Stacks
Hero: $700 (500 red and 2 bills) (2 seat)
Villain: $450 (8 seat)

Preflop

UTG folds. Hero raises to $15 with A Q . Some folds. Cut-off calls. Villain calls on button.

Flop ($50)
Q 5 7

Hero bets to $35 with A Q . Cut-off folds. Villain raises to $70. Hero calls

Turn ($188)
T


Villain: How much more do you have?
Hero: About $600.
Villain: Do you have any black chips or anything?
Hero: No.
Villain: No?
Dealer (to villain): He has you covered.

Villain bets $150.

Details pulled out of my butt.

What is the turn card?

Turn's a brick. I forgot to make that part up.

I don't think he'd be asking you the questions if he had a set becuase he wouldn't care how much you had since he knew he wans't folding.

More often than not, when asked about your chip stack, people are trying to determine what the right amount to bet is with relation to your stack, which seems odd if they had a big hand because they should be focused on how much is in the pot and how much is in their stack and what sequence is best to get their chips all into the middle.

I probably shove on him and expect to get called by KQ sometimes, mostly folds and sometimes called by a set.

I guess you could just call, but then you're gonna have to pay off most rivers.

A 10 isn't exactly a brick. He could have something silly like 77-JJ or QT here with that flop min raise "to see where he is at".

Agree with Acid, I think the villain has kicker problems. I'm not sure if I shove though, I think we get more money by calling down this street and the next. The only other hand I can think of he's holding that's not a naked Q is 8-6 where he decided to semi-bluff the turn instead of getting a free peel on the river.

I have found that when people are strong they do a lot more talking... but I don't play live much.

This is easily the biggest tell most bad live players have. People who talk a lot in general will instigate conversations when strong, and shut down when weak. Speeches are a good player's best friend. "Come on, buddy. Keep talking. I have it narrowed down to middle set and bottom set. A few more sentences and I can decide whether you have 99 or 55."

Why would he ask such a scary question when strong?

hey, you know where I live...heads up, short-handed, or otherwise. I don't know how many times I can offer my money to you

lol I will I will, with the Sox in the World Series it is going to be a while...

4 game sweep, we should be ready to play again next weekend haha


you interested in going to a HORSE format for the home game? I'd like to learn at least a few more games otherwise - Omaha, Stud, Razz, etc.

I would love to but I have had a really hard time getting people to play with me

well shizz, I want to learn and I am willing to play heads up. Let me finish Super System then I'm good to go (at least in terms of the basics).

Exactly what I was going to say, the KQ and everything.

I was commenting on the general case. I voted "weak." I planned on writing something about behavior CHANGES being the biggest indicator of strength and weakness, but then I decided to go to class. Whatever Acid Knight said is pretty right on.

Generally, this is a sign of weakness. It's a move intended to intimidate you. If you're playing a intelligent, thinking player though, he may know that you know this and be sending a false tell. Or he may know that you know that he knows... etc. But against your average live donk, it means weakness.

FYP

Is AK some kind of a God around here? It seems like he fucking RUNS shit around here. I suppose I understand, since he's obviously a much better NL player than I am.

I think I'll slink out of here, now. People in the strategy sections seem to have taken an immediate dislike to my presence.

I rather enjoy your presence. You should change your name to Tactical Wang though, becuase, well, it just sounds kind of creepy.

If I were a God around here, I'd trick some people into giving me money or something. I wish I had that power...

Didn't you already?

That's what you'd use God-like powers for? To trick people into giving to 20 bucks at a time? Why not go for the BIG score, and trick people into giving you SUPER low-interest loans for, like, a 100K?

If I had God-like status, I'd probably trick people into giving me their sisters' phone numbers, and then trick them into believing I slept with their sisters, even though I didn't (because that would be mean).

He's only a god to you.

Super low interest loan?
I'd just get Richard Branson to give me a couple of billion dollars.

Sister's phone numbers? NOT sleeping with them?
I'll take Jessica Alba's number and well, there might not be any sleeping but there would be other bedroom related activities.

I ended up folding this hand.

When I play it back in my head, though, I think he was trying to talk me out of a call by threatening to bet my stack.

In these situations, I generally act as weak as possible if I plan on calling a bet. At that point, I'm hoping he'll feel comfortable bluffing for stacks, and if I'm going to snap, I'll snap for as much as possible. If he's REALLY strong, and he thinks I'm weak, he'll bet smaller and try to entice me to call. Win/Win. Or, WinMore/LoseLess

I've found the opposite is true of most players.

The ol' weakness means strength and vice versa tends to hold true for most novices--at least the garden variety player you're going to find at the Wynn's 2/5 game. Some people will talk incessantly when they're bluffing and others will clam up and touch their face and attempt to physically comfort themselves...that's a given. Personally, I found when I started playing that I was telegraphing my bluffs by talking the person's ear off and I noticed the same behavior in a lot of other players soon after.
I'm obv going to stipulate a lot of it depends very much on exactly what they're saying and the disposition they have when they say it.

I have same experience as Wang. I used to even do the same stuff when I first started playing and I'd talk all bad when I had a strong hand but didn't wanna look like an idiot if I got looked up when bluffing. Idiots really do call more often if you can make yourself come off as young punk through speech.

Now I never have hands, so I'm always quiet.

Read Harrington on Hold'em and all of David Sklansky's books either before, or after super system. They are 100% better than Super System for play now-a-days. Back in the day though, Super System was the bomb.

well it's S/S 2, not sure if that makes a difference here...but yes, I have a few Sklanksy books but I've found them to be rather tough reads. I've heard the Harrington books are solid though so I'll probably get those at some point as well. I have read a couple other books and the Sklanksy stuff is starting to make sense...so hopefully after S/S it'll finally click.

whether players are talking much or not at all doesn't matter so much... basic rule of tells is, people are either acting or they're not. once you've figured that out, disappoint them.

sounds like he's bluffing to me though... trying to intimidate you out of a call... if he had a hand though, why would he want to do that?