On Paradise the number of $3/$6 and $2/$4 tables going later in the evening almost guarantees that you’ll be playing with some familiar faces. For about three nights in a row one particular player has worked me over with flopped sets. The flop will come something like AK3 when I have AK and I’ll bet the flop, he’ll call, I’ll bet the turn, he’ll call, and when I bet the river he raises and turns over a flopped set. It’s not the loss but the fact that you feel like you were manipulated. You can’t let someone draw for free cards even if you suspect the set and if they don’t have a set you don’t want to give away any bets just because you saw monsters under the bed.
So I was almost jumping out of my seat when I was in the BB with Q8 and the flop came QQ8. Normally, with a strong but vulnerable hand I would simply check-raise here, bet out on the flop and that usually ends the hand. With the monster here, I checked and called. On the turn I checked and called and on the river I checked and raised. After a long pause he calls and I take down the pot. I’m not sure if that will make him think twice about how he plays me going forward but it was nice to finally turn the tables on him.