section A will be initial reads of situation, players, atmosphere...
section B will be the straight up hand history
section C will be my analyses and results.
A:
Wild gambling atmosphere in a California card-room. Lot's of Asian table games (yes that's the term for it) and hold'em and a few omaha tables. This is a hot spot for 40-60 year old "pros" who make their living by playing 2/5 NL or 9/18 limit. The 2/5 game is generally juicy, but when you're playing at my hours the competition gets tougher.
It's 6:30am and I've got ~600 in the 2/5 game. A new guy sits just as the game's tightening up and on the verge of breaking. He announces that he has an errand to run at 8am and buys in for 340.
In 2 of his first 5 hands he's all-in preflop. Someone makes a comment and he says he's either going to run up a stack or go broke.
A few hands later he fast plays top pair to such a degree that a solid player looks him up with a middle pair. The guy's sitting in the 1000 range when he and I get involved in a hand.
B:
7-handed
I'm in the BB with A
J 
There is an MP limper...Villain in CO raises to 25.
I opt to call and MP folds.
Flop (60) A
8 2 I check. Villain bets 40. I call.
Turn (140) 4
I check. Villain bets 100. I call.
River (340) 7
I check. Villain bets 200. I ......
C:
Preflop: I've been playing conservatively. At these tables, anything could be in there (ie people call 60 dollar raises with 4-2 for real) and I find that outplaying post-flop is the best method. Hence I opt to just call and not reraise the possible maniac.
Flop: I'm not a huge fan of this flop. Here are some possibilities:
-he's got no piece and I'm way ahead with tp/gk and a decent flush draw
-he's got a smaller ace, I'm way ahead
-he's got a small flush, I'm way behind
-he's got a bigger ace, I may or may not have 9 outs
-he's got a big club or a pocket pair and will be looking to take the pot down
I opt to check/call because if I lead will have to fold to a big raise and I may want to draw cheaply, and because with the pot size small, he's less likely to make a big bet on future streets if he has a naked big club. I could shove here, but I'm not clear enough on where I am (but that may be the right play.)
Turn: At this point I still don't know where I'm at. I'm a little confused as to how he can still be betting. He may be a maniac. I think I have to call this and hope to get a check behind on the river (although given this bet I'm probably going to lead any club on the river.)
River: I'm assuming we're both unimproved and calling here is probably correct. I'm still confused as to how he can bet so confidently and it seems he probably has air or the flush.
Results: I call the river bet and he flips up pocket 4's.
Guy to my right who I've become friendly with says to me "This guy's in here for a pitstop, discourage him, don't give him action. You should not have called the river bet." I then recall 'accidentally' seeing this guy fold in the BB to a raise from this pit-stopper with AQo.
Thoughts?
