who raises this river? (trip report -- Bay 101)

[bisonbison]

I've been at this table for about an hour or three, trying to fight the boredom of the live experience by imagining everyone smiling and laughing and enjoying themselves. No luck, too far of a stretch. Same dour calling stations and overwhelmed fish playing with their grocery money. There's some raising, there's some limping, there's never been a 3-bet preflop, and only 1 or 2 on later streets in my entire time here.

Live 3/6 game at Bay 101 in San Jose. (9 handed)

Preflop: I put down my magazine to find KTs UTG. I'm wearing a Detroit Tigers cap. Button posts a dead money blind of $3.
I limp. 3 other limpers, the Button checks, the SB folds and the BB checks his option.

Flop: (SBs) Q:some suit: J:some other suit: J:yet a third goddamn suit: <font color="blue">(Someone from 2+2 should recognize me and buy me a beer)</font>

The BB, who thinks himself pretty smart but misses things on the board* bets and I call. 2 other callers.

Turn (dozens of dollars) A :rainbow: <font color="blue">(How could Stanford lose to Udub?)</font>
BB bets, I raise, folded to BB, who calls.

River (Kung Pao chicken) an 8. <font color="blue">(I love you, Catherine. I hope it'll work out later when we're both in a different place.)</font>
He bets, I call.

Final Pot: I've been on that damn stud list for 5 hours.

Results in white below:
<font color="white"> BB is losing his hair and seems increasingly out of touch with America's youth.
Hero loses 20BB at 3/6, then makes it all back and more at 4/8 stud. woohoo. </font>

*On an earlier hand, Mr. PokerSmarts completes his nut flush on the turn (a queen) after a paired flop (445), he bet and was check-raised by the other player. On the river the queen pairs, the other player checks and Mr. PS bets and is called. The other player shows pocket fives and drags the pot. Mr. PS can't believe the guy check-called his boat until someone points out that our friend had bet when the queen appeared and that the river may have counterfeited his boat.

Oh.

[spamuell]

Hilarious post!

Yeah, I'd raise the river, you can almost even fold to a 3-bet, it's just so much easier live. (I still wouldn't fold to the 3-bet though.)

[crockpot]

i would raise. this looks like an "i have to call so i'll bet myself" bet. Q8 or 88 is remote, and he probably would have three-bet the turn if he were full already.

[StellarWind]

Bison,

Great post!

Sure, I'll raise the river. I think I'm a huge favorite. Besides, if he actually had something you probably would have asked the question differently: "You bet the river and get checkraised, now what do you do?"

[foofighter]

Curious why u think playing live is so boring? Also did u check out any of the WPT tournament at Bay 101 this week?

[bisonbison]

No, didn't check out the tourney. I'd rather see condensed highlights than watch people I don't know stare at each other while mulling over how aggressively to play 94o.

As for live play: I multitable online. I own a comfortable desk chair and many movies. At a tight 1/2 table I see twice as many hands per hour at each table as I do at a live 3/6 table, and I don't have to deal with people picking up their entire stack of chips with one hand, raising it above their heads for minutes at a time, then folding.

Playing live is something that I do to remind myself that I like Poker, and not just Winning Money At Poker. I like the food, I like the smoke breaks, I like the immediacy of it, I like some of the crazy asian guys, but it is usually boring unless you're stacking chips. Though bringing a magazine did help.

[NaobisDad]

Man, I wish I could comment on this play. But even if i reread it 4 times I'm too busy laughing to even let teh words sink.
Excellent post.

What amazes me most about this post is that you prefer online play to life. I have no casino experience apart from small tournaments, but I don't think that compares to ringgame play.

Honoustly. Playing online makes me want to throw myself off the highest building with a gun to shoot myself should I survive. It's convenient, but that's it. I love life pla, the feel of the cards and chips. And usually I have a great time at the table.

Is casino play usually this boring, or were you just on a boring table? (On a sidenote. I do know what casino regulars look like. And if that's average player where you play, I understand...)

[bisonbison]

My stud table was great, people laughing, maniacs laughing and failing to win back the 500 they're stuck, fish laughing and rebuying, dealers chatting but not slowing down the game, and some of my hold'em tables have been fun, but I'm not usually the lively one (I look like the young serious type who's read some poker books), so unless other people start joking around, I don't usually lighten up the table mood. And when the guy who starts joking around is a 75 year-old vietnamese man who nobody understands, it helps, but not in a lasting way.

When I find a happy table, it's good like a home game. When I find an unhappy or quiet table, there's not usually much I can do, and it's like watching engineers at an orgy: no one has any idea what they're doing, but you get to hear a lot of stupid theories.

[BottlesOf]

When I find an unhappy or quiet table, there's not usually much I can do, and it's like watching engineers at an orgy: no one has any idea what they're doing, but you get to hear a lot of stupid theories.

gold.

[Chris Daddy Cool]

[ QUOTE ]
it's like watching engineers at an orgy

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL. I seriously doubt you've seen engineers doing their business.

On a side note, how are the players at Bay 101? I go back to the Bay Area for breaks when I get out of school and haven't played there yet.