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When playing against the same ten or twelve players week-in, week-out, you’d think it’d be easy to determine an opponents tendencies and steer well clear of them.  Very easy, right?  Not last night!

I know Terry’s a trapper, and dang if I didn’t watch him set one on me time after time last night.  The first one comes half an hour into the game, the blinds are not yet increased.  Terry, Donny, and I take a flop- Terry’s not played a hand yet, Donny’s been raising every other hand, and I’ve played and won about four hands.  I’m holding a suited Q in the big blind.  Ace rainbow flop- checkfest.  The turn’s garbage- another round of checks.  The river is a Q.  I know that Terry always checks his Ace to the river but I can’t help myself.  I bet a couple hundred into him… he raises another couple. Donny folds and I’m sitting there angry at myself for betting the river, knowing damn well he’s got the Ace.  I call to see it, and he takes it down.

Now I think I’m gonna get cute, use this against him later!  Long story short, he used the play against me twice more and closes the game out the same way.  Two hours later, we’ve been heads-up for a good 15 minutes and he’s got me covered two-to-one.  I’ve a QJ, off-suite, dealing. A healthy raise might make him give up his big blind.  But he sits there for a few moments thinking and then raises all-in.

I don’t think he’s an Ace because he hasn’t raised pre-flop with it yet.  I’ve seen him make this play with 89 suited or worse more times than I can remember.  I think he’s getting impatient.  I know that it’s all of my chips, but I am convinced that I’ve got him.  I call.  He throws over a weak Ace.  I’ve live cards and he’s only one over card, not bad, but I can’t improve.  I just donked off  everything on a hunch.

I’m convinced that I can, and will, use this information in the future.  My play here was  certainly substandard, but if I don’t learn by my mistakes, I may as well just show up, surrender my entry fee, and go sit at the bar.  Next week, I’ll spring the trap.