Knowing what hand you are representing

I had a sweat session with Ryan(luckhappens) almost all day yesterday, I got to see his game and he got to see mine. I'm not sure how much seeing my game helped him, but I know seeing his helped me a lot. I play a lag style but his style is much more lag. He's an amazing player that knows his game really well, though I think he's more on the crazy side of lag. I think that what makes him so amazing is that he's willing to go with his gut almost always, he's not scared money. It's interesting to see different styles in action, and I've always respected him game ever since I was grinding the micros.

Anyways, I want to get to what I wanted to talk about in this post.


Villian is a fish. He plays around 30/3/2, I already marked him as one that can make plays based on read. His aggression by street is 0.5/2/infinite.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $4 BB (5 handed) Poker Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: HTML)

Hero ($666.60)
SB ($289.50)
BB ($278.70)
UTG ($461)
MP ($447)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Ad, Ts.
2 folds, Button raises to $16, 1 fold, BB calls $12.

Decent hand pf, this is pretty standard open.

Flop: ($34) 9c, Ah, 4d (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.

The flop is really dry, I'm sure villain would have called my bet here if he has any piece. Sometimes he'll fold, but I want him to catch up and disguise my hand a bit.

Turn: ($34) Qc (2 players)
BB bets $16, Button raises to $54, BB raises to $92, Hero calls $38.

This is where it gets interesting. The standard play here is definitely to call his lead and call the river. But I felt that he made such a small bet and he can't put me on an ace because I've been cbetting like every single flop and playing very loose aggressive. So I wanted to represent a complete bluff or just a bare queen that doesn't like his half psb lead. The ideal situation is that he calls with his Q and calls a river psb also.

When he came over the top with a minraise, things got a little complicated. But remember the hand I was representing, a very weak hand or a complete bluff. Of course a good portion of the time he might have a better hand here also. But since I decided to raise his minraise to represent such a hand, I am forced to get my money in really light. Also a hand like AK would never bet/3bet here ever unless he's thinking even one step ahead of me, but keep in mind how loose he is preflop and the conclusion is that ATo is way above his pf blinds calling range.

River: ($218) 5d (2 players)
BB bets $170.7 (All-In), Hero calls $170.70.

Villain shoves, nothing changed, this is as blank as it gets. You have to go with the story you are telling and villain expects a fold here most of the time, so if he wants me to fold, I need to call.

Final Pot: $559.40

BB has 8s 7s (high card, ace).
Hero has Ad Ts (one pair, aces).

Outcome: Hero wins $559.40.


Moral of the story, always know what hand you are representing and if you decide to make a strange line, be one step ahead and be willing to go with it even when it can be tough. Timing and knowing your villain is pretty important.