Rope a Dope

I didn't play last night as I was tired and was not going to play tired two nights in a row.

Instead, I took a look through my hand history from the night before.

Mistakes made:
Playing too many hands, attempting to steal pots from loose callers, attempting to steal when my image was loose/weak, calling against the odds when on draws, raising preflop with sub-standard hands, limping in preflop with weak holdings and then calling raises with them, playing when feeling tired and unfocussed, unable to settle for a small loss and playing on to "get even".

A litany of errors all of which I know I shouldn't commit...yet I still do. Why? The simple answer is that I lack discipline. The solution should be simple - "Just Be More Disciplined". But it's not so simple to implement.
But it is a matter of deciding to do something and then sticking to it, and unless I can do that I am wasting my time playing.

I shall return to that subject anon. In the mean time, here's a hand from the night before last. This is an example of a play which Harrington calls the "rope-a-dope".

Game:
$25 NL Hold'em, blinds 12c/25c.

Main Characters:
Mr Solid: Selective, aggressive and very competent player.
Mr Loose: Plays too many hands, bets in an indisciplined way.

Extras:
Me and the big blind

Mr Loose in middle position raises $1 before the flop. Mr Solid in LP reraises to $2. I call with QQ on the button. The big blind calls the reraise. Four players contest an $8 pot.

The flop comes 9d-Td-Ts. The blind checks and the loose middle position player bets $1. The solid preflop reraiser raises just to $2.

Now I'm suspicious. Having watched this player previously, he always bets big to protect his hand from draws.
But now he raises just $2 into a $9 pot on a 2-suited board, against three opponents?
The only reason that makes sense is if it's a value bet that he wants called.
It can't be a bluff because Mr Loose is not going to fold to a min raise.

Well, whatever his bet represents, I can feel in my waters that my queens are no good.... I fold and so does the blind.

I forget what the turn card was but again Mr Loose bets, this time $1.50, and again Mr Solid raises, this time to $3. Mr Loose calls the raise and now over half his stack is in the pot.

I again consider what Mr Solid might have. To have trip tens he would have to have reraised preflop with a hand like ATs. Unlikely, but even if he did have trip 10s, knowing the kind of player he is, surely he would have bet stronger on the flop to protect his hand? The same logic would apply on the turn. Could he have reraised preflop with 99 and flopped a full house?

The river card seems to be a blank and Mr Loose bets his last $5 or so, and is called.

Mr Loose didn't show his cards but Mr Solid shows TT and wins a big pot with his flopped quads.

Observations: When a good player who you know to be selective/aggressive doesn't appear to fear draws in a multi way pot, be wary - he has a very strong hand.