Live 1/3 game.

Villain opens to 15 and I call in the SB.

Flop is QT5 with two diamonds. I check. Villain bets 25. I call.

Turn is an off-suit king. Check. Check.

River is an off-suit deuce. I bet 45. Villain thinks it over and seems to be deciding between calling or folding. I tell him, "You're allowed to fold jacks." We have played together often enough for him to know I could have the nuts, a busted flush draw, and many hands in between. Villain flashes his jacks and....(to be continued)

What would you do in his place?

I'll fold

Fold.

fld cuz its live 1/3

I would mumble something about card removal and call. Than again, I wouldn't show to begin with (giving me the option to raise).

Since this the poker tells forum, I'm curious if my words influence you at all.

It makes me want to fold because of two things:

1. On the first level, joking around indicates a strong hand.

2. On the third level, if you were bluffing AND were aware enough to give a false tell to back it up, you'd have bet more.


Villain is getting 3:1 to call from a hero who looks like he's trying to steal, which is a solid call in a vacuum.

who plays in a vacuum?

Just to be clear, I was not joking around. I was seriously telling him that I know he has pocket jacks and we have played against each other enough for him to know that I am capable of knowing he has pocket jacks.

A half pot river bet is often a significantly-sized bet in this game.

I call and beat your A10

Against a reg I would be influenced at how the session was going for both parties as well as how much banter we had between us previously.

In general though, when a bettor starts to speak up while an opponent is trying to make a decision my feeling is that the bettor is weak and wants to be sure that the opponent 'sees' the board and what kind of trouble they are in based on the comment.

Another interesting side to this is that I have found that 'talkers' generally use the opposite word than the action they really want. In this case the word 'fold' was used in the comment ... which (by me) means he wants a call. If he had said "You're actually calling with Jacks?" then I would summize that he wants a fold. People tend to be distrustful at the table, so they may be more inclined to do the opposite action than what the Hero suggests.

Any Hero trying this needs to have a pretty good read on the V personality, since when up against a stubborn person this may generate a call regardless of the comment since these folks will feel challenged and get into 'I'll show you" mode.

The action (and comment) would suggest that Hero has Qx or air IMO but I would really need to factor in the history with a reg. Against an unknown I would probably call with JJ. GL

Out of curiosity, how is card removal working in our favor here? JJ blocks KJ/J9 and potentially Jx FDs, but not that many weaker one pair hands except for JT. As villain, I'd be more inclined to call with AT than JJ.

I'm trying to figure out how the speech would change my decision. If anything, it probably would make me feel more comfortable about my fold against most villains. Kinda feels like you are going for the hail mary against somebody you feel like has made up his mind already.

I fold because you are an Asian Nit (Generally folding anyway)

In general, I'd think you were more likely to be weak. In my experience when an opponent is thinking and seems obviously on the fence and the bettor says something that attributes a strong hand to their opponent (in this case, considering how the hand went down, JJ is kind of on the stronger side of opponent's range) it means the bettor is trying to show comfort with the situation. Basically something like "I know you're fairly strong here, but I bet anyway and I'm telling you I'm aware of the situation. (The reverse pattern of this would be the bettor with a strong hand who kind of goads his opponent by implying that his opponent's hand is weak.)

But it's not like I think it's a strong pattern or anything, just a slight one. And the more experienced someone is and the more verbal history you have with them, the less the pattern will hold up. But, in a vacuum, and if I was on the fence, it would push me towards a call.

Also: try to avoid playing in a vacuum. It's very unhealthy. You need oxygen.

QT5K2 board I fold JJ long ago.

It really depends on previous actions. I have made worst calls and been right. However,

This +1000%. Sometimes when a Villain makes a large river bet with a polarized range, I will say something like "I'm really weak but I think I'm good here [while flashing my hand]", Villain will say something like "then call". I will sometimes act out the hesitation between putting the chips in a the cards in, talk some more like "I think I am beating you", Villain: "Well, it's $185 to find out". Now it's only a matter of not getting a reverse tell because everything tells me to call.

I once made a call with AT on a 535 J7 river. Villain had KQdd. Lots of tells, betting patterns, were there to know that Villain called the flop with a hand that would check down for value and if he had a Jack he would bet it OTT. It was so beautiful.

Fold on the river.

If it was a 50/50 decision for me and we had zero history of you saying anything during a hand it would sway me to call.