More LAG practice

I always refer to myself as a nitty TAG, but I look for spots where I can make moves. I had two such spots in my 1-2 session today at the Cleveland Horseshoe.

In the first, an ABC player made his standard $11 raise and I called in position with pocket tens. There was another caller as well, and we saw a flop 3 ways. That flop came Jack-Queen-four. The original raiser bet $16, which was also a standard half-pot bet size for him. (I had seen this script a few times this session). Normally folding third pair is a no-brainer, but I floated this time to see if I could spot an opportunity to take this pot away from him later.

The cards cooperated and put a nine out there. No made hand for me, but it did give me an up-and-down straight draw. The villain bet $20 into this pot - a classic, weak-ass "please don't raise me" kind of bet.

If ever there was a time to make a move, this was it. A weak bet into a draw-heavy board, with me holding two blockers to the nuts. I made it $55 to go, and got a frustrated fold.

His tiny bet actually made a call correct, or at least close to correct, pot-odds-wise. But when you think he'll fold often, the semi-bluff is far superior.

In the second hand, I had raised from middle position, and a female player called me out of the blinds. She was new to the table, but we had already tangled in one hand - I had raised , she called out of the blinds, and then donked into me on a Queen-six-four, all red board. I had no pair and no draw, so I let this one go.

In this new hand, the flop came King-Nine-Four, rainbow suits. Again, she donked into me for $12. I had already seen her play too many hands, and this donking thing was a bit annoying, so I raised to $25. She didn't seem to like it, but after a few seconds she called the raise.

A ten came on the turn, completing the rainbow. Now, after apparently forgetting that I had just raised her bet one street before, she donked into me again, this time for $20. Again, I raised, to $60. She gave it a few seconds thought and then moved in. I called quickly.

"You have the straight"? She said.

"Yes", and flipped over queen-jack.

"Damn, the only hand that beats me", she said rather incorrectly, and flipped over king-ten. Second nuts, sixth nuts, I'm not one to quibble.

My flop raise with a gutshot straight draw was obviously way shaded toward the "bluff" side of a semibluff, with only 4 outs to a winning hand. I felt like her donk bets into me were weak and there was a decent chance to move her off a hand like king-ten. I obviously got that part wrong - she wasn't the type that liked folding top pair. My bluffing would have ended on every other turn card, even if I paired up. The ten was the trainwreck card for her - fulfilling her dreams of cracking my aces or ace-king and my longshot dreams of holding the nuts for the first and only time in my 6 hour session.