OK – so this guy and I had been sparring for a while. I specifically picked him because he was generally loose. He was aggressive pre-flop and passive post-flop. He made suspect calls with bottom pair a lot and didn’t give me credit for a good hand a lot of times. He’d been notorious for sucking out on the river several times during our battle.
As we played, I started to pick up on something. When he had any kind of pair, he acted pretty quickly. When he was bluffing – he hesitated enough that it was noticeable. I decided I wanted his whole stack, so I’d stick around and deal with the occasional suckout and just wait for that hesitation or until I had a monster.
Here’s how it went down – I think you’ll agree it was a pretty sick call on my part! I’d never make that call if it weren’t for the high level of confidence I had with this tell. Wee!!
Full Tilt Poker Game #7406769329: Table Clay (heads up) – $2/$4 – No Limit Hold’em – 2:03:08 ET – 2008/07/28
Seat 1: VILLAIN ($638.60)
Seat 2: HERO ($644)
HERO posts the small blind of $2
VILLAIN posts the big blind of $4
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to HERO [4s 4d]
HERO raises to $12
VILLAIN has 15 seconds left to act
VILLAIN raises to $40
HERO: i might call
HERO calls $28
*** FLOP *** [8s Qc Qh]
VILLAIN has 15 seconds left to act
VILLAIN bets $53
HERO calls $53
*** TURN *** [8s Qc Qh] [7d]
HERO is feeling happy
VILLAIN has 15 seconds left to act
VILLAIN bets $127
HERO calls $127
*** RIVER *** [8s Qc Qh 7d] [Kc]
VILLAIN has 15 seconds left to act
VILLAIN has requested TIME
VILLAIN bets $418.60, and is all in
HERO has 15 seconds left to act
HERO calls $418.60
*** SHOW DOWN ***
VILLAIN shows [Tc 9c] a pair of Queens
HERO shows [4s 4d] two pair, Queens and Fours
HERO wins the pot ($1,276.70) with two pair, Queens and Fours
VILLAIN adds $400
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $1,277.20 | Rake $0.50
Board: [8s Qc Qh 7d Kc]
Seat 1: VILLAIN (big blind) showed [Tc 9c] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 2: HERO (small blind) showed [4s 4d] and won ($1,276.70) with two pair, Queens and Fours
Of note:
Prior to his pre-flop raise to $40, he hesitated…I took note.
I said, “I might call” before the flop hit the board – he read that, then hesitated before he bet the flop
On the turn – he hesitated again
On the river – he hesitated AND requested time
Now I was pretty confident on this read that I had on the guy. I was nearly certain that the pause meant he had total squat. When he had a pair – even bottom pair – in earlier hands, he bet/called VERY quickly. There was something about the way the river played out that just reeked of desperation. The pot was equal to both of our stacks by that point – so for him it was check, I bet and take it down – or he fires and hopes that I fold. He could only win by betting and it just stunk of that to me. That and my confidence in his tell convinced me to call.
Sick! Totally sick!
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