Monday Night
There was a time when I was good at games. I would win more than my fair share. I would outsmart my opponents and I would surprise people with my skills. Nowadays I am losing at most of the games I play. I play a lot of this chess/Catan combo game called Puerto Rico with friends who are better than me and walk away a loser every time. I have been losing in Catan as well. I play poker tournaments and I’m not very good at them either. Two nights ago I had an incredibly poor beer pong session. I used to be an excellent Beirut player; now I am horrendous. And yesterday I lost at frisbee golf, a sport I was once so good at that I was considering playing in tournaments.
It is not acceptable for me to lose at games. I will have to get better. I do not play Puerto Rico with the intention of losing forever. Someday I will dominate. The same is true of poker tournaments. I would not bother playing them if I did not believe I could one day become a huge winner. I am not the most talented out there, but I believe if I work hard, think hard, and get help I can learn to beat this game just like I can beat all games.
I have not been competing enough. I am unfulfilled without competition. I need to get back in action. I have been looking forward to the WSOP for a while now despite the miseries inherent in a six week summer undertaking to Vegas, because I am fiending to compete every day for big money. I need to practice now, so that I will be ready for the WSOP.
10-20
Tougher table tonight…pimpin_pens to my left, mig_com (James Mackey) to his left, badbeatninja (Bryan Devonshire) to his left, Stamdogg across the table, and da_professional two to my right.
SB limps I check 43o in BB and fold to a pot bet when I flop nothing.
Fold Q6s 3rd position haven’t played a hand yet.
Fold T7s next hand.
Fold QTs UTG would definitely play that at an easier table. Something to be said for just rocking it up at this point establishing tight image.
Fold 98o in BB to UTG raise.
Fold 32o in SB when folded to me then fold J4o button.
Fold JTo second position.
15-30
Fold 86o in BB to a raise and a call.
Fold 74s in SB to badbeatninja’s EP raise
Raise 75s button blinds fold.
Fold K5s to the guy to my right’s raise, he has been tight.
UTG limps I limp 98s behind him. Badbeatninja makes a 5x raise and Stamdogg flatcalls from the button. UTG folds. I call. Flop AQ3 I check badbeatninja bets 3/5 pot Stamdogg tanks and folds I fold.
20–40
Raise QQ mig calls and the button calls. Flop QhTh7c I think and check, mig bets 2/3 pot button folds and I raise a little more than 3x. Mig calls. Turn T I check mig checks. River 7 I think a long time and check he checks quickly with KJ. I made a good read here that he was drawing but he made a good read that I was trapping.
Two hands later I limp AA UTG. A guy makes it 180 from the hijack folds to me I make it 631 he folds.
That same guy raises 3x I call with JTo on button. Flop Q63 all hearts he bets 2/3 pot I fold.
Next hand da_professional raises I fold Q7s cutoff.
Raise 85s third position badbeatninja calls BB calls. Flop 532 rainbow BB checks I bet 182 ninja makes it 569 BB folds and I am in a quandary. I think a long time and then raise to 1444. Ninja quickly calls. Turn 6 I check and fold to a 1400 bet.
25-50
Fold 74s next hand
Mig raises in 2nd position on a short stack I just fold AJo in BB. Not much to gain here, no good reason to get involved.
Guy raises I call with AKs in SB. Flop 743 rainbow check check. Turn 8s second spade I bet 200 he calls. River 8 I check he thinks and checks his T9. He is probably kicking himself but I was going to call a bet.
Raise 97s in second position the SB reraises a little less than 3x. I am putting him on a huge hand here and call. Flop A75 he bets 450 I make it 1123 he folds.
Limp 88 UTG LP limps BB checks. Board of JT4QT is checked all the way down I win against 77 and A6.
30-60
Stamdogg raises I call with J9 clubs in the SB. Flop K32 I check he bets I fold.
Next hand raise button with 76o they fold.
Next hand Stamdogg raises to 180 I call with TT. Flop Kc9c9d Stamdogg bets 200 I call. Turn Jd he bets 600 I think about everything and finally fold.
Raise AA 2nd position no callers.
Fold A3o button to da_professional’s hijack raise.
Raise Q3 hearts from the cutoff badbeatninja calls in BB. Flop AhAcQd check check. Turn Kh he bets 195 I call. River 6d he bets 420 I fold.
40-80
4602 in chips.
Fold AJo UTG.
Raise AJo cutoff win blinds.
