So I'm playing a 2/5 game, and I'm middle-stacked with about $770, and I've made a decent profit for the night. This is live, so I have no converter. So a few things about the table. Or rather, the only real important player at the table. He's nicknamed "Action Dan", but that's not sarcasm like Dan Harrington's nickname, this guy definitely deserves the nickname. He likes to bluff big against people on the river. Anytime he drops below chip leader, he will reload for $400 more. Most of the time, a poker player's dream and he's been my money source for most of the night.

I've been playing TAG, usually 3x bb raise preflop if I enter a hand followed by a 2/3 to 3/4 pot bet on the flop. Action Dan is to my immediate left. The following hand comes up on Dan's sb, I have the button.

8-handed table, all fold to me on the button. I pick up A J and I raise it 3x bb to $15. Dan calls from the sb and the fish in the bb folds.

Pot: $35

Flop is J 6 2

Dan checks, I bet $30, which has been a typical continuation bet of mine, which I thought may have effectively concealed the strength of my hand.

Dan quickly calls, making the pot grow to $95

Turn comes A
Dan checks again, I bet out $100. Dan seems to think it over momentarily and asks how much I have. I tell him about $500 and he nods and calls.

Pot is now $295

River comes K
Dan moves all-in.

Call or fold here?
I'll post results after I get some replies.

I'd say fold. All of his actions are pretty consistent with the flush draw. (The quick call on the flop, pondering an all-in/checking implied odds on the turn.)

There's no way he'd raise all-in on the river unless it's either the flush draw or a total bluff, and if he has a hand weak enough that he wants to bluff all of his chips on the river, I can't imagine why he'd call on the turn. Figure in that there are no other obvious draws that he could have called with and missed and I think it adds up to a pretty easy fold.

i think action dan has a set

I think "Action Dan" understands poker a little bit better than you'd like to think.



That's a start. Still got a ways to go.



You speak of this as if it's a good thing. You SHOULD make bets in relation to the size of the pot. What ends up happening if you frequently make underbets?

People call you more profitably with weaker hands...

therefore...

outdraw!

Meanwhile, that crazy Action Dan guy saves his money for river bets (when the pot is huge, and you either have a winner or you don't), and puts pressure on guys like YOU to see if YOU have the cojones to call HIM.

That's deep stack cash game poker.

Don't immediately assume someone is playing BAD if they don't play like you.

I think he's got Jc10c and pushed b/c he knew you had a hand and would likely call.

It would be a great move if that's what he did. You almost have to call based on his table image and he knows it.

If you can deduct this then fold.

Me, I would call because it's my thing to make really bad calls when I know I'm beat.

Hardly an easy fold

Ya this definitely isn't an easy fold here. For all you guys saying that is, maybe you haven't played much brick and mortar poker. The play is much, much looser and the overall, a lot worse.

His huge all-in over bet of the pot is pretty suspicious as well. Also, if he had made either his straight or flush, he might just check it to you considering you've been leading the whole way.

Also, before I make up my mind, does this guy play his good hands just as aggressively as he plays his bad hands?

yes he does.

and my mistake if i said or implied i thought he was bad. What I meant was that when he and I clashed in a pot, I almost always took it down. He is by no means bad, he just simply does not care about money.

I don't think you are up against a flush here. Based on your description Action Dan isn't stupid and isn't going fishing for runner-runner.

If you are beat, its by a set.

I think he put you on a hand with a jack, and then he saw the ace represented an opportunity to take it away.

I also think it is possible that he isn't bluffing and has a smaller two pair.

I call here, AJ is pretty solid in this spot. I can' t wait to see the results.

A question about your image at the table:

Do you seem to lay down hands to big raises or are you hard to bully?

A question about the scenario:

Did he have you covered? Did he raise 500 or a lesser amount?

A question about his style:

Does he ever slow play strong hands or is he always wild and agressive?

Without anymore information, the call is pretty tough. I'd probably end up folding it.

Big calls are tough. I like fun, easy decisions. Like betting.

And I'm such a sadistic fuck I enjoy watching other people squirm and try to figure ME out.

It's pretty clear you can't call.
It's pretty clear "Action Dan" knows you can't call.
What he has doesn't matter.
You can wait him out.

I thought about it long and hard. My read on him on the flop was that he caught the jack and I had him outkicked with the ace. I also thought that he was convinced I was full of shit, since I was taking down a lot of pots with just pure aggression post flop. I thought his intention was to call me down until the river, then bet it hard.

He did just what I thought he would and I had been banking on. Something about the river seemed to strengthen him though. I was thinking maybe KJ, because i really don't see any way he calls me down with a runner runner flush draw.

After debating for another minute or two, I called.

He flips J 7 for the flush on the river.

I just wanted to clarify xdub's thought process. I was at the cash game that night, and frequently play with "Action Dan." He was in the hole for about 4000 dollars for the night within two hours of play. This is how he starts most nights and rarely makes a profit. So to say he was a bad player may be presumptuous...but you can't deny the "donkish" image.

Damn, I was close

Yea, I was pretty surprised when i saw you say Jc10c.

I think him asking for a chip count lead me to believe that he had picked up a draw and was checking implied odds. I think someone else mentioned that also.

That being said, I would have called as well because I don't like to trust my reads.

I had a very bad feeling about the river card, I definitely thought he strengthened. But I couldn't get past my read that he hit the jack on the flop. I still need to work on aspects of my game, such as the ability to pick up on backdoor hands that hit.

Maybe also work on being able to lay down big hands.

Still, given his image and my holdings, I couldn't force myself to let that one go. At least someone else said they'd call, which makes me feel better about myself. Thanks Kyle.

I actually found myself in Action Dan's shoes in a tournament once with AcQc on an undercard board by the turn with two clubs. I asked the only other player who had bet out the turn how many chips he had left, then called. I then put him in on the river when my draw hit. Coincidence may have played a roll in these two similar occurences but I think the act of asking for a chip count and just calling is always suspect.

In this situation I think you might have to fold based solely on the fact that you are beating him in many smaller pots with less risk than this call. Calling here is vary borderline from what you said there will be better opportunities to sack Dan's stack.