Harrahs Cash Game after Tournament Bust-out
So, I considering not even playing cash because I had played so poorly in the Saturday tournament. I was also on a little bit of tilt because it felt like one of those days nothing was going to go right. It was... ha, ha. Still, I have chunks of time I can play and that was one of them, so I couldn't see myself walking away.
I played at a nitty 1-2 table and was a bit too speculative and missed every flop and it always seemed to hit someone else. I was about to leave getting into one of those zones where I pick up. Then... the rube of all rubes sits down.
He was such the protypical mark that I felt, and partly still feel, it might have been an act, but I wasn't there long enough for him to flip the script and start out playing everybody (that's not necessarily a good thing). Anyway, let's count the ways he rubed out.
1. He starts off by putting a hundo on the table but that's all he's got in his wallet--which normally just means he's low on cash but this is significant because of what happens later.
2. In the first pot he enters he asks the dealer for change because all he has are reds and slows up the game. Good sign...
3. He goes to show down on a paired, three flush board, with middle of the deck straight possibilities with K high. He pays off a guy in a multi-way pot, mind you, with King high, and shows like he thinks his highcard may be a winner.
4. He asks the dealer if the dealer can run a credit card for him to get more money... lol.
5. He goes back to get more cash and the Asian kid who felted him instructs the table to not chase him away. Yeah, thanks for the heads up, we didn't notice he was easy money. Normally, this wouldn't annoy me as there are some idiots at the table, but this kid just slow-rolled an equally bad player preflop with Aces. The guy shoved on him and he made a delayed call, then the kid said the other guy had to show his hand first because he called him. At the river the guy turned over his hand--maybe a pair--and then kid slowly, painfully revealed AA. The bad player with the Mardi Gras beads, no clue about poker but enjoying a nice buzz didn't return.
6. The guy returns with a grip of hundreds... and I decide it's time to reinvest in the game.
7. I hit him for a good pot after he luckboxed a win or two off the table, by getting to his hand on the river. He found a fold on the river (??? when I finally checked raised him instead of check calling him with top pair top kicker) for not much. Still his three bluffs made for a juicy pot.
8. Then he starts discussing his hands and saying what a bad player he was. He says it's not as easy as it looks like on TV. "I figure I had the draw of the high cards in my hand and I had a straight draw (when he didn't)." I mean every note and soundbite was so pitch perfect I couldn't help but doubt his sincerity, was he running game?
9. He also had one of those "bumpkin" drawls, which fell out his mouth like a chunky butterscoth syrup on to the table,, which made him sound as nice, naive and as Gomer Pyle well meaning as they come.
I decided I was going to be wary until he flipped the switch if he was running some sort of game (though why wouldn't he be doing it at the bigger tables) but in the mean time if he was advertising incompetence I was going to benefit from it.
Later, I get rivered by him when he bets AQ, no pair, all the way to the end and hits his queen on me (I had top pair til then). I just called him down and though i felt like the Queen hit him I couldn't get away fromt he hand. Then, he asks, "I know you play a lot, so I hope you don't mind me asking was my ace good there?" I should have said; yes you had me the whole way. But I was honest and revealed he rivered me. He was surprised he got lucky.
I said I should have bet him off the hand (exploratory question because his answer confirmed my thoughts)... oh, no I saw Ace Queen and I can't fold that.
Later, he raised from one off the button as he was apt to do, now into his third or fourth additional hundo, but he had rivered some more people and gotten some chips. Kid in between called. I looked at 8s from the small blind and decided to isolate. I repunched it I think making 20 into 70 (bad bet should have shoved or put half my stack in). The mark called and the kid in between called.
Flop came two spades. I led out. The mark called and then the kid shoved. I called. Mark folded. Kid told me he was on a draw. Thought he said a straight draw. Turn was a three and made the open ended straight and I asked him if he hit. He said no. Oh, I thought, he must have a gut-shot. River was an ace. I thought I was safe. He showed me A8 flush draw (?) and scooped the pot. He was a nice kid so I think i must have misunderstood him.
Still, I picked up and left even though the Mark was at the table. He had chips to share now, but I didn't know if I wanted to go too deep into my pocket to get them all. Plus, if he was fooling the table, it was about time for him to start playing for real.
