After my first match dragged on forever, and where the two of us both sucked out twice to double up and stay in the match, I finally won. No really spectacular hands, except one that put me low on chips early when I miscalculated my EV with a flush draw and gut-shot against what I assumed was TP with one card to come. I had a clear edge on my opponent though, as they played very straight forward (especially once the blinds were past 20/40).
After this I managed to run into some of the worst players I've played in awhile. The first was a player who was clearly a maniac. I folded a few medium strength hands to their insesent betting and was down early, but then doubled up to get back to even w/ 99 against A6. Then I caught them on some triple barrel bluff with a garbage hand and they just quit the match on me and I got to blind them down, heh.
Next up was a maniac, but only post flop. Early on I caught him on a bluff, and then never gave him respect. I have 77 and open to 3x on the button and he calls. The flop comes AKK and he donks for just under pot. I call, knowing this is a popular bluff. The turn is a complete blank and he checks it to me, and the river is another blank and he bets 2/3 pot. I can't figure out what he could be doing this with, other than a scared A, but he'd given off an aggro vibe and I had to call, and he showed Q3.
After this I just called him down with any peice of the flop. He couldn't resist firing all the time, so I just called him down with all sorts of crap. The last hand of our first game I had 97s and limped for the first time as he'd be 3-betting me a bit, but he was a bit short now and I didn't want him to shove over me. He raised 3x and I called (I love when you limp with a hand you'd normally raise, and they then do it for you, oop). The flop was KJ7 rainbow. He bet. I called. Turn was a blank. He bet, I called. The river was another baby card. He shoved, I called and he showed 55.
We had a rematch that was much the same again.
Last was a complete crazy guy. First game, first hand I'm dealt TT on the B and raise, he 3-bets and I flat call. The flop is 9 high and he insta-shoves and I call. Most people who have an overpair here are playing it a lot slower than this, and even moreso a set. He could have me crushed, but more often than not I'm ahead here. He has AK and I hold.
Next match I'm dry on cards for a bit, and he shows a real tenacity to 3-bet a ton and c-bet every flop. So I slowly go down a bit in chips waiting for a hand. He kept opening anywhere from 5 to 8x, so I wasn't going to play OOP without a decent hand. I end up opening and calling a 3-bet from him w/ JTs, flop TP and shove over his pot sized open and he folds. I then catch him w/ 99 against his Ax and hold to win the match not long after.
The crazies might be higher variance to play against, and sometimes frustrating (specially if they either hit hands or suck out over and over), but I really do love playing them. Action is better than those tight weak players you really have to grind away at.
Overall, I'm super happy with how I'm playing right now. This one table thing is really working out for me. I'd made a post the other day that I lost when my computer shut down on me, where I lost a bunch in a row, but where I was playing great and still happy with my game. I lost a few flips and was sucked out on a couple of times, but my observations are so much better right now and I'm paying more attention to my opponents and how to play against them, I'm really happy with how things are going. Let's hope it keeps up.