Raise A9o next hand win again.
Stamdogg raises hijack cutoff calls I fold 54o in BB.
50-100
Fold J2s hijack.
Fold 75s second position.
Perusing Michael Lombardi’s NFL analysis. Trying to substitute college basketball for the NFL has taught me there is no substitute, there is no sport even close to as fun or interesting as the NFL. I can’t wait for the draft, I can’t wait for the preseason, I can’t wait for September Sundays.
Cutoff raises SB calls I fold 84o in BB good squeeze spot.
Folds to me in the SB. Pimpin_pens in BB has been extremely tight thus far but I know he knows what he’s doing and is aware of his image so I fold K2o.
Listen to a few Rufus Wainwright songs.
Fold A6o MP.
60-120
Field a call from Adam Friedman while folding a round of spectacularly bad hands.
Raise K8s EP after a long quiet period Stamdogg calls in SB. Flop AA8 check check. Turn 4 check check river 9 he bets 600 I was planning the whole time to call a river bet but this big bet makes me queasy. I think as long as I can and then fold, then regret it slightly.
80-160
Fold 98o MP.
SB limps I 3x it from BB with AQ he folds.
Table is playing tight Adam wants me to raise complete poop hands I don’t.
Big prizepool tonight – over $100k for first.
100-200
Big stack limps I limp 6d3d on button. Blinds call. Flop 764 two spades. BB checks limper bets 600 into 700. I have about 3500 in stack and fold. This is not what Adam recommends. This hand really gets me thinking about needing to develop and play MY game. I can talk to my talented friends about the game and situations and what to do but I need to figure out what works for ME, not them. I spew too much trying to play th
e right way or the way that works for so and so. In cash I have a unique style that no one can imitate. It has always been effective and I have always been comfortable with it. In tournaments I am usually in no man’s land experimenting with different styles and strategies without ever really figuring out how I want to play. There have been times when I was playing well when I had an effective style down, but I eventually lost my footing and wound up back in no man’s land.Fold QJo to an EP raise.
SB completes I check Q2 clubs in BB. Flop 9s8s4c he checks I bet a little more than half pot he folds.
Next hand I limp J9o from SB pimpin checks. Flop 933 rainbow I check he bets 200 I call. Turn 6 I check he bets 450 I call. River 6 I check he bets 1050 and I fold.
Frustrated with my play. Thinking of ways to improve and drawing blanks. Need to go in one direction or the other I think, either tighter more aggressive or looser more tricky.
120-240-25
2876 chips.
Shove the first hand with KJo MP everyone folds. Adam would hate this move, the forum fiends would probably say it is the only way to play it, and I don’t know.
SB 3xes it on a similar stack I fold 54o in BB.
Administer a walk with 72o. I hate giving walks with the large blinds and antes and would shove most hands there but 72o bleh.
Strange pot here
da_professional posts the small blind of 120
cool0813 posts the big blind of 240
The button is in seat #9
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to GnightMoon [Jc 4s]
GnightMoon folds
cool0813 has returned
pimpin_pens folds
Smaugs folds
badbeatninja folds
exxplicit folds
Stamdogg folds
brsavage folds
da_professional raises to 580
cool0813 raises to 3,517, and is all in
da_professional calls 2,937
cool0813 shows [Ad 5s]
da_professional shows [Qc 6h]
*** FLOP *** [5c 9h Qd]
*** TURN *** [5c 9h Qd] [4d]
*** RIVER *** [5c 9h Qd 4d] [Jh]
cool0813 shows a pair of Fives
da_professional shows a pair of Queens
da_professional wins the pot (7,259) with a pair of Queens
That didn’t seem very professional.
IWEARGOGGLES, a very accomplished player, sits down to my right. Normally this would be bad news but I remember when I won this event my rush started when I won a coinflip against him, and then caught a similar rush in the WSOP $1500 6-handed after winning a coinflip against him.
Folds to me in the cutoff where I have 2756 and A3s. I am “supposed” to jam here but instead I make it 600; badbeatninja instantly shoves from the BB. I can fold and have about 2100 with the blinds going to 140-280, or I can call and try to double up. I end up folding.
Badbeatninja raises EP, a short stack instashoves, brsavage (who just got rivered in a crucial pot) instacalls all-in, and I call all-in from the big blind with kings while thinking about Phil Hellmuth triumphantly yelling “that’s why you lay it down!” after raise/folding a third of his stack and then getting aces the next hand. Ninja somehow has aces in this mess, the short stack has queens, savage has 87s, the board comes AT77x and Devo collects three bounties.
