SE €50 DC last night- standard of play?

El Stuntman

Seeing as I'm off to Vegas in a few weeks, decided to nip in to the SE last night and play this for practice and familiarise myself with B&M, having only played online and drunken house games up to now.
Lovely setup in the SE, good dealers, surroundings, tournament structure - all very impressive! DD has spent his money well....

Background first before my question:
53 runners. The plan was to play tighter than a fishes a**hole for the first few levels and then (hopefully) open up and play a bit after the break. In the first 3 levels I played the massive total of 3 hands, showing down only 1 (AQ for two pair) to leave me level in chips. At this stage, I figured my rock image was well and truly established!
After the break got up to my high point of about 5,500 chips after taking out 99 with AK (flopped two pair - nice), then got blinded down to about 3,500 with the blinds at 300/600 and about to go up again, knew it was time to start making moves and when I saw KQs in lp, I shoved the lot in pre-flop. All folded around to a Cork(Kerry?) lad with a goatee with a roughly equivalent stack who thought for ages and then called...with the magnificent holding of 87d!! Of course he hit an 8 on the flop, no help for me and I was gone in 21st (at least it was still early enough to go and drink a few pints:) .

Questions arises as follows - I saw so many dubious, not to say downright awful, calls on pre-flop all-ins last night as to make me seriously doubt the standard of play there. Good example was the hand above but I also saw people calling all-ins with KTo, KJo, several Ace-rags and the champion of them all - 92s!!! I will de facto respect anyone who sticks in their stack pre-flop but calling it with muck is another matter....
Only respected possibly two of the guys that sat at my table all night - one guy in particular (red hair and glasses) was busy building a large stack and looked nailed on to go well.

The other thing I picked up was that most people pay no attention whatsoever to table image or position - again my exit was a case in point but saw several more practical examples.

So, following this lengthy bit of background, my question to the regulars out there is; is this standard of play typical for the tournaments around Dublin or was I just stuck with a table of uber-muppets?! Will definitely be back in either case but opinions appreciated!

De Deraco

NO respect last night i played only AK AK JJ, before level 3, then raised all in with KK for 5k, at level 3 and was called by A9 A10 AQ and Q9, and of course player x hit two pair with A10.
so no until the final two tables players dont generally respect image. but its a good idea to notice the ones that do as there the ones that u can scare off.

Culchie

Out in 9th.

Best hand I seen all night was QK once, not one single pair, and best Ace was accompanied by a 6 kicker. (Maybe A6>QK? )

Bluffed alot though, what can you do?:)

ionapaul

Yep, 'pub' player don't care much for what you have shown before, position, table image or any of that jazz. They certainly don't give any consideration as to what you may be holding - all that matters to them is what *they* are holding. So you have a situation where it may be better to go all-in when you have the bullets or cowboys (someone will call) and merely limp with AK / AQ hands and bet / raise if you hit.

brianmc

Culchie wrote:

(Maybe A6>QK? )

That's if you talk about percentages. But if you look at the way the flops have been coming...

azzeretti

I was at the losest table EVER last night. There was one particular guy that was crazy. It took me a good while to figure out if he was a really good player or a really bad one. I saw him fold ONE hand pre-flop all night. Every other hand was either raised, or re-raised pre-flop. He was hitting every flop too - he hit quads twice and rivered gutshots on more than 2 occasions (after calling with odds stacked heavily against him) At the end of the first level he had about 9K:eek: He was gone by the break though, when he pushed post flop with a 256 rainbow board. I had raised pre-flop with AKs (which he took no notice of!) and I just knew I was ahead when he pushed, even though I missed the flop the turn and river were no help to him. There were a couple of other loose players at this table but none as bad!
I got moved after the break and got my stack up to about 12K when I got faced with this hand - very similar to the one a couple of weeks ago when I got slated for laying it down - i didn't this time, but should have.
I'm BB (500/1000) and have AhTd. Button and small blind call to me (I check, maybe should have raised) flop comes Kh 9h 6h. SB bets 2500, I think for ages and then push. Button folds, SB thinks for ages then calls. He has 3h 9h (or similar). And I am left with 1k and out on the next hand.
I try and play this tourney every Thursday and the standard is varied, there are some very good players around but quite a lot of new players too (which is good). You'll usually find the usual suspects at the final table though.

fixer

Welcome to the New World of Poker. Get used to it, not everyone plays the way you want or expect them to.

El Stuntman

fixer wrote:

Welcome to the New World of Poker. Get used to it, not everyone plays the way you want or expect them to.

