Bad play rewarded

Post on RGP today

We'll be in Deadwood the third week of this month. Can anybody recommend a good poker room or two?

More important, are any poker rooms in Deadwood nonsmoking? Thanks.

And the reply:

Even more important, make sure you get a seat facing the door.

It's hard to underestimate the wittiness of some of the people posting on that forum.

On a less witty note, I am continually frustrated to see bad play get constantly rewarded in my local games in Tuscaloosa. A very good example was last night, when during a $5-$10 game I noticed when we got down to seven players that the worst players at the table had the most chips and the best players were all short stacked.

One of those bad players would raise in the big blind after about five or six people had called with A-K and 10-J. He would play any ace (as do most people in this game) and even call down to the river with ace high.

Another player re-raised me twice last night when I raised with QQ. His hands? KJ the first time and AJ the second, and he flopped two pair both times.

And before all this happened, "Tom" (that's a pseudonym to protect the innocent), whose entire poker game has devolved into a challenge to put the worst beats he can on other players, cashed out $1,200. He has been tearing up the games for two months playing trash hand after trash hand.

It's as if something has ripped a hole in the poker universe, upsetting the balance of the deck and allowing the chips to be pushed to the dark side. That hole was torn in Tuscaloosa. Stay away. Stay very far away.

I finally struck gold by re-depositing at Ultimate Bet, and am now up about $900 there playing heads-up sit and gos over the past week, having won 22 of my last 25.

Heads-up poker in my opinion is the purest form of the game, having to mix up your play against only one opponent, shifting from bluffing with nothing and betting strongly your great hands to slow playing great hands. It's a great feeling to raise pre-flop with junk, get it off and bet out. Your opponent thinks you have nothing and check raises and then you gig him good.

I can be found playing stakes between $20 and $50 there under the name TuscalosaJohn. If you want to play, bring it on!