Conclusion: Guy really was the type of player you dream about, but sometimes they get lucky. As Eric Lindgren said, sometimes you can't beat a drunk, and sometimes you can't win if you are trying to exploit a mark.
I played at a nitty 1-2 table and was a bit too speculative and missed every flop and it always seemed to hit someone else. I was about to leave getting into one of those zones where I pick up. Then... the rube of all rubes sits down.
He was such the protypical mark that I felt, and partly still feel, it might have been an act, but I wasn't there long enough for him to flip the script and start out playing everybody (that's not necessarily a good thing). Anyway, let's count the ways he rubed out.
1. He starts off by putting a hundo on the table but that's all he's got in his wallet--which normally just means he's low on cash but this is significant because of what happens later.
2. In the first pot he enters he asks the dealer for change because all he has are reds and slows up the game. Good sign...
3. He goes to show down on a paired, three flush board, with middle of the deck straight possibilities with K high. He pays off a guy in a multi-way pot, mind you, with King high, and shows like he thinks his highcard may be a winner.
4. He asks the dealer if the dealer can run a credit card for him to get more money... lol.
5. He goes back to get more cash and the Asian kid who felted him instructs the table to not chase him away. Yeah, thanks for the heads up, we didn't notice he was easy money. Normally, this wouldn't annoy me as there are some idiots at the table, but this kid just slow-rolled an equally bad player preflop with Aces. The guy shoved on him and he made a delayed call, then the kid said the other guy had to show his hand first because he called him. At the river the guy turned over his hand--maybe a pair--and then kid slowly, painfully revealed AA. The bad player with the Mardi Gras beads, no clue about poker but enjoying a nice buzz didn't return.
6. The guy returns with a grip of hundreds... and I decide it's time to reinvest in the game.
7. I hit him for a good pot after he luckboxed a win or two off the table, by getting to his hand on the river. He found a fold on the river (??? when I finally checked raised him instead of check calling him with top pair top kicker) for not much. Still his three bluffs made for a juicy pot.
8. Then he starts discussing his hands and saying what a bad player he was. He says it's not as easy as it looks like on TV. "I figure I had the draw of the high cards in my hand and I had a straight draw (when he didn't)." I mean every note and soundbite was so pitch perfect I couldn't help but doubt his sincerity, was he running game?
9. He also had one of those "bumpkin" drawls, which fell out his mouth like a chunky butterscoth syrup on to the table,, which made him sound as nice, naive and as Gomer Pyle well meaning as they come.
I decided I was going to be wary until he flipped the switch if he was running some sort of game (though why wouldn't he be doing it at the bigger tables) but in the mean time if he was advertising incompetence I was going to benefit from it.
Later, I get rivered by him when he bets AQ, no pair, all the way to the end and hits his queen on me (I had top pair til then). I just called him down and though i felt like the Queen hit him I couldn't get away fromt he hand. Then, he asks, "I know you play a lot, so I hope you don't mind me asking was my ace good there?" I should have said; yes you had me the whole way. But I was honest and revealed he rivered me. He was surprised he got lucky.
I said I should have bet him off the hand (exploratory question because his answer confirmed my thoughts)... oh, no I saw Ace Queen and I can't fold that.
Later, he raised from one off the button as he was apt to do, now into his third or fourth additional hundo, but he had rivered some more people and gotten some chips. Kid in between called. I looked at 8s from the small blind and decided to isolate. I repunched it I think making 20 into 70 (bad bet should have shoved or put half my stack in). The mark called and the kid in between called.
Flop came two spades. I led out. The mark called and then the kid shoved. I called. Mark folded. Kid told me he was on a draw. Thought he said a straight draw. Turn was a three and made the open ended straight and I asked him if he hit. He said no. Oh, I thought, he must have a gut-shot. River was an ace. I thought I was safe. He showed me A8 flush draw (?) and scooped the pot. He was a nice kid so I think i must have misunderstood him.
Still, I picked up and left even though the Mark was at the table. He had chips to share now, but I didn't know if I wanted to go too deep into my pocket to get them all. Plus, if he was fooling the table, it was about time for him to start playing for real.
Conclusion: Guy really was the type of player you dream about, but sometimes they get lucky. As Eric Lindgren said, sometimes you can't beat a drunk, and sometimes you can't win if you are trying to exploit a mark.
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