Flashpoints & Fuses

[Simius]

Flashpoint - The point at which eruption into significant action, creation, or violence occurs.
Fuse - A mechanical or electrical mechanism used to detonate an explosive charge or device such as a bomb or grenade.

I have been noticing recently that after a big hand in a STT, most usually a massive pot where someone gets knocked out or severely crippled, certain things have a tendency to increase in probability. Players who have acted tight and tough throughout the game go into lockdown, playing only with hands more selectively than they would normally. The looser/more aggressive players will open up and run over the table for a while. The players in the middle will essentially seem to do much the same as they were before. In essence the "Flashpoint" has affected style amplification onto the table. The thinking player can take advantage of this by then adapting their play to this shift. I know that adapting like this after EVERY pot is an important part of a successful player’s skill set, however purely for discussion purposes I’m wondering about effects from these types of pots in particular.

Now before these kinds of pots, like feeling the air change before a rainstorm, you have a sense they are coming if you’ve seen them enough. Combinations of events, maybe unique to that table, maybe generic, are creating the “Fuse” that is going to inevitably lead to the confrontation – A maniac going wild until someone stands up to him, a tag player jabbing at the pots continuously, a table of calling stations swarming around raises time and time again. Anything that increases tensions and anticipation of explosive action will, from what I have seen, ultimately lead to that action playing itself out. Recognising these cues is as important as responding to the flashpoints. If you get your three minute warning when the bomb is coming, if it has your name on it then you’ll get hit but otherwise you can do what’s necessary to get safe and prepare for the aftermath. What sort of things have you seen in the past that have made you think, have a gut feeling even, that a big pot is close?

While I don't think that this is STT specific, since those are the games I play mostly it has been where I've seen it. The buy-in will of course have an effect, with a much greater chance of it happening and less provocation needed at the lower buy-ins. At the higher buy-ins it’s still there I think, just that the fuses are longer and the flashpoints less explosive. Of course it may well just be my mind spotting patterns where there are none, so I was wondering if anyone has seen this type of thing and if so, come up with a valid strategy to exploit it? If it is something that is a recognised effect then having this extra insight into the psychological shifts after important pots could give valuable information and recognising signs that are pointing the game in that direction would be most beneficial to be able to read. Moreover, by being able to manipulate events before, to amplify the behavioural triggers that bring about such pots, would it be possible to bring about such pots for your own benefit?