Tom, let me preface this by saying my thoughts may be wrong on this hand, but here is why I played it the way I did...

1) This is how *I* play, but If it's folded to me on the button and I have something decent I'm going to stick a large raise in there. I'll raise Ax this way, along with KT and higher. So I was putting him on a wide-range of hands. Knowing that's the way I play, and the way other strong players play, kinda had me thinking like this...and then,

2) The button had raised from the same position, the same exact amount, on three of the last five orbits. Again, a wide range of hands that this guy could be on here (at least that's what I thought at the time).

3) With only three people left in the hand my TT looks pretty damn good if you ask me. So when it folds to the button and he makes a big raise (like he had been doing three out of the last five orbits), you're damn right I'm going to reraise him. I'm playing this like a short-handed table at this point, I think "betting out for value" is what they call it. Maybe that's wrong, I dunno?

4) I made the huge raise because I was out of position. Was the raise excessive? Looking back I'd have to say it probably was. $15 would have done the job.


I'll make this play from this position occasionally, sometimes with any two, especially if it's the same donk raising my blind every single time. Usually it'll get folded to me right then and there. This time it was called. I still had top pair (so I thought), so I fired another barrel at it. His push should have told me that he wasn't messing around, he didn't give an crap what I had because he had a great hand......Looking back, I should have realized that TT was no good there.

I just don't think it can be a call here. There's no way to know where you're at. He could be raising with AA, KK, Ax, 27o, anything. If I miss my set and he bets again, then what do I do? I still have no way of knowing. I guess I could check-raise, but that's putting in an good chunk of change to find out you're behind. My raise *was* a excessive, so I cost myself more here than I had to (and maybe pot-commited myself too), but I don't think it was a terrible play.

Calling can't be right, and folding can't be right either. I guess you *could* fold it, but that's pretty fucking weak if you ask me. I don't know of many people that fold this here.

Does that work for an explanation? Anyone have any thoughts on this? Well played until I called his push, or was this hand terrible from the get-go?