Saving Bets

I used to write about owning people all the time. I'm not really sure why I stopped, but I feel like I haven't written a post like that in an extremely long time. So here goes...maybe I owned these people, maybe I got extremely lucky and am being results oriented, but one way or another I saved a tremendous number of bets. These hands definitely count as running hot these days:

Hand 1

The game is off the chain as usual and I raise an EP limper with the JTss. I'm currently remembering a mid stakes thread wherein I think howmany pointed out astutely that it is more difficult to be dealt the beautiful hand that is jack ten suited than even pocket aces, and that in the specific case we were discussing folding such a rare hand would be nearly unforgivable sin. Anyway I pretty much sling two bets into the pot with the jack ten suited whenever I can, mainly because nothing bad can happen. I'll either have isolated a limper or created a big pot with a big pot hand. Anyway, the latter happens here and I create a 6 way pot with my nut maker and we see a flop of:

883ss

And one of the blinds just donks right out. He's bad, real bad, and for the life of me I can't figure out what he has. The EP limper folds and I glance behind me to see 3 players left with cards and just call the bet (here's that old volume hand trick) and to my amazement everyone folds. The wheels start churning in my head and I consider if there is now some chance to take down this pot without spiking my hand, but before I can get too far the dealer is turning:

883ss-9r

That ain't bad at all. He bets and I consider raising then think better of it. People don't donk into 5 players, get 4 folds, then fail to showdown against an obviously fishy turn raise. Like, if I had a hand I'd have raised the flop to try and protect it, right? I don't know if he knows this but whatever, I just call.

883ss-9r-6s

And he bets anyway. In the parlance of limit hold them he is "polarized", meaning he pretty much doesn't have any medium strength hands left in his range. He's either got a freaking monster or a stone bluff, and in this case given he donked into like 17 people on the flop I'm guessing it's a monster. He could have 89 (so sick) or a bigger flush or whatever, I don't really know, but depending what level he's operating on betting the river with just two pair or even naked trips should make somewhere between zero and extremely little sense to him. I fight myself for what feels like 20 seconds before finally committing to just call, and am shown 99. So to recap, my opponent gets 2.5 bets post flop, total, with top full house in a 6 way raised pot where the super aggro preflop raiser not only flopped a flush draw, but turned an OESD and got there!

Hand 2

I don't remember the details of this hand (like how many other people took the flop but it was probably something like 3), but it basically goes down like this:

I raise ATs and get like 14 callers, including villain who is a super straight forward passive player that I can read like a book. More on that in hand 4, and the flop falls off AA2. I bet, and am raised by villain and everyone else clears out because it's freaking pretty obviously villain has an ace. And if she doesn't she's not putting in more action if I 3 bet, so I just call planning to call down. With a better ace I'd go for some more action, but honestly AJ and AQ are definitely in her cold calling range (as opposed to her 3 betting range) and AKo could even be in there and there are also jackpot considerations and well whatever I just call. The turn is a 5 and I check/call, now 100% sure she has an ace and thinking that I have a very slight equity edge over her hand (she'd probably cold call any suited ace, and like maybe A9o). The river is an 8 and I check/call again and she shows me A5s for the turned nuts. I probably missed a little value here, but I'm not entirely sure and felt pretty good afterwards for saving $60 in this particular instance.

Hand 3

These last two happened just today at the end of a winning session. This Asian software developer guy who thinks he's hot shit and is actually pretty solid opens and I 3 bet with AKo. A weak big blind comes along and we see a flop of:

Qs Js 4h

They both check, but the developer does so in such a way that I can just tell something is up. He has a big hand....I can't really even describe what I saw, but it was definitely a tell. So I check back, hoping to spoke some help. I receive:

Ts

The big blind checks and the developer fires instantly. I look left like a good little boy and the big blind has practically already folded his hand. This eliminates any reason whatsoever to raise for protection against lone spades and reduces the hand to a simple exercise in the "they always put you on ace king" theorem, which states, unsurprisingly, that "they always put you on ace king". The ramifications here of the theorem are pretty severe, given that I actually do have ace king and it should be pretty obvious. I basically turned my hand face up on the flop, which is probably bad, but I did it because I picked up a tell which he probably doesn't know he gave off and it was a 3 way pot yada yada yada....the point is that dude really should put me on the exact hand that I have and is betting anyway. I don't have a spade, so I just call. The river falls:

Qs Js 4h - Ts - Ad

And he bets extremely quickly. Now with even less reason to raise I just call hoping to chop and am shown the K9ss for the turned straight flush. Another recap here is that in a 3 way 3 bet pot in which the 3 better TURNED broadway and my opponent held a straight flush, he collected 2 big bets total post flop.

Hand 4

This was the very next hand, and the villain from hand 2 opened in MP and I 3 bet her with, big surprise, the Ace King off. Somebody ate 3 bets behind me like a champ and we saw the flop 3 ways for 3 a piece of:

J93cc

And me holding the ace of clubs for what it's worth (4% equity, or 8 dollars American, IMO). Villain just donks right into it. No problem, no big deal, just donks like it's nothing. I call pretty quickly cause I mean what can I do, fold? The guy behind me folds (LOL, you called 3 bets cold preflop and can't put $20 into the pot closing the action at 12:1 on a J93 board? For reals? You are my hero). The turn falls:

J93cc - Ad

And villain tanks. Instantly my brain remembers the last 2 times I've seen her do this, specifically take the line donk-bet, donk-check (which is the opposite of donk betting...you are clearly the aggressor and should definitely be betting but check) with an out of tempo pause and nearly visible smoke coming out of her ears. The last two times her check/raise has been swift and merciless, and she's been holding top full in one case and top two in the other and before she's even acted i decided that if she checks I am actually going to check topsies back HU on the turn with no straight or flush in sight. She checks I check we check. The river is a blank and she fires a bet and I call instantly. She shows me the Ace Jack for the top two and I smile a large grin, rack up my chips and head home for the day.