played in a [shoot-out] hold em tournament. I ended up finishing third out of 18 and in the money but ultimately I was ticked at myself for not taking one of the top 2 spots because I badly misplayed a hand at the end. At least I think I misplayed it, I can't be sure.

Three players left and I’m on the button. Girl on my left has twice as many chips as myself and the guy on her left. He and I have enough chips left to get in on about 4 or 5 more hands. I'm holding Ace, King - off suit. Flop comes down 4, 6, 10 - none suited. Girl on my left instantly checks as she's been doing all night when she has nothing. Guy next to her instantly checks. What do you do in this situation?

I went ahead and thought neither had anything and bet big. She got out, he matched me. I bet most of my stack on the rest of that hand, the last 2 cards were something like a 2 and a 6, so I'm thinking pair on the board and we go to a kicker if he checked on the flop. Turns out he had pocket 10's. So he checked down that late in the game on trip-10's. That was what stunned me most. Did I badly misplay this or did I go with decent instincts and just get suckered into a skillful bet?

Sincerely,

Tripped up by Trips

Dear TUBT -

Based on the information, I assume she was in the small blind, he in the big blind and you on the button.

More importantly, it sounds like there were no pre-flop raises. A pre-flop raise with AK would have given you insight into his hand. My guess is that he would call almost anything except an all-in bet.

His call of your flop bet should be a strong indicator that he has a hand, particularly as it is late in the game. Remember, AK means you’re still on a draw. Even a pair of fours after the flop is significantly stronger than AK (4:1 to be exact).

The strong bet was a good idea; the continuation bet.... maybe not so much. But I understand how it’s hard to lay down AK, especially so late in the game.

Next time, think pre-flop raise of 1-3x the blind and see what happens.

-- PI

Goodbye, Columbus

It was a tough slog in Columbus, Ohio this weekend. Hope, inspiration and responsible leadership were apparently no match for rainy weather and negative campaigning.

On the upside, I was fortunate to meet some great people who are taking ownership in this campaign, and I continue to be amazed by the community spirit that has evolved. Hats off to the entire Democracy Drive field office and all the local and out-of-state volunteers who fought the good fight even in unpleasant conditions.

But perhaps the most inspirational moment came on Sunday morning, when we were dispatched to the Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church to represent the campaign. Pastor Reeves welcomed us with open arms, then gave the whole flock the full treatment. For three and a half hours, he preached, the choir sang, and we all got a got a good dose of the Holy Spirit.

Check it out if you're ever in Columbus. I know I'll be back.

New Kid on the Block

Another day, another winner. Newcomer Jeffrey K. became the seventh person to finish in first place this year, besting a field of eight players to take home $177. 

Evenly matched in heads up action, Jeffrey beat the odds against two all-in bets, making short work of Chris L. With a $400 chip lead, Chris L. goes all in with QsJc; Jeffrey calls with 6h7h. Chris L. is a 3:2 favorite, but the flop comes 6c7cXx and the rest is history.

The next hand is Kx8x offsuit for Chris L., a good playing hand for heads-up. And with only eight blinds worth of money left ($400), he goes all-in again. There are gallery murmurs of "anger bets," but he knows it's a good move. Ask anyone.

Jeffrey K. is in a commanding position, if a little tired. He calls the bet with Jd7d. Again, Jeffrey is a 2:3 underdog, but the flop hits Jx4x4x and the streets bring nothing of note for either player.

And so it goes that the new guy gets the spoils. It's been a while since strangers came and took everything. Let's not let it happen again.