You know I couldn’t resist!
What can I say other than Draven is right on the money as usual (very nice hand sir). Many things I want to hit on here, so I will do my best to keep it organized.

1. Laying down trips in the hand described earlier was not only a horrible play, but it also showed the entire table 2 things: A super-tight player that can easily be bluffed and a scared player who is probably playing way above his bankroll. The first part is simply that there is absolutely no way you could put the guy on Q-J. No way at all. You mentioned that the player was super-tight. A super tight player would’ve probably raised the turn to send off any draws or to pump the pot right there. There are way too many hands here he could’ve played the same way. I’d also be hard-pressed to put a “tight” player on a hand as mediocre as Q-J. Actually, you were very lucky that you were beat. Because you played it very poorly. The pot odds simply demanded a call and any pro would tell you the same thing.

2. The 3-4 offsuit play with the aggressive small blind was not necessarily “idiotic“. Sucks with the outcome, I know. But, you did call with 10-7 off because you felt the need to “protect your blinds”. You should read into Sklansky’s “Gap Theory”. Great poker material there. We understand that Pat believes moves like these with hands like these are “idiotic” and not the “right way” to play the game. Probably a good reason why he hasn’t won a single dollar playing online consistently…or live for that matter. He (and maybe you, but I think you’re further along) doesn’t have the ability to look beyond the cards. In Pat’s eyes, it’s simply seen as “rags” with no regard to the situation. There was one limper and it was folded to the small blind who is an aggressive player (I’m willing to bet he ran over you guys all night and it wasn’t the first or last time he’ll do it), so of course he’ll raise it to try and get heads-up or take down the pot right there. Understandably, he is out of position, but he’ll probably check-raise any flop or could possibly bet-reraise any flop to try and take it away again. After the flop is when it gets more messy, but this is a situational game. More importantly, his monster hands that he will inevitably pick up, will most definitely get paid off. Another reason why I have switched my game from tight-aggressive to loose-aggressive(still in the hybrid mode). Take into consideration, he probably noticed that there was a player who bought into a $ 4/8 game with a 100. No offense Jerry, but that stinks of scared money. I would never buy into a game of that size with that little. In the past I advocated a buy-in of 100 big bets, but those geniuses Draven and BigGuy convinced me to narrow it down to about 50 ( I loathe the intelligence of others that is more superior than my own lol) If I played in a 4/8 game, I’d bring about 0-0. If I saw someone that was super-tight like you and that layed down a monster like you did with that tiny of a chip-stack…I’d might as well tattoo a bulls-eye on your forehead. *DISCLAIMER* I’m not picking on Pat…but here’s another example of him tapping the glass. I’m godd*mn sick of it. He has proven time and time again that he is a mediocre player at best. Keep your opinions to yourself at the table Pat. There is NO ONE WAY TO PLAY HOLD’ EM. When you learn this, you will start to win.

3. You compared apples and oranges with your two hand scenarios. There is a HUGE difference between top set and top pair. Remember, all criticism is not negative; but if you simply rely on your gut and don’t figure in the EV on these hands; you’re not going to be very successful in the long run. You also compared a ring game to a tournament in theory, which is obviously something that you can’t compare. Perhaps you should move down in your limits, perhaps to 2/4 or 3/6. It’s not meant to be an ego-blow, but to teach you money management and to play games that you can beat.

4. And to whoever posted about rather playing 1/2 NL as compared to 4/8 or 5/10 because of the wild, chasing, sporadic play….have you ever played 1/2 NL? It’s almost as bad as 1/2 Limit! I am super excited that Florida is passsing a bill to raise the limits here in Florida, but seriously, does anyone think that a -
NL game will be any tighter than a limit game? Obviously there will be ALOT more money to be made down here, but lets not kid ourselves about the quality of play.