You will find that in the lower buy-in sit-and-go tournaments that there are often one or more players at your table who seem to play with little care about winning or losing, making obvious and costly errors right from the start. Without really trying to figure out the why, you should be looking to identify and take advantage of those weak players by paying attention to their profiles. Don’t forget that when you play online you should be using some sort of tool, (like holdem indicator) to help you keep detailed profiles of your opponents. Case in point, I have been watching this player involved in many hands representing a very loose, and somewhat careless strategy.

And now he is raising yet again where I am holding 87os. With a hand like this, I rather much KNOW I am behind, and if I decide to play will surely need help from the flop, because I do NOT want to be trying to bluff this player out of a pot - it just will not work. Nevertheless, all players like this generally have one thing in common, and that is they are prone to error. When I know that about my opponents, implied odds can be very lucrative with hands like connectors. I am the chip leader here and in position, so I decide to call, but if the flop does not work for me, and my opponent c-bets, I will fold the hand.

The flop is 7d3c2h. My opponent who is normally over aggressive, makes an uncharacteristic check here. That could mean he is trying to trap me, or because of my relatively tight profile he was concerned about c-betting with just over-cards. So I think its reasonable to bet now and either end this hand now, or get a better idea of where I am in the hand. I bet 240 and my opponent calls. That call is VERY concerning to me as I can reasonably put him on an over-pair now. The other danger is that any broadway card on the turn is also going to present further complications for me. The pot is now 840.

The turn card is the 7s, and I really could not have asked for a better card. If my opponent is playing over cards, he is now drawing dead. If he is playing an over-pair he is a huge underdog. There is a small risk he has me dominated with A7 or K7, but that is VERY unlikely and not something you ever want to be worrying about too much in this situation. My opponent checks. With this turn card, I should now bet for value and decide that about 2/3rds the pot will do it. I bet 660 and again my opponent calls, making the pot 2160. Ok this is serious now.

The river is the 5 of hearts. I am not at all concerned about an inside straight draw, but I am concerned about being beat by a better kicker, or even a full house. Both of those hands are reasonable lines for opponent. I must admit, his checking and flat-calling is kind of spooking me, BUT my opponent checks once again. Now, I do NOT think he would check with a full house, or a 7 in his hand, given his profile. If he was trapping me, he would surely know by now I had a hand worth calling a river bet with. So now his most likely hand is an over-pair and he is showing remarkable caution with me and the paired board. I should bet strong here, but I don't want to scare him off. because he is now cautious with this hand, I want him to look at the amount and say, “I can afford this and still have a chance to win the tournament”. I decide to bet half the pot, but mistakingly, I clicked the wrong amount and only bet 480. Yeah, seriously. My opponent turns over 88 and cannot believe his misfortune, as he starts to berate me in the chat box for calling with 87os.

There is a good chance I could him eliminated him had I shoved all in, but he still has enough to come back. I would have dropped this hand if the turn had not been so good for me, but up to the river click error, all of my plays were based on solid sit and go strategy, whether my opponent agrees or not. I also think he should have check-raised me on the flop, but missed out on an opportunity to win the pot right there. Even though I did not maximize this hand, only a few hands later I eliminated him where he committed to drawing hand, likely as a result of being emotionally compromised.