Do As I Say, Not As I Do

I distinctly recall telling one of my students in our most recent session, “Don’t try to bluff a guy off of top pair or an overpair. People just don’t like to fold them.” So of course I go and try it in the donkfest that is the Sunday Million:

Poker Stars, $200 + $15 NL Hold’em Tournament, 500/1,000 Blinds, 9 Players
LeggoPoker.comHand History Converter

BB: 26,125
UTG: 49,020
UTG+1: 39,666
UTG+2: 19,479
MP1: 20,374
MP2: 37,090
CO: 12,100
Hero (BTN): 50,057
SB: 56,960

Pre-Flop: (2,175) 7 6 dealt to Hero (BTN)
6 folds, Hero raises to 2,482, SB raises to 3,964, BB folds, Hero calls 1,482

Flop: (9,603) 4 8 T (2 Players)
SB bets 3,000, Hero calls 3,000

Turn: (15,603) J (2 Players)
SB bets 8,000, Hero calls 8,000

River: (31,603) T (2 Players)
SB bets 8,000, Hero raises to 35,018 and is All-In, SB calls 27,018

Results: 101,639 Pot
Hero showed 7 6 (a pair of Tens) and LOST (-50,057 NET)
SB showed A A (two pair, Aces and Tens) and WON 101,639 (+51,582 NET)

Gaaaaah, but honestly, what is he beating here? 76 is the only hand worse than AA that I could play this way. But of course I’m the donk for thinking my opponent would think about any of that. I’m pretty sure her internal monologue went something like this: “I have Aces, I have Aces la-dee-da-dee-da-da… Call! Call! Call!”

Dang, I was off to such a sweet start for once, too, up to 13th at one point.