Reading your opponent

I guess the appropriate title will be how I got read by Lucko. Even though last night, I mentioned that I wasn't going to put up any HH, I thought this was worth while since it illustrates how good players remember the sequence of certain hands and aren't afraid to act on their reads.

FullTiltPoker Game #3757965488: $20 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go (28636367), Table 1 - 10/20 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:34:29 ET - 2007/10/04
Seat 1: RecessRampage (2,020)
Seat 2: lucko21 (980)
lucko21 posts the small blind of 10
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 20
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [7d 7c]
lucko21 raises to 60
RecessRampage calls 40

*** FLOP *** [3d 5d 9c]
RecessRampage checks
lucko21 bets 80
RecessRampage raises to 280
lucko21 has 15 seconds left to act
lucko21 raises to 920, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage calls 640
lucko21 shows [Tc 9h]
RecessRampage shows [7d 7c]
*** TURN *** [3d 5d 9c] [Kc]
RecessRampage: sh*t
*** RIVER *** [3d 5d 9c Kc] [8h]
lucko21 shows a pair of Nines
RecessRampage shows a pair of Sevens
RecessRampage: nh
lucko21 wins the pot (1,960) with a pair of Nines

The above was from the first match. One of the things I was determined to let Lucko know was that I was not a pushover and that I was willing to make marginal calls. Now of course, the fact that even if I called and lost, it didn't really cripple me helped but I wasn't afraid to play back and I wanted to instill that image. In hindsight, it looks like a bad call since Lucko probably doesn't reraise all in without top pair there... maybe a monster draw if he had like 6-7 of diamonds (double gutted and flush draw) but he probably wouldn't put a third raise all-in with A5 or something so that was probably a bad call on my part. But then again, there also was one hand where I made a hero call with A high on a river bet (which lost to his two pair or trips or something) so maybe I'm just a calling station. The pot was small and he either had air or a monster, so I called. I don't regret that call and I would make that call almost every time. His bet sizing was perfect.

So, two matches later, this hand comes up.

FullTiltPoker Game #3758395929: $20 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go (28639209), Table 1 - 15/30 - No Limit Hold'em - 21:20:01 ET - 2007/10/04
Seat 1: lucko21 (1,150)
Seat 2: RecessRampage (1,850)
lucko21 posts the small blind of 15
RecessRampage posts the big blind of 30
The button is in seat #1

*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RecessRampage [4d 4h]
lucko21 raises to 90
RecessRampage calls 60

*** FLOP *** [2c 5s 9c]
RecessRampage checks
lucko21 bets 120
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage raises to 460

Personally, I actually thought my 44 might be good. It was a fairly ragged flop and it was quite possible that it missed him. I could easily be representing a 9 here.

lucko21 has 15 seconds left to act
lucko21: hmmm
lucko21 raises to 1,060, and is all in
RecessRampage has 15 seconds left to act
RecessRampage has requested TIME
RecessRampage: I can't call
RecessRampage folds
Uncalled bet of 600 returned to lucko21
lucko21 mucks
lucko21 wins the pot (1,100)

That obviously swung the momentum his way, as well as giving him a decent chip lead. The chat that followed basically was something along the lines of how he remembered that I made that move with 77 on a 9 high board before, so when I pulled the same move, he read that as me not having a 9 (on this 9 high board). He told me he had a 5 and I don't know if it's true or not but obviously, I have to fold here. But I just thought it was interesting that an hour later, I made a similar move and he didn't miss that detail. I know when I put hands like these back to back, you might think, yeah, that's obvious but in the heat of the moment, sometimes it's hard to exactly recall how the first hand played out and to use that against the opponent. I thought it was a good illustration of someone paying attention to the game and acting on his reads. Well played.