Let’s just check this one down, sweetheart.

People who play with me know me as an aggressive player.  If I think I have the best hand I will try to extract as much money from my opponents as I can.  Even more important, if my opponents are on draws, I make it my business to charge them as much as possible for the draw.

Because of this, I’ve encountered a few people who have used interesting ways to try and get me to let them draw for free.  Some methods are funny and others are, well, inappropriately sexist.

Here’s my favorite:

“You can get out of this for cheap.”

I was holding pocket Kings, and flopped a set.  I was betting and raising (A.K.A. ramming and jamming) both to charge for any strange draws, and also to extract as much money as I could with such a powerful hand.  The player to my immediate right is a large man, and a horrible player.  The turn brings another diamond to the board, and as I reach for chips to bet, he says “You can get out of this for cheap.”  I laughed at him and bet out.  He calls grudgingly, and the river brings another diamond.  He immediately bets out and I know he hit his diamond draw.  I lost the hand, but I wouldn’t change how I played it.  He paid dearly for a really long shot draw.  He wanted to draw out on such a long shot as cheaply as possible; that he got there sucks, but the odds weren’t in his favor.  He knew that, and thought that by saying what he said would scare me into letting him see the river for free.  All I can say is, “fat chance!”

This is my 2nd favorite:  “If you want my chips, don’t raise.”

A player to my left has been complaining that I’m too aggressive; I pushed him off of pocket Jacks by betting and raising with pocket Tens, and now he’s never sure whether I have him beat or not when we’re in a hand together.  This is exactly how I want my opponents to think about me.  In this particular hand we’re preflop and I look down at Ace King.  I reach for chips, and as the guy to my left sees that I have enough chips for a raise he says, “If you want my chips, don’t raise!” Of course I raise anyway, and he folds.   I ended up folding on the turn, but on the river my opponent says to me that he had 7, 4 suited (Diamonds) and that he would have made his straight.  BINGO!  That’s one of the reasons I raise with Ace King – to get somebody with a strange draw like 7, 4 to fold before they have any straight or flush potential.  The other reason I raise with Ace King is because it stands to win often enough that I want as much money in the pot as possible.

Last, but not least is “Let’s just check this one down, sweetheart.”

This one kind of gets under my skin a little bit.  Being female I sometimes face some strange attitudes at the table.  This one in particular comes from a man who is both chauvinist, and a horrible poker player.  He is always on some really strange draw, and ironically, he likes to play his draws really aggressive.  He’ll cap the betting on the flop with an open ended straight draw.  If he hits he’ll keep betting and raising on the turn; if he misses, he’ll slow down on the turn.  He takes “raising for a free card” to the extreme.  The good thing is it’s usually pretty easy to figure out what he’s up to.

He’s stated previously that he thinks poker is a man’s game, and that he basically tolerates women at the table.  A woman who plays better than he must really piss him off.  A few times he’s made 2 pair and lost to my set; basically if I’m in the hand and have something to play, he’s going to pay dearly either to draw or to find out if his hand is good.  Again, this is how I like my opponents to think of me.

During one hand recently, I am holding Ace King, and the flop comes King high.  By this time it’s down to two players – him and me.  I can’t remember what the other cards are, but I knew by the turn that he was on a flush draw.  He raised and reraised on the flop like he had 2 pair or a set, and then on the turn he says to me, “Let’s just check this one down, sweetheart.”

Talk about a tell!  I knew immediately that he was on a draw – there were two Spades on the board, and I assumed he was probably on a Spade draw.  This was all the information I needed.  There’s certainly a chance that a Spade will hit the river, but in order for him to have that opportunity I want to charge him as much as possible.  I bet out and he calls.  The river is a Diamond; I bet out again and he folds.  This sweetheart apparently made the right play.  :-)