I had an epiphany the other night while playing. I think it may take my game to the next level. Kyle O’Hair had accumulated almost as many chips as I had. We made it to the river with mediocre betting, and everything Kyle did was whispering to me, "I don’t have a hand." I had a pair of sevens, and there were over cards on the turn and river, but something in his manner told me that he didn’t hit. I bet twenty on the river, to try and get a read on him. He bet all-in with eleven something. I thought about it for a long time, and I finally decided that I was about a sixty-percent favorite to win the hand. I was that confident he was bluffing. Then I took into account the fact that I had never played with him before in my life. Then I measured the fact that he was getting drunker and drunker, and that I had at least a thirty percent chance of taking all of his money anyway, even if I let this one go, and the fact that if I was wrong about his hand I was going to lose a substantial chip lead, with only three dollars remaining. The central fact was that I realized I could wait on his money, and I figured there was an excellent chance it would come to me anyway. I folded. He showed a pair of fours. I’m sure he showed them to me to get at me, but I explained to him that I figured that’s what he had, but that I was just too patient to try to take money the hard way when I could take it the easy way. I think it bothered him that it didn’t bother me.
After that blatant confirmation of all his tells, he tried the same crap with a pair of tens about ten hands later, against my aces. I smiled when I turned them over. He said, "I’ve got three tens." I was quite surprised and a little confused. I said, "Lay them down, then." He laid down a ten and a four, and admitted he was just kidding. I said, "Yeah, I thought so," as I raked in all his chips. Patience is rewarded.