The value of paying attention.

It's a home game. Blinds are at 10/20, and I'm the big stack with about 3000 in chips. To my immediate left is an enigma of a player, who's capable of the occasional big bet, but shows incredible timidity if called. He's rarely bluffing, but he's afraid of getting hit with a bigger hand.

I'm small blind with pocket 9s. I raise to 100 just wanting to pick up the blinds and move to the next hand. It's folded to me at this point, and the BB surprisingly calls me. I know he'd reraise me there with any big ace or big pair, so I've got him on Face cards.

The flop comes QJQ rainbow. This is a horrible flop for me. I check it over, and my opponent comes in for about half pot, for 100. I thought about it a while, and I'm certain he's got a peice of this flop. But I lknow that as long as he didn't catch the queen, I can push him off of it later. I'm known to slowplay big hands occasionally, and I knew he was observant enough to pick up on that, but I didn't want to let him play a queen, so I reraise to 250. He thinks about it a while and calls. I'm pretty positive he hit the jack, and not the Queen. This is great for me... because I'm pretty certain I can put him to the test later and shake him off of it. I'm purely playing the player here. I know i'm behind in the hand.

The turn is a K. Things aren't getting any better for me. I check it again, to see how confident in his hand he is. He QUICKLY checks it... so I know he's scared.

The turn is an out that I didn't expect, a ten. This gives me the second straight, with my 9s.

Still not a great hand here... but I've been setting him up for a bluff, so that's my card. I bet about 800. He comes over me All in. Which would cripple me for the rest of the tourney.

But... I called. And won. Why? Because I was certain he didn't have the Queen due to the flop play. I ALMOST laid it down fearing an Ace... but I knew he got a peice of that flop. That meant he would have had to have a big Ace... and I know... KNOW... he would have reraised me. I called, and he flipped over KJ. For two pair.

I'm very proud of my read here... and it wasn't due to any finger twitches, or any physical movements... it was because I sat and studied the players, and made mental notes of their betting habits. I took him out of the tournament, almost doubled up, and ended up slaughtering the rest of the field.

This is why you should ALWAYS pay attention to your opponents.

How long had you been studying this person? Is he a regular player or was it someone you hadn't played with before? Just curious. It has taken me a while to develop reads on players in my home game. We play at least 2 or 3 times a month, usually the same 8-10 guys. I've had to learn to vary my play because once people get a read on you they have an advantage that I would rather them not have.

I've played about 3 games with the guy. So I've had more than ample opportunity to develop a read. I can usually get SOME sort of read about a player in 3-4 revolutions, though. Just don't be entirely sold on it. Be willing to adapt it with new information