My little brother has been home for Thanksgiving for a couple weeks, and we finally made it out to Foxwoods (something we've intended to do for over a year now). For the first time in a long time both of us could stand to gamble a couple hundred dollars, so instead of playing the $2/4 limit tables for fun, we sat at $1/2 NL, which was infinitely more fun.
I ran like God, which helped the fun. In the first 15 minutes I picked up KK, AK, and AA (and stacked a guy with KK), and was up over $200. Through the next 3-4 hours my stack fluctuated between $340 and $460, as I saw several more playable and premium hands.
Two mistakes stood out. In one hand, not fully appreciating the looseness of the table, I flatted the big stack's UTG raise with KK, only to see 3 other callers. I then flat called a small $35 bet on J55, before a guy behind raised, UTG called (with AJ), and I folded to the raiser's trip 5s. I 3bet my big hands every time after this. In another hand I raised a loose limper with 99, checked the flop of A66, but called a 2/3p bet on the turn J. There was no hand I could really beat. I checked the river behind, and she showed A3s. There were a couple of occasions where I missed value bets also, such as betting the river w/AA OOP on Q77JK (vs JT, who very well might have called) after checking flop and betting the turn.
In the end, even after running so good, I ended up $200+, which was a fine score, despite the feeling that I could have won more had I played perfectly. My session culminated, however, with the laydown of all laydowns, in which I folded KK pre-flop to AA. Before you start typing "DONK" in the comment box, allow me to explain my read:
The guy across the table from me opens to $12 or $15 from UTG+1, and it folds to me on the button. I have KK, and make a smallish 3bet to $30. Folds to UTG+1, who shortly and evenly says "Raise," matches my bet, and calmly slides out $80 more. I tank for about a minute and fold. I have three considerations:
- This guy was Mr. Weak-Tight. In the three+ hours I'd played with him he hadn't raised pre-flop more than once, and whenever he limped in he had a very sullen, expecting-the-worst look on his face that was the antithesis of confidence. If his limp was raised, he'd fold. The guy had only really been involved in one memorable hand in all this time, which was my next consideration.
- About an hour previously, I'd watched this guy *agonize* over calling all-in on the turn with top two pair vs. a loose player. With K8s he'd hit K86 with two clubs, and when a non-club undercard (I think a J or a 3) came on the turn, a loose girl had put him all in. He'd expected a set, and announced "I guess I'm going to regret this" before calling. She had K6.
- Given this guy's weak style of play and expectation of the worst, the calm with which he immediately 4bet me was very noticeable. He didn't stop to think, or consider his course of action. He didn't have to. He said the word "Raise," immediately, and was utterly calm and collected in sliding more chips out. I tried to imagine him doing this with AK or QQ, and couldn't. He was just too confident.
I got up from the table about ten minutes later and approached him, asking if he'd tell me what he had if I told him what I had. He said "Sure, why not? I had the aces," nodding his head as if even he knew it was obvious. I thanked him and fumbled awkwardly to shake his hand, obviously feeling much better about my fold. This guy was utterly guileless (as his play, as well as his manner, had demonstrated), and I had no doubts that he told the truth. I decided to end my night on that note.