Dammit - I thought they would all be robots!!
Good point though I don't think I'll be subscribing to the 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' school of thought anytime soon...

ianmc38

azzeretti wrote:

I was at the losest table EVER last night. There was one particular guy that was crazy. It took me a good while to figure out if he was a really good player or a really bad one. I saw him fold ONE hand pre-flop all night. Every other hand was either raised, or re-raised pre-flop. He was hitting every flop too - he hit quads twice and rivered gutshots on more than 2 occasions (after calling with odds stacked heavily against him) At the end of the first level he had about 9K:eek: He was gone by the break though, when he pushed post flop with a 256 rainbow board. I had raised pre-flop with AKs (which he took no notice of!) and I just knew I was ahead when he pushed, even though I missed the flop the turn and river were no help to him. There were a couple of other loose players at this table but none as bad!
I got moved after the break and got my stack up to about 12K when I got faced with this hand - very similar to the one a couple of weeks ago when I got slated for laying it down - i didn't this time, but should have.
I'm BB (500/1000) and have AhTd. Button and small blind call to me (I check, maybe should have raised) flop comes Kh 9h 6h. SB bets 2500, I think for ages and then push. Button folds, SB thinks for ages then calls. He has 3h 9h (or similar). And I am left with 1k and out on the next hand.
I try and play this tourney every Thursday and the standard is varied, there are some very good players around but quite a lot of new players too (which is good). You'll usually find the usual suspects at the final table though.

Thats a totally different situation in fairness. Last time you had middle pair as well as the nut flush draw. above you have a bag of air with the nut flush draw. two totally different scenarios.

azzeretti

Like I said, I should have folded

Ollieboy

Your playing with players who have no idea of position, or starting hands or even think a raise means anything. A rock type image, just means they want your chips more so they can say they took you out.

But its €50 tourney, if you want a real game, move up the levels, but I'm not saying the game will be that much better, I've seen some awful play at 1k buy-ins. I just dont know where these people get the money to play like this.

Suit cards like 79 or any A rag is good enough for some of these players.

I was watching Phil Helmuth at the WSOP last night, he lost the head with a guy calling him all-in with KJ against his AK, the guy river J. He start telling the guy what a bad player he was etc. Than another guy called his all in with AQ against 77, the 7's held up and he went mad. "How could you call me with 77's". But thats the standard of play and I find the higher the level of game, the better I do.

Even on PP at the moment at the 3/6 cash games, 100 stt and the 200 f/o tourneys, people just cant laydown QQ, when there's a A or even a K on the board.

I just cant understand all this bad play getting reward....

end of rant.

and if you thought it was bad last night, wait till you get to Vegas.

The Istanbul

Hey Stuntman

Home a lot later than you buiochas le Dia! I remember that call and it was mad ( I congratulated the guy): he busted out not long after on a similar play.

However, in general, I think the overall game in the SE ranks very highly: good atmosphere, dealers, grub, payout and, most importantly relative to many other venues, a relatively high quality of poker playing.

ianmc38

The Istanbul wrote:

Hey Stuntman

However, in general, I think the overall game in the SE ranks very highly: good atmosphere, dealers, grub, payout and, most importantly relative to many other venues, a relatively high quality of poker playing.

Agreed on all except the last point.

ionapaul

ianmc38 wrote:

Agreed on all except the last point.

Yeah, there is no comparison between the 'quality' of poker playing in the Fitz €50 DC on Tuesday and the SE €50 DC on Thursday, most people would say that the standard of play in the Fitz is far higher. Which is why the SE is the place to be if you are playing a €50 DC! The play in the SE €75 DC on Wednesdays is also very different to Thursday's play.

Dub13

I planed on playing this last night and then forgot,no boards last longest this week...?

El Stuntman

The Istanbul wrote:

Hey Stuntman

Home a lot later than you buiochas le Dia! I remember that call and it was mad ( I congratulated the guy): he busted out not long after on a similar play.

However, in general, I think the overall game in the SE ranks very highly: good atmosphere, dealers, grub, payout and, most importantly relative to many other venues, a relatively high quality of poker playing.

Didn't say I got home early! Had to drown my sorrows somehow....
Please tell me you were the one that took all his chips and used them well!

I like the 'congratulations' move (why not light up a big flashing sign that says 'please, please, please do that again Sucker!!!').

Which seat were you btw?

sikes

first hand i flop 2 pair on with 95o on a a95r board (was bb). check and reraise. he goes all in on the flop. Up against a10o. turn and river an eight. my head is all over the shop get my chips, donkeyed them away and headed to the fitz.

i did turn my 5e chip into 180 on the roulette before the tourney so i cant complain about luck!

