I went to the Hustler the other night to check out some of the NL cash games. I sat in a $500 min buy-in (I bought in for $1000)...blinds were $5/$10. Hands of the night for me were as follows.
#1. UTG with AA. It had been an active table so I limp. Sure enough, there's a MP raiser to $30...two callers. Back to me...I reraise to $200. Two folds and the BB, who had called the $30...pushed. I called. He turned over A3o (ok then) and I took down a nice $600 pot. I was the only one all night who limped reraised. I would have done it EVERY time I had JJ+ in EP.
#2. 88 on the DB. An EP raiser to $40 had two callers. I called for $40. Flop came K68 (nice!), two spades. EP raiser bet $120...one caller...$120 to me to call...roughly $400 in the pot. I reraised $300 more (concerned about the flush draw). Both guys looked disgusted and folded.
#3. Couple hands later I'm UTG+1 with JJ. Asian guy (one of the disgusted caller/folders in hand #2 above) put on a $20 straddle. I make it $80 to go. Three callers! Flop comes Qxx, and I lead out with $200 stack of chips. I wouldn't advocate a continuation bet here with all those callers, but I felt pretty strongly my JJ was good (I wouldn't have fired at a A or K flop). Everyone looked disgusted and folded to the Asian guy that bought the straddle. He looked like he wanted to skin me alive...and folded. Note: I've played with him in a tournament before; he's very active PF.
Overall, I finished up about $1200 over my original $1000 buy-in. At his table, my friend Rick finished up $103 on his original $50 buy-in.
Couple of things I noted.
#1. It's a 9-handed table and 4-5 person pots were common. I was the tightest player at the table. Two other guys were almost as tight; very easy to duck them when they came into a pot.
#2. I saw people calling PF raises with K7o, T9o, A7s, 43s, etc. When I reraised hard PF with hands...AK a couple of times, JJ, etc....or on the flop...it was pretty disruptive. The only hand I showed down all night was the all-in AA v A3o.
#3. Guys repeatedly paid off A high flops. AKx flop. KQ calls to the river. Dude, WTF? Didn't you see the A on board and the PF raiser betting out the flop, turn and river?
#4. I think the ability to fire a second bullet (the turn bet) is important. Everyone seemed to call the flop bet whether they have a piece of it or not. 4th hand of the night, I raised with AK. Had one caller. Figure $100 in the pot. I whiff the flop but bet $100 at Q high flop. He calls (note that when guys had something, a draw, a piece of the flop, an underpair, etc., they call almost immediately in this game). Not that it matters, but the guy is some cheesy dude with an open shirt, no t-shirt, goatee and sunglasses, with an unlit cigar in his mouth. Seems to know everyone, casino manager, dealer, couple of other players, etc. In any event, I get the sense he's got something (but not much) and if I fire again, I'm good. I whiff the turn, but pause and state "Two hundred." and move a stack forward. He insta-folds.
#5. Guys bet straight and flush draws aggressively, i.e. reraising with them. And fishing for flushes was common. Q5d with two diamonds on the flop? To the river we go! Also, every time a third of a suit would hit, 2-3 guys would recheck their pocket cards. I personally think its much easier to play against the three flush card board when you're pretty sure your opponent only has 1 underneath.
#6. Guys don't respect the concept of a kicker. I saw A7 and A5 duking it out to the river. Likewise KT v K8. One hand early on, two guys were both playing a 5. Board was 5779Q. At showdown, one guy says, "I have a 5." The other guy says "How big?" The other says, "56." The guy who asked then checks his hand and says, "You're good" and mucks. He later confided that he made a mistake; he didn't even have a 5. $200 pot...betting what he THOUGHT he had.
Overall, it's a soft game, and the guy to my left, who says he plays there a lot, said it wasn't as good as it usually is. Put differently, I think the 9-handed $5/10 game on Bodog is somewhat tougher.
Keep digging.
Edmond
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