Had an interesting evening at Mountaineer Gaming last night.
I usually play locally, but Mountaineer was running a satellite for their big end-of-month tournament. I don't want to devote the resources to a big buy-in, so I decided to play in the sat and see what happens.
Usual crap. I lose a bit calling with a straight and flush draw, then bust when my AQ runs into a straight and flush draw of a guy with monster chips. He had to call my push, but he took FOREVER to do it and that sort of nonsense (in a quick tournament, no less) really annoyed me. Theatrics when a decision is trivial and the pot is head's up are a big waste of time and donkeyish.
I don't mind someone "mulling" over a decision with a big draw or acting pensive with a monster if it's multi-way -- sometimes those sort of theatrics will result in an overcall or overpush that can be very profitable. But this kind of "playing to the nonexistent cameras" nonsense is so common in poker these days -- TV has hurt the sportsmanship of the game as much as it has increased its popularity.
I move on to the cash games. I really want to play PLO, but nothing's running -- hold'em it is.
Mid-limit NLHE is an odd game sometimes. Not ten minutes in, I find myself pushing on the turn with top pair, top kicker (AK) and the nut flush draw (A-unconnected rags with three clubs) against a player I read as weak only to have him tank for five minutes and call all in with top pair no kicker. He hits his rag on the river after calling an entire buy-in's worth of betting with three outs.
I reload and have some work to do. Fortunately my new best friend does not vary his play despite his suckout. He bets out strong with middle pair. He raises on bluffs or with top pair with no draw. He just calls with draws -- never raises with them. He's fairly easy to read, but tough to play against unless you're willing to deal with the variance of going with your reads and him sucking out.
I get it all back later when he overplays top pair against my trips. I faced a tough call on the turn, but when he bet the same amount on the river the call felt fairly automatic (he also wasn't a "value bet" kind of guy).
Same thing later with another player -- I raise in late position with 79c. Flop is A 10 8, two spades. I bet about pot, OOP tanks and calls. A red 6 on the turn gives the nut straight, and OOP bets out. I raise him about pot. The OOP caller tanks and calls the raise. At this point, I think he has a big Ace. His play to that point didn't suggest any kind of a flush draw. The river completes the flush and pairs the board (10s). He checks. He has never checked when he hit his hand, ever, in four hours -- he's passive, but hasn't checkraised even once. I decide to make a thin value bet (yes, I thought it was a value bet and not a bluff)-- about half pot. He tanks, and tanks, and tanks, and finally calls. He mucks when he saw my straight -- I don't think he even saw it on the board.
It was that kind of table, but I am a bit too much of a "feel" player right now. My reads are pretty spot-on, but I don't want to become Pittsburgh's "Kenny Tran". Balance will suit me better in the long run, no matter how well I am reading betting patterns and tells.
Made my lost buyin back, the satellite entry back, and a little more. It will do.
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