POKER HAND #87

ONLINE HAND OF NOTE: I'd never really been into keeping notes on online players, although it's cool PartyPoker has that functionality. In the game I'm currently sitting in, I started keeping notes, and on this particular hand it paid off for me. Check out my thought process.

0/0 TexasHTGameTable (NL) - Sat Jan 15 01:50:05 EST 2005
Table Table 12616 (Real Money) -- Seat 10 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: Knoxville_Ed ( $43.4)
Seat 2: ayeplussjr ( $40.15)
Seat 3: Fil_McCrakin ( $6.15)
Seat 4: z3raj ( $32.3)
Seat 5: svarma1 ( $23)
Seat 6: Izzywa1 ( $43.35)
Seat 7: bgiff ( $25)
Seat 8: Sladden11 ( $8.15)
Seat 9: snowman415 ( $23.75)
Seat 10: Buzzerd ( $11.25)
Knoxville_Ed posts small blind (0.25)
ayeplussjr posts big blind (0.5)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to snowman415 [ 8s, 8c ]

Here I pick up my namesake hand, so I'm pretty happy. I just called preflop.

Fil_McCrakin folds.
Izzywa1: mother is from Sverige
z3raj raises (1) to 1
svarma1 folds.
Izzywa1 folds.
bgiff folds.
Sladden11 calls (1)
Buzzerd: cleanest big city anywhere
snowman415 calls (1)
Buzzerd folds.
Knoxville_Ed folds.
ayeplussjr calls (0.5)
** Dealing Flop ** : [ 6d, 6c, 5s ]
ayeplussjr checks.
z3raj bets (4)
Sladden11 folds.
Sladden11: where from in sweden?
snowman415 calls (4)
ayeplussjr folds.

Now, I deeply thought about whether or not to call on the flop here. I was either going all the way, or calling. I felt raising was the wrong move. If I raised, I'd probably be called only if I was beat. I liked my hand OK, but I deeply feared a higher pocket pair. My first clue was that he didn't reraise preflop after somebody else raised. My second clue was my note about this player. It read: "This guy is a tricky player. He bluffs and can probably be bluffed." I read him for a bluff, and I immediately bet the turn and took it down, as you can see.

** Dealing Turn ** : [ 9h ]
z3raj checks.
snowman415 bets (5)
z3raj folds.
** Summary **
Main Pot: $16.65 | Rake: $0.6
Board: [ 6d 6c 5s 9h ]
Knoxville_Ed balance $43.15, lost $0.25 (folded)
ayeplussjr balance $39.15, lost $1 (folded)
Fil_McCrakin balance $6.15, didn't bet (folded)
z3raj balance $27.3, lost $5 (folded)
svarma1 balance $23, didn't bet (folded)
Izzywa1 balance $43.35, didn't bet (folded)
bgiff balance $25, didn't bet (folded)
Sladden11 balance $7.15, lost $1 (folded)
snowman415 balance $30.4, bet $10, collected $16.65, net +$6.65
Buzzerd balance $11.25, didn't bet (folded)