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sorry, not done ranting... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

there were straight HICKS sitting down. guys buying in for $100 wearing a flannel shirt, calling down 3 hands in a row, losing, and getting up.

a young kid with tattoos on his neck sitting down, losing a $100 buyin, saying, as he called an allin with 55 on a AKJ board, GETTING ALMOST EVEN MONEY, calling $75 into a $100 pot, 'pot odds man, pot odds...'

there was an older gentleman that sat down, and was calling down literally 6 hands a round. at one point he called another players huge bet on the turn with nothing but an inside straight draw. i'd been dying to play with him..

he pushes into a Q83 pot, $88 into a $60ish pot. that was to me, and i had a big stack behind me...wanting to isolate the fine man who had been dying to give me his money, i reraised all in for about $200...

big stack hems and haws for several minutes, announces, 'i came to gamble', calls my allin, and flips over KQ.

older gentlemen flips over TT.

i flip AQ...seeing how this is somewhat ranty, i'll let you determine whether one of the 2 remaining kings came or not..

ugh.

calls for $60 on the flop with 2nd pair low kicker were not uncommon. i probably raised 5 times preflop in 4 hours, and was called each time by at least 2-3 people. i've read enough to know how to beat that game, but short-term, the results can be brutal, especially psychologically for someone trying to get used to live stakes...

my brother, who i consider to be just as good as me, and also a long-term winner at 25nl online, lost an entire buyin, $250, in about 5.5 hours...i wasn't at the table, but listening to him, he felt the same way i did...that 1/2nl at mountaineer is imminetly beatable, though there'd be days where we'd make the hour drive home bitching about bad beats and calling stations.. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

again, and i don't feel bad stating this, as most of the players there couldn't add 2+2 let alone read it, the level of play at mountaineer's lower nl games is probably at the level of nl10 online. bodog's 25nl plays much tougher, but live's higher buyins are something i'll have to get used to.

this coming saturday, there'll be no nervousness about how to get into a game, no being worried that i'm overmatched, no overanalyzing every player as they sat down...just tight-aggressive poker, with no fear of losing big pots. i got the 'lose a big live pot' thing out of the way, and i got the 'win a big live pot' thing out of the way...

again, i lost $50 in 4 hours, but mountaineer gets a big [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] from me...