He just raised to $8 in this $1-$2 no limit Hold ‘Em live cash game.

I do not believe in min raises, so I pump it up to $30 to go. He calls.

The flop is Ks-6s-5d.

My opponent bets the pot to represent the King. I put him on a spade draw. For now, I call with 8-7c.

The turn is 2h.

Mr. Badass bets the pot again.

I call with the plan that if a non-spade hits the river, I will take it down.

The river is 3d.

My opponent checks.

I value bet $150.

My opponent tanks for about 30 seconds then min raises me.

This is the biggest pot of the night. I have my opponent covered. He started the hand with roughly $1400 and has invested most of his stack in this hand.

I am confident in three things here. First, my read is right. He has a busted flush. Second, he probably has 8 high beat. Third, my opponent does not want to showdown a high card to the table if I have at least a pair. With this guy, he is more committed to his image than the pot. At least, that is what I think is going through the mind of a MMA wannabe.

I raise enough to leave him with about $50. I feel an all-in bet will be too much. I want him to think I want a call when I am looking for a fold.

He folds.

“You had a spade draw, huh?” I ask him.

“Yeah. Ace high spade draw.”

“Ace Queen?”

“Yeah. You had the King?”

I want to advertise to the table that I could be playing anything. I decide to show the bluff.

Instead of a laydown, I takedown the pot.

The challenge for players like me is to the amount that the price is right to get them to fold the better hand. By accident, I stumbled upon a tactic that seems to work, regardless of position.

Let’s assume you are heads up with a notorious calling station and you have not found the price to get them to fold when you are looking for a fold.

The flop is something like K-Q-7 and you have middle pair.

Your opponent has top pair and he checks to you. You check back.

The turn brings a blank or even a scare card like an Ace or Jack or 10. Your opponent checks back. It is not in his or her arsenal to bet. The only moves they have is call or fold.

Regardless if there is a betting line on the felt or not, I always push my capped cards way forward. I do this so the cards are in plain view of everyone. Plus, it gives me room to count out chips.

Word to the wise: If you are at a table without a betting line and you count out chips in the space between your cards and the pot, those counting chips, by rule, become part of the pot. So, if you count out $100 and bet $50, the bet is really $100.

Ok … I grab a stack of $100 and carefully drop a stack of 5 reds behind my cards while I watch my opponent out of the corner of my eye.

He does not flinch.

I drop another $25.

No flinch.

I drop another $25.

He folds.

The important part is still pushing out the $75 into the pot as if you did not see the fold. This takes the “Hollywood” element out of the play and shows you were serious about making a bet here.

I just might change this up soon to playing 8-3 off. I have been dealt that garbage well over 1,000 times in the past month. Some players joke about how that hand should be called the Sammy Wynn because I get it so much.

My win rate with 7-2 so far has been 100%. I really thought I was going to give up on it last night. Nothing was spoken during the hand – but here is what I was thinking the whole way:

“Fuck. It is getting late. Three more hands to the blinds, then I rack up.”

It is my turn to act, and I have 7-2 off in middle position.

“Do I risk it here or leave with with a tidy profit. Fuck it. Raise to $25 and see what happens.”

Action folds around to the button and he calls. The flop comes A-9-5 rainbow.

“I am out of position. Does this guy have an Ace? Maybe he thinks I have an Ace. Bet out $25 and see what happens.”

Insta-call.

“Fuck. Ok. Check the turn and see what this new player does. If he has an Ace or even second pair, he will probably bet. Then, I fold. He is not going anywhere.”

The turn is a 3.

“That card was no help. Check.”

My opponent checks behind.

“Really?”

The river is another 5.

“Perfect card. Maybe he has A-9 and put me on a 5? Is he solid enough to fold Aces up to possible trips? Bet $100 and if he comes over the top, just fold. Shit, this hand got expensive fast. Why the fuck did I play this hand out of position. Donkey. Ok, push $100 out.”

My opponent folded.

“Do I show? Fuck it. Show it.”

I toss the rags onto the board and scoop the pot.

“No reaction from anyone? What time is it? Damn! I can’t believe it is after 4:00 AM. I can’t believe I won that pot on the river without a showdown.”

The other day, I found myself in a hand heads up with a new player that just sat down at the table. He was the only caller to my pre-flop raise.

I have no idea what was on the flop. I never looked at the board. I watched my opponent the whole time.

I have no idea what my hole cards were, either. It felt like everyone was weak and I wanted to take down the small pot from half dozen limpers.

On the flop, I was first to act. I reach for chips and say to my opponent, “Did you check?”

He eyes me the whole time and says, “Yeah, I check.”

I toss out $25.

“You can’t do that Sammy,” the dealer tells me.

“He checked,” I reply.

“You are first to act.”

