If they want to hang themselves, just give them the rope!

A couple hands from tonight that illustrate a valuable strategy for low-limit online games.

***** Hand History for Game 1587050276 *****$3/$6 Hold'em - Sunday, February 13, 19:54:55 EDT 2005Table Table 12085 (Real Money)Seat 10 is the buttonTotal number of players : 10 Seat 2: PokerTov420 ( $180 )Seat 3: ADSPAR ( $388.5 )Seat 5: Monkeydenis ( $93.5 )Seat 6: NEROS_ACESUP ( $130.25 )Seat 7: GEORDIEC ( $119.5 )Seat 8: talentedbmk ( $216 )Seat 10: Buckner333 ( $65.5 )Seat 4: thejtrain ( $144 )Seat 9: cskollmann ( $156 )Seat 1: herjn64 ( $147 )

herjn64 posts small blind [$1].PokerTov420 posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **Dealt to ADSPAR [ 9s 9h ]
ADSPAR raises [$6].thejtrain folds.Monkeydenis calls [$6].NEROS_ACESUP folds.GEORDIEC folds.cskollmann folds.Buckner333 calls [$6]..herjn64 folds..PokerTov420 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2s, 3d, 5c ]
ADSPAR bets [$3].Monkeydenis calls [$3].Buckner333 calls [$3].
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3c ]
ADSPAR bets [$6].Monkeydenis folds.Buckner333 calls [$6].
** Dealing River ** [ Jc ]
ADSPAR checks.Buckner333 bets [$6].ADSPAR calls [$6].Buckner333 shows [ 6s, Ah ] a pair of threes.ADSPAR shows [ 9s, 9h ] two pairs, nines and threes.ADSPAR wins $52.5 from the main pot with two pairs, nines and threes.

After the turn action, its pretty obvious that I have the best hand and that Buck is drawing, most likely he is holding an Ace and hoping for a 4 or a pair to his Ace or kicker. There is also a backdoor flush draw he could be drawing to.

The river card isn't an obvious scare card, so I almost decided to bet. But then I realized that if he was on the draw I suspected, he probably wouldn't call the bet with no pair. However if I checked, there is a good chance he'd bluff at the pot, hoping I was betting on a draw. This also protects me from having to pay off a raise if he paired the Jack or hit the flush.

This move took into account specific information about this player. I hadn't played many hands against him, but he had played more than half of his hands since he sat down, which made it even more likely that he was the kind of player to play Ace-rag that way.

***** Hand History for Game 1587070265 *****
$3/$6 Hold'em - Sunday, February 13, 19:58:39 EDT 2005
Table Table 17509 (Real Money)
Seat 9 is the button
Total number of players : 9
Seat 1: ADSPAR ( $238 )
Seat 3: EkenSe ( $149.5 )
Seat 5: Leatherwings ( $153.25 )
Seat 7: massh0le ( $141.75 )
Seat 8: guydubois ( $279 )
Seat 9: Searle33 ( $152.5 )
Seat 6: wise2004 ( $140.5 )
Seat 2: johnbond ( $176 )
Seat 4: IB2BAD ( $96 )
ADSPAR posts small blind [$1]. johnbond posts big blind [$3].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to ADSPAR [ Ah 9c ]
EkenSe folds. IB2BAD folds. Leatherwings folds. wise2004 folds. massh0le folds. guydubois folds. Searle33 calls [$3]. ADSPAR raises [$5]. johnbond calls [$3]. Searle33 calls [$3].
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3h, Qc, Qh ]
ADSPAR checks.
johnbond checks.
Searle33 bets [$3].
ADSPAR calls [$3].
johnbond folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5s ]
ADSPAR checks.
Searle33 bets [$6].
ADSPAR calls [$6].
** Dealing River ** [ 7d ]
ADSPAR checks.
Searle33 bets [$6].
ADSPAR calls [$6].
Searle33 shows [ 2d, Jd ] a pair of queens.
ADSPAR shows [ Ah, 9c ] a pair of queens.
ADSPAR wins $46 from the main pot with a pair of queens with ace kicker.

Preflop I knew that Searle was very loose, and would have probably raised with a pair or a better Ace than me. Since the big blind's random hand is probably worse than A9, it was an easy raise for me.

That flop was good for me, since there are only 2 cards that could improve my opponents' hands. I decided to check because I thought I'd get more information that way. If I bet and get called, I don't really learn much cause people call flop bets with just about anything. If I bet and get raised it leaves me more confused, cause I would think someone would wait til the big bet streets to raise a Queen. So I check, and am glad to see the big blind check. I seriously doubt that Seale has a Queen, so my call is easy, and the fold from the big blind is beautiful.

The check-call on every street makes me look weak, so he keeps betting his crappy hand that he would have folded instantly if I showed any aggression. Obviously I risk letting him hit a flukey pair to beat me, but I think it was worth it.