I think I am gonna play some cash games after I post this.
posted by GnightMoon @ 9:37 PM
10 Comments:
Comments on two hands and how I would play them differently:
1) "Next hand Stamdogg raises to 180 I call with TT. Flop Kc9c9d Stamdogg bets 200 I call. Turn Jd he bets 600 I think about everything and finally fold."
Raise this weak ass cbet to 600+ take this pot down or at least use this play to control the action on the turn.
2) "Next hand I limp J9o from SB pimpin checks. Flop 933 rainbow I check he bets 200 I call. Turn 6 I check he bets 450 I call. River 6 I check he bets 1050 and I fold."
How many chips did you have to start this hand? I don't mind the limp against a good player but J9o is good enough for a raise here especially since he's been playing uber tight according to your observations. As played I don't really get your play on the flop or turn unless you are somehow trying to slowplay it... which wouldn't be a good idea anyway. What was going through your mind? I would look to CR this flop and would stack off 95% of the time blind on blind.
GL in your cash games
I don't understand how you're ever going to pick up any chips playing this style? It seems like you rarely, if ever, bluff. You often make "big laydowns" and won't go to the mat with anything except the stone cold nuts. How weak tight was that J-9 hand? Yes, I understand that in a cash game you have to be more careful. But if you're going to play a tournament like that after the flop, just fold it pre. Or better yet, just don't sign up for the tournament at all. You play like the old men who can't understand these "crazy" young internet kids raising every other hand. At what point in time did you put anybody else at the table to the test? It's tough to trap somebody every single hand and win a tournament.
The problem is you're obviously skilled enough to get involved in so many more pots and outplay people post flop; but you never get involved in anything when you have a decent sized stack. Then you find spots to make moves but it would cost you 25% of your stack to do it. You could make those moves and still survive if you were wrong if you hadn't folded every marginal hand for the first hour and a half.
And when you see what seems like a good spot for a bluff, pull the freaking trigger! If I read, "seemed like a good spot for a squeeze (or raise, or bluff)...I folded." one more time, my head might explode. And yes, I realize this is a free blog and there's no reason for me to keep reading if I don't want to, but what can I say...I actually do like your writing and appreciate your ability. Thus ended a 4 paragraph back handed compliment, I guess.
I don't know if I could have put it any better.
Admit it, this is all one big level, isn't it? You're just setting us all up so when one of us sits next to each other at the WSOP you can own us...
John: great job of articulating what I've been trying to tell moon for ages.
Dexter, here`s the coles notes version: drop abc style and mix it the f up!!!
Reading that post was as if you had given up, not found a will to be great at throwing frisbes that you think are golf balls again!!
If you know Iweargheygoogles or brrandysavage has aces or the hand, try blowing them off it for once instead of laying down. Obviously your not getting them off a premium hand preflop so look for opps to call light with light but jam big at the right street at the right time ;)
Your donating your g-note anyway`s with your play so might as well get that heart pounding if little else!! But you won the Monday night a while back, 90 nights for 90g`s, you`ll get there!!
Excellent comments, really appreciate em. Being harsh is fine.
that's the most constructive comment I've ever seen from gmorningsun
long time reader , first time poster. i'm going to be harsh here --- it sounds like you almost feel sorry for yourself and it seems to be reflected in your play. Get some confidence and play with confidence. please, you seem like a nice dude, but this post made me sick.
Moon, you are a great game player but it's time to adapt. IMO there are three things to do:
1)You don't need to find your style, you need to master all styles and then just make the relatively easy decisions of which to apply and when. Believe or not, I think Paul wrestled with this too. The best have more than one way to win a game/tourney/chess match. Do you?
2)I've never seen em but I'm sure you have a nice pair. Don't worry about growing any new ones but you gotta regain confidence in yourself. From the first few lines of your writing I can tell that you don't expect to win or even account well for yourself. This isn't the Moon I know. The Moon I know expects to win everything and even brags about how it's going to happen. If you aren't confident, don't play. As for how to get confidence? Do whatever it takes. Are these guys more deserving than you? More experienced? F$$k em. F$$k em deep.
3) Come tourney time, kick Rufus to the curb. He has no place here. Lupe, M.I.A. Rage, hell even Beethoven. These guys should be riding shotgun, not Rufus.
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