“Oh. I thought the button was … ok. I guess I check.”

I bet the turn and my opponent folded.

It was a twist on the act out of turn to gain information – only in reverse.

Bottom line: I was getting frisky to put a play on and steal a small pot.

Seat 7 was a young kid dressed in red hip hop swag from head to toe. He raised pre-flop to $20.

Seat 8 was an older gentleman who is a loose aggressive type player. He calls.

I called in Seat 9 with rags. I had jack squat. But, I felt I could outplay these players after the flop.

Seat 10 was a businessman from New York. He was playing fairly tight. And he called.

The rest of the table folded and we see a flop of Q-9-4 rainbow.

Check.

Check.

I bet half the pot to represent the Queen.

Fold.

Please fold. Please.

Call.

Shit.

Fold.

I am now heads up with the original bettor.

The turn is a deuce.

Check.

It feels like my opponent has pocket Jacks or 10s. Some kind of middle pair. It also does not feel like he is trying to trap me, or he would have check-raised me on the flop and not just check-call. He simply looked like he did not know where he was in the hand.

I knew exactly where I was: beat with jack squat. I really just wanted to take the pot down right here. I bet half the pot again.

Please fold. Please. Please.

He calls.

Fuck. There goes my profit for the past 2 hours.

The river is a 3.

Check.

My opponent started the hand with about $300 and is now down to about $67. The whole way, I wanted him to fold. Now, I am looking for a call. If he thought I was trying to buy it, I want him to still think I am trying to buy it on the river. I bet $50.

It is enough to make you stop and think value without the psychology of an “all-in”.

He tanks.

Please call. Please.

The whole way he almost insta-calls me when I have nothing. Now, he is pondering a fold.

The only word I spoke for the past two hours was “Raise.” Time to talk him into a call by talking him into a fold.

“I simply wanted to buy this pot. Let me have this one,” I tell him.

“I know.”

“I think you have a hand like A-K or A-10 and missed. Ace high is no good here.”

Nothing.

Really? The call the wrong hand trick did not work? Nothing is working.

“I was trying to represent the Queen. He thought I had a Queen [pointing to Seat 8] and he [pointing to Seat 10] thought I had a Queen. I am pretty sure everyone down there [pointing to the other end of the table] thought I had a Queen.”

“Do you have a Queen?” he asks.

“No. I don’t have a Queen. And you don’t have Ace high.”

Still nothing.

“The truth is I have been lying to you the whole way and now I am telling you the truth. And the truth is I am too embarrassed to showdown this hand. I went runner-runner 989-to-1 longshot to beat your pocket pair.”

“You did not call me with 2-3,” he says.

“Nope. I would let you look at one card, but I don’t want them to kill my hand when I have the stone cold nuts.”

“I call.”

He shows Jacks. I flip over 5-6 off for the nut straight.

Apparently, he missed the ESPN episode where Lon McEron said there are two ways to play pocket Jacks: fold them in turn and fold them out of turn.

I guess I played bad. That is all I can come up with when I replay the hand in my head. Here is what happened.

I figure the player on my immediate right has a hand like A-Q or A-J when he raised to $75 pre-flop. I called with A-10d knowing I could outplay him on the flop.

The player on my immediate left also calls. I felt that this player is solid and that I could also outplay him after the flop. By solid, I mean the type that does not overplay hands or chase straights or flushes.

The flop comes Ah-9h-2c.

Mr. A-Q fires out another $75.

“I am all-in,” is my statement, which makes it another $500 or so to go and consequently, puts both of my opponents all-in.

I knew I was in second place. But I also knew that the pot was big enough for me to make a play. Afterall, I was card dead for a few hours and was getting impatient to stack some chips.

Would these guys really risk their entire stack on that flop, especially when I have a tight-aggressive table image?

The player on my left that I thought was solid took about 2 minutes or more to make a decision. A decision that surprised me. I put him on a heart draw, based on his reaction to the flop, when I decided to push.

He called.

The action is now on the bettor, and he thinks I have a set.

After pondering a fold, he announces a call with a disclaimer: “If he would have folded, I would have folded, too.” Then, he shows A-Q.

The turn is a blank and a third heart comes on the river.

The player on my left shows 7-3. Both hearts.

How he could call that bet with nothing but a 7 high flush draw is beyond me. I really thought he was a better player than that.

Had he folded, Mr. A-Q probably would have folded as well.

I thought it was a good play gone bad.

What a bunch of big talking donkeys.

It was sick. Not a single card player at the table.

The buy-in was $2500.

Now, for me, an average night is a double-up. The cards usually act in defiance of me going 10X.

Until last night that is. Walked out with just over $25,000. Thank goodness for donkeys that rebuy once or twice.

They should rename that town Definance because dey finance my next car.

Suckers.

