Went back to Planet Hollywood last night. I do like the place(as evidenced by my quick second trip back), but I don't think I'd put it in my top tier of places for the simple fact that they just don't get as many players as the bigger rooms. It was prime time(11PM Friday night) and they only had 2 or 3 $1/2 NL games going, a 2 table tourney, and a few tables of limit. No $2/5 at all. Perhaps it will get more popular in the future though, I dunno. Also it seems to be a bit of an older crowd, at least compared to a place like MGM. Both of these card rooms are out in the open right in the middle of the casino, but PH has a piano bar next to it while MGM has a bar playing hip hop or rock music. Not that I don't like the piano bar(the performer last night was actually playing a bunch of older pop songs that I loved), but its obviously just a bit of a different crowd age wise.
Was having a good session, and I racked up my chips. Looked at one last hand, saw pocket 4s, decided to call the $8 preflop raise, hit a set, and he hit a higher set(AA vs 44 on a A46 board with 2 diamonds). There was another player in the hand, and that fact coupled with flush and straight draws made it nearly impossible for me to do anything but get it all in. Nevertheless, I still won $24 on the night despite this hand, but it sucked to have happened on the last hand of the night.
Anyway, there were 3 semi-interesting hands from the night, coincidentally all against the same villian. Villian was a typical $1/2 fish I'd say. Plays too many hands, overvalues them too much. I didn't have any real read on his aggression or ability to bluff though before these hands. I list them in cronological order, so any read you pick up from one hand may be applied to the next. And my view of him which I gave above is stricly my thoughts on him before the first hand. Also note that these hands all happened pretty much within 30 minutes of each other, so they were fresh in both of our minds. Before these hands, I had been very quiet and tight for about 90 minutes, so if anyone had bothered to put a read on me they would definitely label me as tight.
Hand #1
I have 78os in BB. A few limpers, including villian on button. Flop comes 467 with 2 clubs. I bet $8. MP calls and button calls. Turn is a 2 non-club. I bet $20. MP folds, button calls. River is a ten non-club. I check. He bets $50. Your move.
What I did
I called. He showed 46 for 2 pair and won.
What I think I should've done
This is tough. 89 hit a straight, but nearly every other draw missed. And since I had an 8 that made 89 a bit more unlikely. I was getting just about 2.5-1 on the call. Most $1/2 fish don't bluff much, but this seemed strange to me. Looking back, I can't believe he played that hand so passively with all of the draws out there and then so aggressively on the river....just strange. I dunno, I'm ok with my call I think.
Hand #2
I have about $185, villian has me covered. Villians limps from EP, I raise to $15 with AQos- usually a hand I won't play so aggressively, but nothing much was happening on the night so far and I needed some action. Only villian calls. Flop comes A26 rainbow. He checks, I bet $25, he calls. Turn is a 3, bringing a flush draw. He checks, I bet $55, he calls. River is a 4. He checks, you have about $90 left. Your move.
What I did
I pushed, he called, I showed, he mucked.
What I think I should've done
I like the play and think its the least interesting of the 3 hands. Some may check behind, but I think thats weak poker. He called $15 preflop, so the odds of him having a hand like A2, A3, A4, A5, or A6 is less than a better ace imo. With a better hand like a set, I can't imagine him checking it on every single street.
Hand #3
Villian in BB, I limp in EP with 9J of diamonds. A few other limpers. Flop comes TQK all clubs. Villian bets $10, I raise to $35, everyone folds to villian, he calls. Turn is a king(obviously non-club). He checks, I bet $50, he calls. River is a 3 non club. He checks. Your move.
What I did
I thought for a while and checked. I showed, he mucked.
What I think I should've done
Ugh...tough call. Obviously it turns out that I should've bet. I think he would've paid me off with any king. At the same time, I think the first hand showed that he was passive enough to check call down with AJ(and honestly I don't think thats that bad really with that board)...hell, he maybe even could've been check/calling down with a real low flush, although I doubt it. Maybe I chickened out here. I think this is a very close decision. If I had to make a decision now, I think I should bet $100, although obviously I didn't make that decision at the table and it could be clouding my judgment now by being results oriented.