The Istanbul

Stuntman

beside him to the left. Got to final table: busted out in 6th; on BB (2/4k) dealer flat calls, SB plays =12k pot; I have K-10s go all in for 19k more; called by dealer -he slow played AA. Bye-bye.

fuzzbox

azzeretti wrote:

I was at the losest table EVER last night. There was one particular guy that was crazy. It took me a good while to figure out if he was a really good player or a really bad one. I saw him fold ONE hand pre-flop all night. Every other hand was either raised, or re-raised pre-flop. He was hitting every flop too - he hit quads twice and rivered gutshots on more than 2 occasions (after calling with odds stacked heavily against him) At the end of the first level he had about 9K:eek: He was gone by the break though, when he pushed post flop with a 256 rainbow board. I had raised pre-flop with AKs (which he took no notice of!) and I just knew I was ahead when he pushed, even though I missed the flop the turn and river were no help to him. There were a couple of other loose players at this table but none as bad!
I got moved after the break and got my stack up to about 12K when I got faced with this hand - very similar to the one a couple of weeks ago when I got slated for laying it down - i didn't this time, but should have.
I'm BB (500/1000) and have AhTd. Button and small blind call to me (I check, maybe should have raised) flop comes Kh 9h 6h. SB bets 2500, I think for ages and then push. Button folds, SB thinks for ages then calls. He has 3h 9h (or similar). And I am left with 1k and out on the next hand.
I try and play this tourney every Thursday and the standard is varied, there are some very good players around but quite a lot of new players too (which is good). You'll usually find the usual suspects at the final table though.

Completely different spot. This is an unraised pot, where some guy says "I like my hand".
The other one was a raised and reraised pot, where some guy was continuation betting (and you had nut flush draw and middle pair).

Hitman Actual

El Stuntman wrote:

So, following this lengthy bit of background, my question to the regulars out there is; is this standard of play typical for the tournaments around Dublin or was I just stuck with a table of uber-muppets?! Will definitely be back in either case but opinions appreciated!

I only played that game once, but as far as I could make out, less-experienced/new players have targeted it as a game to start out in B+M rooms. I saw a lot of min-raising, which surely comes from a low-limit online environment (?). But everyone has to start somewhere. The standard is better in every other €50+ game in the casinos, although you'll find muppet play everywhere (just in smaller proportions). It's just a case of adjusting your game to the standard (something I've struggled to do there). The fact that the 150/300 level is left out does make it that bit harder to do well, though. The game gets very tight after the break.

roryc

The Istanbul wrote:

Stuntman

beside him to the left. Got to final table: busted out in 6th; on BB (2/4k) dealer flat calls, SB plays =12k pot; I have K-10s go all in for 19k more; called by dealer -he slow played AA. Bye-bye.

Ah, I know who you are now. I was the lad with 1xBB for most of the game. Somehow went on to win it!

I agree that the standard is absolutely MUCK down there, but once you get used to this, it isin't all that difficult to control the game. I was card dead until the final last night, but scraped onto it almost entirley by playing the player. Going over the top of players who were obviously stealing etc. My cards were **** all help up until the final table! Once you can avoid getting outdrawn, this is an easy tournament to win.

The Istanbul

Well done Rory

You played v.well and had the luck: you had some great fills.

jtsuited

i remember the one time i played in there (yes the time i pissed away a MASSIVE chip lead!) in that tournament, being shocked at just HOW bad the standard of play was.
But if there was one tournament i'd play for dead money it's that one.

Lafortezza

You should all be celebrating that these players are at your tables.

ianmc38

jtsuited wrote:

But if there was one tournament i'd play for dead money it's that one.

I'll give you odds of 5-1 that if you play it this week you wont get in the final 3. €50 wager

cardshark202

ianmc38 wrote:

I'll give you odds of 5-1 that if you play it this week you wont get in the final 3. €50 wager

5-1 is terrible odds given there are seemingly an average of about 70-80 players at this.

I'll wager €50 at 6-1 that I'll make the last 6 if you'll take it.

I have rarely played this tourney, but the field was pretty weak on each occasion.

ianmc38

cardshark202 wrote:

5-1 is terrible odds given there are seemingly an average of about 70-80 players at this.

I'll wager €50 at 6-1 that I'll make the last 6 if you'll take it.

I have rarely played this tourney, but the field was pretty weak on each occasion.

5-1 are great odds when you're up against "dead money"