I hardly have any live experience, but when I was in the casino in Amsterdam I couldn't resist playing in the 10/20 limit game (the only game available that night).
I ended down quite a bit (well, 400 to be precise), so please feel free to comment on my playing.


My opponents, from my left to my right:
- American guy: solid, tight player, not very tricky.
- Old guy: had no clue, only looking at his own hands, often bet incorrect amounts (i.e. tried to open with 30 on the flop, or 50 on the river).
- African guy: regular and skilled player, but very LAG; bluffs a lot
- Pro: very aggressive, but folds when he's beaten. Sometimes loose.
- Frustrated regular: decent player who knows what he's doing, but is very frustrated when his correct play doesn't pay off.
- Old guy 2: complete calling station. Plays 75% of hands.
- Bald guy: knows some basic principles but way too loose. Also calls too much. Limp-reraises whenever he has the opportunity.
- Black guy: also a regular; doesn't seem to be very focused on the game. Very erratic playing, and a lot of wild bluffing.
- Regular guy: seems decent, and is fairly tight/aggressive.

My strategy for the first hour was to play very tight to observe the table a bit. This was not hard, since I only got a few playable hands:

Hand 1) I get AQs UTG. I raise and get 3 callers. Flop comes Q45, and I bet; regular guy calls. Turn is a T: check, I bet, call. River is a blank; check, I bet for value and get paid off by KQ.

Hand 2) I get 66 in the CO and limp after 4 others. I miss the flop and fold to a bet.

Hand 3) I get AKs UTG+1 and open raise. 4 callers. Flop is K44. I bet, and the pro, frustrated regular and the second old guy call. Turn is a 2. I bet again. Pro folds, regular folds, old guy calls. River is another 2. I'm pretty sure I'm ahead and bet. He calls and mucks.

Then I went carddead for a long time. The table went wilder, as the first old guy kept on rebuying (down about 700) and the other old guy build a huge stack by rivering both the pro and the frustrated regular several times. Since most pots were now 5 handed at least and the average pot was huge, I decided that I should try to play all small pairs and good suited hands whenever the circumstances allowed it.

Hand 4) I get black aces on the button. Pro raises, 2 calls, I reraise to get the blinds out and 4 see an AJT flop with 2 diamonds. It is checked to me; I bet, all call. Turn is a 4, no diamond. Again I bet; pro folds, others call. River is a king of diamonds. Old guy bets, bald guy raises, I muck, old guy calls. Old guy had 2 pair KJ, bald guy had Q8 for the straight...

Hand 5) QQ in MP. I open raise and get 2 callers, frustrated regular and bald guy. Flop is AJ6, two clubs. I bet and both call. The turn is a T of clubs and I check-fold.

Again carddead for a while. I only play 3 hands for the hour, two small pairs and a JT-hand, all in late position. I fold on the flop after I miss. The pro leaves the game, down quite a bit. American guy takes his seat, and a new guy sits to my left.

Hand 6) I get black aces again, now UTG. I raise, new guy calls. Frustrated regular reraises, I cap and both call. Flop is QJ5, two spades. I bet, new guy raises, frustrated regular reraises. Now what? New guy could have something like AQ. Frustrated guy could have KK. He could have QQ but I think he would slowplay that. I don't see him having 2 pair. I decide that I have to try and get the new guy out and cap. Both call.
Turn is a T, no spade. Since the pot is huge and there is a chance I'm still ahead I bet, but get raised by the new guy. Regular calls, showing great frustration. I call, even though it is now more than likely that I'm behind. (I'm getting odds to chase the gutshot.) I can't imagine that on a table like this the new guy wouldn't have reraised preflop with a pair of jacks or better, but now it starts to look like JJ or QQ.
The river is a blank. I check, new guy bets, regular calls and I make the crying call. New guy has QQ, regular has the other 2 aces.

This was the only hand where I felt I could or should have saved some bets. Anyone play this different?

After this the two old guys left (one down about 1000 the other up about the same amount) and the table tightened up a bit. I took down one small pot with a pair of jacks, but I had played for 5 hours at a stretch and was getting tired, so I called it a day.

Anyway, it was a very enjoyable and instructive experience. I expected a much tougher game where I'd be facing a lot of difficult decisions. Instead, it was very much a game of odds. I couldn't complain about my starting hands, since I saw at least 7 premium hands and about 8 more playable hands. Unfortunately, I didn't get many drawing hands and when I did I ddin't connect to the flop.

If anyone has comments on my strategy or on the way I played the above hands, please feel free to flame. I need some improvement before I go there again!

Pieter

I don't think that any of your plays were bad. You just ran into some unfortunate situations with your black aces. Hand 6 was marginal, but I probably would have played it the same way. That pot was very big and worth fighting for!