The best example of this that comes to mind is someone I used to play with in Black Hawk. She would always say “I am playing the player” anytime she would be in a hand with a donkey that played rags. She figured if her rags were slightly better than donkey rags, she would win.

More times than not, she would lose. Why? Because those players see every flop and showdown every river. To play that player properly, you HAVE to showdown the nuts to win the hand. Slightly better rags are not good enough.

My brand of “playing the player” does not  involve the hand range of my opponent. It involves their ability to play after the flop.

I play with a guy in Detroit that has alot of potential to be a rounder. He plays good cards, usually makes good decisions, and plays a generally good game.

But, he is inexperienced in post-flop play. For example, when he has pocket 10s or better, he shoves pre-flop so he does not have to think about the hand after the flop.

I have also seen him lay down the best hand after the flop when confronted with a substantial bet or raise.

This game takes more than cards and bets to be consistently profitable. In a nutshell, it takes heart.

You have to be willing to die to live, and that means not being worried about losing.

The player from Detroit and me had a conversation a while back at the table and I mentioned that I am not afraid to put the chips in and I am not afraid to lose. His reaction to that was one of astonishment.

Flash forward a month to a hand he and I were in. This player was on my immediate right and limped in. I raise to $17 pre-flop with A-Q. Action folds around to my young friend and he calls.

At this point for me, the cards don’t matter. He probably does not have A-K. I know he does not have 10-10 or better.

Knowing his range of hands, he has a small pair.

The flop comes Q-6-3 rainbow.

My opponent checks.

I bet $15.

Check raise is not in this player’s arsenal unless he has a set or better. I also know that he is timid about risking his stack of about $200.

My opponent announces raise, grabs a stack of about $75 and starts putting red chips out in stacks of $15.

I think it is time for me to make a move and outplay my young friend.

The key here is confusion. I need to confuse him with an unexpected play.

Keep in mind that if he flopped a set of 6s or 3s, I need running Queens to win. In other words, I am basically drawing dead.

I let him count out three stacks of $15. As he is getting ready to start the fourth stack, I announce “all-in”.

He freezes.

So far, so good.

“What? Did we both flop a set?” he asks me as he stares me down searching hopelessly for a tell.

I sit and I wait, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.

My heart is idling at my resting rate while he starts to breathe fast and shallow.

Perfect.

He shows me his hand. Pocket 3s.

“Out of fairness to you and the table, I can only show you one card. I don’t want anyone thinking there is any collusion here. Ok?” I say.

“Sure.”

I pull off the top card. The Queen.

He tanks and folds.

“Do you want to see the other card?” I ask.

Now, he starts steaming because he knows now it is not a Queen.

I show the Ace and he tells me he calls next time.

“Next time, I have the stone cold nuts.”

And that is the second part of playing the player. If they are now on tilt and will call anything against you because they can’t read you, then you HAVE to have the stone cold nuts on the next hand.

It has been 7 months since I  played my 7-2 game.

Many of you may be surprised that I would play the worst starting hand in poker. On purpose.

But, once a night, I will play 7-2 off like I have Aces. I do this about halfway through my session.

This is not without some self-imposed conditions. First, I only play it on the button or one off the button.

I only play it if I have respect at the table for playing monster hands.

If I can’t buy it on the flop, I am done unless I turn two pair or better.

Also, my 7-2 game only works against solid players either heads up or three-way action.

Take last night, for example. I raise preflop on the button with 7-2 and get calls from two rounders.

The flop comes A-K-3 rainbow.

Both players check to me and I make a reasonable bet of half the pot.

The first player folds.

The second player folds and shows 10-10.

I love representing a big hand with a big flop while holding rags. Winning the pot makes it even sweeter. Forget the fact that this is the rare time I would gamble, but then again, I am doing it with their own money.

Normally, I would muck the hand and stack their chips.

But, since the player showed, I showed. Professional courtesy, if you will.

The first player to fold claimed to have Q-Q and got tilty with me. Mr. Tens laughed it off with a “Nice play, Sammy!”

Under ideal conditions, I get a monster hand on the next hand.

As it turns out, last night was that kind of night. That’s right. I got K-K on the next hand.

Mr. Tilty and a few others limped in and I raise the same amount I did with 7-2. That is a key move there.

“You got 7-2 again, huh?” says Mr. Tilty. He re-raises me all in with A-9 off.

I insta-call and bust him with the Kings.

In a spread limit game, I would have been the one felted playing 7-2. In the Motor City, it pays my electric bill.

It has been six months since I got to outplay anyone on the flop with 7-2 off.

In my first session back, I got one good player to laydown and show K-K when I flopped a pair of 9s and turned an open-ended straight draw.

Oh, and I got another solid player to fold 10-10 on the flop to my 5-5.

How sweet it is …