Cloud Poker / Nick Cantwell / 27 November 2008 / 2 Comments

I don't often play live poker, but last year I played in a live game - and I managed to get a nice read on an opponent.

Which is good.

However, the read backfired, and it cost me a lot of chips - and here's why:

Being a "live" novice, I read up a lot on the live game, and one important piece of info I picked up was that you should try and get a feel for the game of the two players sat either side of you. So upon taking my seat, I started chatting to them. To my left was a younger guy (I could tell he was younger because he had that amazing ability to text-message one handed which I just don't possess) who I found out was a regular online cash player, and he played at bigger stakes than I did - so I had him tagged as pretty decent.

The guy to my right was the same age as me, just a little hairier around the face. The only piece of info I got from this guy was that he had made a lot of money online that morning, and he was pretty pleased with himself (and that he didn't own a razor blade). So once again I'm thinking he's a pretty decent player.

So we're a few hands in - and the younger guy limps from under the gun. It is folded around to "the moustache" (as he shall be known from here on in) and he completes the small blind. So this has me thinking.....

What is younger guy limping with? A small pair? Ace Ten? Ace Jack?

I see his chips as mine if I put in a nice raise here. "The Moustache" is going to fold his small blind as well - he hasn't shown any strength. There are a few guys at the table who are probably not capable of folding in this situation, but I have my "read" - and I also have KJ off - which although not a great hand is enough as a back-up if I need to see a flop.

And my read on the younger guy is right - he folds to my 6xBB raise.

But then "The Moustache" flat calls me from the small blind. A strange play - he's willing to take me on out of position for a big pot - and I'm pretty sure he hasn't got a monster, because surely he would raised pre-flop.

The flop is awful. An Ace, and a medium pair, and "The Moustache" fires a big bet at it, and I have to let go of twenty percent of my stack.

I am now confused. I had him tagged as decent, but I hated the way he played the hand - limp calling from the small blind - and I would never had played the hand the way I did if I thought he would call here - a real gamblers call.

During the break I was chatting to "the moustache".

"Do you play online a lot?"

"No, I only play live"

"But you said you won three hundred quid this morning online"

"Yeah, playing BlackJack........"

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