Dave Nagler - Home Game Assassin

On occasion a wildcard newcomer gets invited to a homegame. Usually their play is respected and they're assumed to be tight until they prove otherwise. This week a new wrinkle was thrown into the Harboufront Poker Tour when a guy named "Methadone" showed up. "Methadone" didn't appear to be a recovering heroin addict as no tract marks were visible on his arms; however, unfortunately for the players at the table he liked to needle. The following recap demonstrates an interesting hand and the pitfall of outthinking yourself against an unknown opponent.

Players in the Hand
Methadone: Unknown
Speculator: somewhat loose and aggressive

Blinds: 25/50
Stacks Size
Methadone: 1400
Speculator 1050

Average stack size: 1000 (8 players)

Preflop: action folds around to Speculator in SB
Speculator raises to 150
Methadone calls

Flop: 4c 7d 10s
Speculator checks
Methadone bets 100
Speculator quickly calls

Given that there are no obvious draws (Speculator raised preflop and it's unlikely he holds 5/6 8/9 or 6/8 for a straight draw) it appears quite likely he's holding overcards at this point as he likely would've slow-played a big pocket pair in the SB pre-flop.

Turn: 2d
Speculator checks
Methadone bets 100
Speculator calls
Pot is now 700

An interesting call from Speculator, it appears he senses weakness as Methadone hasn't increased his turn bet relative to the size of the pot and Speculator possibly thinks he can steal the pot on the river. Speculator has also been known to check-call the flop and turn, then bet the river with a monster hand.

River: 7c
Speculator bets 500 (suspiciously leaving himself only 200 chips)in what the railbirds assume is a move to make Meth feel he is stronger than if he had pushed all-in.
Meth thinks for a very long time and calls.

Speculator shows KQ (king high)
Methadone shows A9 (Ace high)

Speculator seems to have out-thought himself on this hand, as his new opponent likely didn't understand he was trying to represent an overpair by check-calling twice and betting the river.

The hand demonstrates why you should be very weary at a homegame to attempt to bluff a newcomer who may not be thinking along the same lines as you are. Of course, it's entirely possible that "Methadone" simply read the Speculator like a book...