Another zero-level thinker

In between random shut-offs of the software, there was some serious head-scratching going on for me in last night's HORSE SNG on PokerStars. This was the fifth hand of the tournament:





My first thought was that this looked suspiciously like chip-dumping, although a $5 STT seemed a strange venue for such shenanigans.

I became less suspicious over time, because the same character (kolorfish) spewed just as badly to everybody else, including me. For example, here's a stud hand (not high/low) where he called my bet on the river with nothing but queen-high. I had a well-hidden full house, but I did have an ace showing, and he couldn't even beat that. Here's the hand history:


PokerStars Game #27688006030: Tournament #160069666, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (7 Card Stud Limit) - Level IV (60/120) - 2009/05/01 3:13:34 ET
Table '160069666 1' 8-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: tanani1 (2112 in chips)
Seat 3: Cardgrrl (653 in chips)
Seat 4: xxCHEExx (3032 in chips)
Seat 6: Rakewell1 (1173 in chips)
Seat 7: boogerbam (2578 in chips)
Seat 8: kolorfish (2452 in chips)
xxCHEExx: posts the ante 12
Rakewell1: posts the ante 12
boogerbam: posts the ante 12
kolorfish: posts the ante 12
tanani1: posts the ante 12
Cardgrrl: posts the ante 12
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to tanani1 [8d]
Dealt to Cardgrrl [Kc]
Dealt to xxCHEExx [Td]
Dealt to Rakewell1 [9s 9d 9h]
Dealt to boogerbam [3d]
Dealt to kolorfish [3s]
boogerbam: brings in for 18
kolorfish: calls 18
tanani1: folds
Cardgrrl: folds
xxCHEExx: calls 18
Rakewell1: raises 42 to 60
Rakewell1 is disconnected
boogerbam: calls 42
kolorfish: calls 42
xxCHEExx: calls 42
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to xxCHEExx [Td] [Qs]
Dealt to Rakewell1 [9s 9d 9h] [As]
Dealt to boogerbam [3d] [Th]
Dealt to kolorfish [3s] [5h]
Rakewell1 is connected
Rakewell1: bets 60
boogerbam: folds
kolorfish: calls 60
xxCHEExx: calls 60
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to xxCHEExx [Td Qs] [Ks]
Dealt to Rakewell1 [9s 9d 9h As] [5s]
Dealt to kolorfish [3s 5h] [Qh]
Rakewell1: bets 120
kolorfish: calls 120
xxCHEExx: calls 120
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to xxCHEExx [Td Qs Ks] [6h]
Dealt to Rakewell1 [9s 9d 9h As 5s] [Jc]
Dealt to kolorfish [3s 5h Qh] [7h]
Rakewell1: bets 120
kolorfish: calls 120
xxCHEExx: calls 120
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to Rakewell1 [9s 9d 9h As 5s Jc] [5d]
Rakewell1: bets 120
kolorfish: calls 120
xxCHEExx: calls 120
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Rakewell1: shows [9s 9d 9h As 5s Jc 5d] (a full house, Nines full of Fives)
kolorfish: mucks hand
xxCHEExx: shows [Kh 5c Td Qs Ks 6h Tc] (two pair, Kings and Tens)
Rakewell1 collected 1572 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1572 Rake 0
Seat 1: tanani1 folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 3: Cardgrrl (button) folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 4: xxCHEExx showed [Kh 5c Td Qs Ks 6h Tc] and lost with two pair, Kings and Tens
Seat 6: Rakewell1 showed [9s 9d 9h As 5s Jc 5d] and won (1572) with a full house, Nines full of Fives
Seat 7: boogerbam folded on the 4th Street
Seat 8: kolorfish mucked [4d 2s 3s 5h Qh 7h 8s]

OK, so maybe the poor schmuck thought it was Stud/8, right? I doubt it, based on what happened a short time later.

During a Stud/8 round, my four visible cards were QQ33. He had four small cards showing, so when he called my bet on the river, I naturally assumed he would take the low and we'd split the pot. Nope. I scooped. I checked the hand history, and he had had one pair--aces--and no qualifying low. He couldn't beat what I had showing, and called a bet on the river. Well, at least he didn't raise that time, so he was getting a little bit smarter than he had been at hold'em. Here's that hand history:

PokerStars Game #27688083753: Tournament #160069666, $5.00+$0.50 HORSE (7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Limit) - Level V (80/160) - 2009/05/01 3:19:19 ET
Table '160069666 1' 8-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: tanani1 (2120 in chips)
Seat 4: xxCHEExx (1550 in chips)
Seat 6: Rakewell1 (3978 in chips)
Seat 7: boogerbam (3184 in chips)
Seat 8: kolorfish (1168 in chips)
xxCHEExx: posts the ante 16
Rakewell1: posts the ante 16
boogerbam: posts the ante 16
kolorfish: posts the ante 16
tanani1: posts the ante 16
*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to tanani1 [2h]
Dealt to xxCHEExx [Ts]
Dealt to Rakewell1 [As 9s Qs]
Dealt to boogerbam [7s]
Dealt to kolorfish [6c]
tanani1: brings in for 24
xxCHEExx: calls 24
Rakewell1: calls 24
boogerbam: folds
boogerbam is sitting out
kolorfish: calls 24
*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to tanani1 [2h] [6d]
Dealt to xxCHEExx [Ts] [7c]
Dealt to Rakewell1 [As 9s Qs] [Qd]
Dealt to kolorfish [6c] [Ac]
Rakewell1 is disconnected
Rakewell1 is connected
Rakewell1: bets 80
kolorfish: calls 80
tanani1: folds
xxCHEExx: calls 80
*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to xxCHEExx [Ts 7c] [Qh]
Dealt to Rakewell1 [As 9s Qs Qd] [3c]
Dealt to kolorfish [6c Ac] [4d]
Rakewell1: bets 160
kolorfish: calls 160
xxCHEExx: calls 160
*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to xxCHEExx [Ts 7c Qh] [Jc]
Dealt to Rakewell1 [As 9s Qs Qd 3c] [3d]
Dealt to kolorfish [6c Ac 4d] [7h]
Rakewell1: bets 160
boogerbam has returned
kolorfish: calls 160
xxCHEExx: calls 160
*** RIVER ***
Dealt to Rakewell1 [As 9s Qs Qd 3c 3d] [8s]
Rakewell1: bets 160
kolorfish: calls 160
xxCHEExx: folds
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Rakewell1: shows [As 9s Qs Qd 3c 3d 8s] (HI: two pair, Queens and Threes)
kolorfish: mucks hand
Rakewell1 collected 1696 from pot
No low hand qualified
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1696 Rake 0
Seat 1: tanani1 folded on the 4th Street
Seat 4: xxCHEExx folded on the River
Seat 6: Rakewell1 showed [As 9s Qs Qd 3c 3d 8s] and won (1696) with HI: two pair, Queens and Threes
Seat 7: boogerbam folded on the 3rd Street (didn't bet)
Seat 8: kolorfish mucked [Ah Js 6c Ac 4d 7h 9h]

I managed to finish in 2nd place despite the frequent software glitches. With people like this guy populating the tables, it's something of a wonder that I ever fail to cash in these things.