Rivalries and Bad Play

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I spent the weekend in a different poker room. Ran atrociously bad (including another example of top set losing to four of a kind - but this was actually a running four of a kind instead of the set over set variety) so spent a fair bit of time at the equivalent of the 1-2NL tables drinking and trying not to spew beer over the table while laughing at various plays. This was made enjoyable by sitting with one of the few guys I consider a friend (he's from my local game and plays professionally - he is low key and happy to talk about poker so on the odd occasion we encounter each other outside the room it isn't too uncomfortable for either of us loner types) for several hours at the same tables.

Some of the play was literally laughable. Which is a bad thing as I drank too much and in this condition it is sometimes difficult to not laugh at laughable play. But the truly hard part to keep quiet about was the commentary after the laughable play - something that I think comes from the fact that this particular city has a decent card room but none of the low-level players have ever travelled. These players have learned the game from other testosterone-fueled idiots or on-line or by watching TV. Which means that in addition to being REALLY bad players, they have no sense of etiquette, take way too much time to make simple decisions, and generally are just plain rude.

Some random examples (keep in mind the blinds are $2 - $3 and the buy in is between $50 and $200 - yes this is seriously screwed up structure but I digress):

I'm on button with suited J10. I have $230 stack. 6 limpers to me so I make it $25 to go (Not a fan of J10, but want to see what happens). BB, Under the gun, mid position and cut off call, (yes folks that is four limps that call a bet of 8.5bbs. No, folks, I have no idea what anyone has either) and now there is $130 ish in the pot. Flop comes J54 two spades (which I don't have). Checked to mid position (has me covered) who bets $25 into this $130 pot. Cut off folds, I think for a minute and decide this bet is likely a flush draw or a middle pair bet (have seen lots of these middle pair bets) so I raise to $125 planning to put it all in on turn if I get called and brick comes. Folded to Mid who hems and then calls. We're heads up to see the turn of an offsuit 10. Mid checks again and push all in with my now top two. Mid calls and I roll my hand announcing that his set is good. He says he doesn't have a set and when a spade falls on river I figure he drew out, but no, he shows pocket kings and proceeds to yell at me for my J10. I quietly inform him that if he had executed his limp re-raise plan pre-flop he would have won the pot uncontested. Or if he had made a proper bet on the flop he might have won it there. He informed me he lost the last two times he had kings so he was trying to keep it small. But how could I raise with J10 when he had kings? "Sorry Sir, I just got lucky". And I heard about my luck for the next two hours.

Then there was the guy who called when I raised a straddle to $50 from the SB with 99 after 5 callers. His call left him exactly $7 behind. So I bet $8 blind and he calls after seeing a flop of 10 5 3 rainbow. I roll my hand and he waits for the turn and river to come running clubs before turning over Q7 of clubs for a running flush...

Last (ok there were dozens more, but this post is huge already) there was the guy who, having gotten himself in a hole on the river (He raised pre, was called by maniac, made a stiff bet flop that had two spades, maniac calls, third spade on turn goes check - check, River blank goes small bet - big raise by maniac) proceeded to spend precisely 13 minutes looking at his cards, talking, walking away from the table and repeating the process until someone at the table called time and a supervisor made it over to muck his cards. He spent the next hour threatening the guy who called time. "Look man, I play for money - what are you doing calling time, someone ought to give you a time, blah blah blah".

And so it goes.