Rounders, Inc.

I get dealt J-J in the big blind and make it $20 to go.

The guy under the gun calls and everyone else folds.

This player started with $200, built it up to $400 in the first hour, and worked his way down to $80 in the second hour.

He just called 25% of his stack on this hand.

The flop comes 9h-6-s-2d. Completely harmless to my hand.

I am in a good mood against a short-stacked player that seemed to be pleasant to have at the table. I decide to check it down. So, I check.

He bets all in.

I show him the pocket jacks and ask if he wants the action.

No response.

I tell him, “You have ace king and you are way behind. Do you want me to call or fold?”

No response.

I then say, “Hey bro, I don’t care. If you tell me my read is right and to fold, I will fold. I don’t want to take your last sixty bucks.”

No response.

I call.

Turn is a blank. River is a blank.

He shows A-K clubs. And walks away mad.

I would have folded. Really, I would have. Honest.

At table 2, seat 5 is a bully player that is sitting on about $375. I am in seat 9 with $300.

Earlier in the night, he bet all-in preflop and showed 5-7 off after everyone folded.

From early position, he makes it $100 to go. I put him on 2-2 or 3-3. I call with 8-6 hearts knowing the rest of the table would fold around because they were playing tight.

Seat 5 then pushes $275 all in dark.

Flop comes 9h-7-h-4s. I call with my open ended straight flush draw. He shows A-A and starts celebrating. Bad read on my part.

The hoopla was short-lived when the turn was a 5 for a straight. I not only turned a straight, I turned a bad read into a great call.

Some people are players that use math and odds to guide their decisions at the poker table. The key here is a calculated decision.

Some people are gamblers that use feel and intuition to guide their actions at the poker table. The key here is emotional action.

Most people are a blend of player and gambler. Me? I am what I call an 80 / 20 player.

In other words, I am 80% player and 20% gambler.

This is the Pareto Principle in action. Let me explain.

Rounders or grinders by nature try to win one or two pots an hour and protect their chips. Roughly 80% of the pots I play are are based on calculated decisions. Using the Pareto Principle, these 80% pots account for about 20% of my winnings.

The 20% of pots I play as a gambler with 20% of my chips accounts for 80% of my winnings on a winning night. The downside is that on a losing night, the 20% gambler could result in 80% losses. That is the risk that the gambler takes at the table.

A very loose, aggressive player comes to my table with a $75 buy-in. She does not play a hand, not even her blinds, for about a half hour. I find this to be particularly odd since this player typically plays hands dark.

She is in seat 1 and I am in seat 9.

Finally, she moves all in. After 30 minutes of blinds, she has about $65. I put her on a small pocket pair.

Action folds around to me and I call with Q-2 spades. I flop a queen. She shows 5-5 and asks “how could you call $65 on queen deuce?”

I look at her and say, “About six months ago, you called my $50 pre-flop  bet with 5-7 off. I had pocket aces and you got lucky on the flop with two pair. You told me any two cards are good.”

Even though it was a small pot, felting this player after waiting six months for the opportunity was sweet!

I hit my target of $600 in chips and am getting ready to play the button then rack up and leave for the night when I am dealt 8-8 in the small blind. With seven people limping in, I make it $25 to go.

Action folds around to the button, he calls. I have played with this player before. He is a 50-ish Asian gentleman that is known to aggressively play any two cards. We have done battle before with each of us beating the other roughly half the time. That said, I generally stay out of his pots unless I have the nuts.

The flop comes 8-3-10 rainbow. I bet out $50. The button raises me to $100. I put him on pocket 10s, but call anyway. My reads during this session were spot-on. At this point I am confident I was beat on the flop.

Of all the quads I have had, most have been quad 8’s. I want to see the turn card, hoping for the case 8.

Turn card is an ace. I bet $100. The button raises me to $200. I momentarily put him on A-10. Two pair to my set, and two over cards. I still have a nagging feeling he has a set of 10’s. The problem is I am now pot-committed. I call.

The table talk after the hand reveals that this gentleman put me on A-A preflop, so he thinks I have a set of aces on the turn.

The river is another 10. “He has quad 10’s,” I think to myself. Odds are he does not have quads, but anything is possible in a cash game. I check. This confuses the button, but he bets out $100 into a $650 pot. I can’t fold with the pot odds, but I can’t raise him all-in for another $200 if he has quad 10’s or 10’s full of aces.

I was so focused on him having one of those two hands, I thought he was making a small value bet of roughly 15% of the pot instead of pushing all in for what would have been about half the pot. Convinced I am beat and he made a value bet on the river, I call.

I immediately show 8’s full of 10’s. He stands up. Slams the cards face-up on the table with a loud “ahh!”. “He is celebrating taking down the biggest pot of the night,” I think to myself.

My eyes turn to his cards. He had pocket 3’s. Pocket 3’s for $100 on the flop with two over cards? My first bad read of the night basically doubled me up.

Time to leave the game … a winner.

My Name is Sammy Wynn. Welcome to motorcitymafia.com, the blog for rounders by a rounder. This blog is focused on sharing strategies, tips, and techniques for playing winning No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em poker cash games.

You can usually find me playing one of the 50 - 200 games from seat 9 at MotorCity Casino in Detroit, Michigan.

I am all in.