Hand Of The Day #61

$1/$2 NLHE - Grand Sierra - 11.19.10

I raise to $7 in Mid position with AKo. Five players see a Flop of Ad Qc 4d. It checks to me, and I bet $20. Only the SB calls, a 70's gentleman who's on the Nitty side.

Turn [Ad Qc 4d] Ks. He checks. I bet $30, and I've got about $150 behind ($100 in Green, and $50 in Red chips). He glances at my stack, and says, "All-In. No...wait. I call." The Dealer lets him just call, and deals the River Card.

River [Ad Qc 4d Ks] 3c. He checks. OK, this is a really weird situation. The time between "All-In. No...wait. I call." and him checking the River card was rather short. It all happened very quickly, and it caught me off guard. I thought that when a player says All-In, it meant All-In. But as I said in my last blog entry, Regulars who play in a room every day don't have to follow the same rules that other players do. I'm tempted to complain about this, but I know it's too late.

So why did this 70's gentleman do a "Pump Fake" against me? There is no chance that this is some sort of a Angle Shot. He's on the Nitty side, and Nits don't shoot angles at the table. I think that he didn't notice my four Green chips at first, and was willing to put me All-In for $50 more, but not $150 more.

Since I have Top Two Pair, I decide to go All-In to look like I missed the Flush Draw. He snap-called with QQ for a flopped Set.

I could just chalk this up to a cooler, but the truth is that I made a mistake in this hand. That mistake was not finishing my thought process before I shoved my chips in the pot. What hand was he willing to check-raise me All-In for? It can't be a Draw. Nits don't shove All-In on Draws, even Combo Draws like KJd.

So he would have to have a Made Hand like a Set (AA, KK, QQ, 44), Two Pair (AK, AQ, A4), or a Straight (JT). I doubt he has AA, because even Nits 3-Bet with AA preflop. KK is doubtful because he would have folded with the A on the Flop. JT is doubtful because he would not have Pump Faked with the Nuts.

That leaves QQ, 44, AK, AQ, and A4. AK and A4 are less likely, since I already have AK and I doubt he would play A4 unless it was suited.

So of the three likely hands (QQ, 44, and AQ), I'm ahead of one, and behind two of them. Even if I factor in AK and A4, I'm still 2-2-1 against his range. This is clearly a case of "Way Ahead or Way Behind". When you're not sure if either you're crushing somebody or they're crushing you, then the best action is to Check. And that's what I should have done is this situation.

I don't think it's donk-o-riffic to get stacked off in a cooler. But if I ever want to be a Good player, then I need to be able to lose the minimum when the deck is stacked against me. And I certainly didn't do that in this hand.