All about the table selection

Played with the work crowd again, 10/20 HE and some Omaha hi/8.8 guys total most of the nite. Won 27BB getting mostly an assortment of horrid hole cards that I'd fold, or would miss the flop, or flop would hit me right in the head. Only had 1 Group 1 starting hand all nite. Didn't river one person. Best pocket pair I got all nite was 77 - which took down a huge pot with a full house. 77 won about 5 monster pots total. Someone had low-quads again, second time in a row.

Then we played a quick NL freezeout tourney to close the nite, which I also won. I don't know how to play short-handed, but nobody else did either. After the 2nd place survived 2 all-ins I thought I'd lose, but I put him all-in with a flush draw and won, finally. I'd say 4 other players knew how to play at an average/slightly better level, one who's always there is so aggressive I can't tell, and two beginners, one learning fast and one-super-smart guy who is learning way too fast and has already figured you can win an extra 5-6 pots per nite by being super-aggressive when you enter a pot. I hate those smart[er] guys. :)

In Omaha, I finally had a flopped FH stand up - Aces over Kings with an AAK flop. Only won small pot, though. Not too many bettors with that.The host's friend, let's call him Jerry, was the worst 'tilt player' I have ever played with, in or out of a casino. He never got good cards. The flop never hit him. He'd lose on the river. Etc. And this guy is not working right now because he's made so much money he wanted some time off. He, and the host, were complaining because I 'folded every hand,' which as you all know, is a joke given some of the starting hands I like to play.

Amusing, I get 98o in SB, complete with 5 callers [lotta family pots] flop comes T67, I drag a huge pot from the host. He complains. It's like my first pot in an hour or so since the FH. About 45 mins later, I get A3c in the cutoff in another large unraised pot. I limp in. Flop comes 332. Jerry bets, a few callers, I call. Turn is a blank. Jerry bets, 1 caller, I call. River is a Queen, he bets, MP folds, I raise, he looks at me, says 'what the hell are you playing?' and calls. Mucks disgustedly [AQo?] when I flip A3c.

He proceeded to be On Tilt the rest of the nite. Since he hosts a NL500 local game as well, he considers himself the 'expert,' even though he's only expert at losing his whole buy-in. He bluffed a nice pot with 9-hi, I folded A-hi on the river [A6o from the button] and I guess he thought that made him the man. So he's been berating me all nite for not playing enough hands, continues when I won the A3c pot.

30 mins later, look down and see A3c again in MP. Nice for this game. Limp in, about 5 players, flop comes. 433o. Checked to me I bet - thot about slow=playing-, 2 callers. Turn is a 8s - two spades. I bet, Jerry says "Are you playing A3 again?" Other player calmly replies I could have pockets, A3 again, flush or straight draw, etc. Of course I win this hand also when a blank hits the river, and he says "Doesn't it embarrass you to play that trash?"No, I reply, dragging another good pot.

On Tilt, he continues, "You don't feel bad we always know your starting cards on the flop?"'I can't hear you Jerry, your chips are blocking my ears.'He then proceeds to tell me to stay out of "his" pots, --he's directly on my left, and when I say 'whatever' says, "Don't talk to me any more!"

People are laughing at this point, mostly at him, but trying to be semi-nice as he's the host's friend. I simply ask, 'You never play A3 suited? From any position?'"No," he replies haughtily. "I never play that crap."Suits me just fine, I think to myself. I'd play it in at least 4 spots at a full or super-loose table. "And stop talking to me!" he says.

Frickin' hilarious Tilt, one of my best. When he left he walked the other way around the table, shaking hands but refused to shake mine or even look in my direction. Heck, I wasn't even trying! Never seen a guy rich enough to quit a very hi-paying job moan about losing a few hundered like that. Sad.

Then I put the host on Tilt playing Th9s from the BB. Flop come QJTs. Gee, that fit a little bit. Host bets, I call [no A or Ks is going anywhere I figure, and my 9 isn't exactly power - good move?] one more caller. Turn is the 8c. SB bets I raise LP folds, SB calls. River a blank he checks I bet he calls, flips over KsQd. Asks me what the hell I was doing playing that flop [!!] after teasing me for folding the past hour - "Four corners," he would scoff.

I think I put 3 of the other players on Tilt last night, the third guy right off the bat when my 7s full of Jacks beat his AJ trips. I only took one bad beat last nite, Omaha, when my top set of Kings got rivered by a Jack for a gutshot straight. That's Omaha for you, real big pot too.Be interesting to see if I get invited back...they didn't mind when I dropped 150 when I played NL for the first time.

Never thought I'd do well with the starting cards I was getting, one hour I got 63o 3 times in a row, then 72o 3times, then T4o 3 times in a row. It was also fun to play a game where a raise on the turn or river actually meant something.