Monday Night

It is amazing how much I can lose and still keep coming back to compete. People always talk about the qualities that make one successful at poker, mentioning traits like instincts, a willingness to learn, and disregard for money, but I haven’t heard many talk about resiliency. You have to be able to lose over and over and over and still want to come back and lose some more while believing that some day you will find a way to win. You have to want it so bad that you don’t have a choice. I can go to bed so discouraged and angry but it seems no matter how deep the hole I have limitless optimism when I wake up the next day, whether the goal be poker, running, girls, or Puerto Rico.

A while back I posted a short entry called “Pregaming” sort of wondering what’s the best way to get ready to play poker tournaments. I haven’t reached any conclusions on the matter but I do know I need to get my head out of my ass and get more aggressive, and in order to do that I enlisted the help of three different things tonight:

First I poured myself a nice glass of Buffalo Trace - thanks Bag and I will try to remember to bring your birthday present to softball this week.

Second I re-read the comments from last week’s Monday Night – nice work guys.

Third I watched this clip.



10-20

First hand I raise T6s on the button. BB calls. Flop Kd9d5h BB checks I bet 80 BB calls. Turn 8h check check. River K BB bets the minimum 20 I fold.

Raise the next hand QTo win the blinds.

Next hand UTG raises mossified calls I call with 55. BB makes a 5x reraise original raiser folds mossified calls and I call. Flop KKQ checked around. Turn 9 checked around. River 6 the reraiser bets 2/3 pot we both fold quickly.

Raise 88 UTG win the blinds. This was all the first orbit.

An apparent fish (from the first hand) min raises and gets two calls, I throw in another 20 from the BB with 96o. Flop J87 mossified checks I check the raiser bets only 40 into 160 both fold to me I call. Turn 7 check check. River Q I bet 140 into 240 he folds.

Jon Turner takes a seat two to my left. He is one of the ones I like to study.

Guy limps I make a 4x raise on the button with 63 of diamonds. SB calls and limper calls. Flop Ks7d6c checked to me I bet biggish (171, 75% pot) and SB calls. Turn 6 SB leads for 393 I make it 912 he calls. River J he checks I bet 1554 he tanks and calls with KQ.

Very next hand I raise AK cutoff same guy calls on button. Flop J92 two hearts I bet and get raised big I fold. Next hand someone limps I limp 33 button limps blinds come along. Flop K93 two clubs checked to me I bet 2/3 pot fishy button calls. Turn 6d I bet biggish and button folds.

15-30

Fold JTo UTG.

That fishy player min raises and I defend the BB with J5o. Flop K62 I check fold to a big bet.

Hijack raises I think a while and fold K9s in SB.

Fold 96o button.

Mossified raises hijack I call on button with 33. Button calls and so does that fishy player from the BB. Flop KKT two clubs checked to button who makes a big bet and gets called by the BB. Mossified folds and so do I.

Raise KQ diamonds the fishy player calls out of the small blind. Flop KK5 two spades fish checks I bet 2/3 pot and get called. Turn 6s he checks I’m not sure what to do here and end up checking in a spot where I commonly bluff playing cash. River Qs fish bets out 390 I make it 1290 fish folds.

Raise J9 clubs Turner calls BB calls. Flop QJT one club BB checks I think a while and check Turner checks. Turn interesting Kc BB checks I check Turner checks. River Q BB checks I check Turner checks his 87s BB has K4s so I win the small pot.

On a related note I was watching WSOP reruns today with Jeremiah wielding the big stack which featured Turner's brutal bustout with AA against a pair+flush draw on an A high board. Thought some more about how nitty players like Turner and myself usually get it in good, but often bust out with the best hand because they are covered.

Fold 98o EP.

I get 33 yet again and limp. Comes big and multiway flop AQ6 no interest.

Turner raises EP 3x the fish calls I fold Q8s in BB.

20-40

A guy limps I have 95s on button and limp instead of raise like I did last time cause that hand got turned over in the same situation and I had 63. Blinds complete. Flop A83 checked to me I check. Turn 7 SB leads out Turner calls limper folds I fold.

Mossified raises hijack I call with Qd9d from the cutoff. Flop Jd4d2c he bets 200 I call. Turn Ah the plan now is to raise if he bets and check if he checks. But then he bets 600 into 700 (on somewhat of a short stack) which really sticks in my craw and changes everything. After his bet of 600 he has 3430 behind. I use my entire time bank thinking about what to do, even counting out a raise to 1500 about to hit the button but finally, you guessed it, fold.

Jorgeezy raises UTG I call with JsTs MP. Guy behind me calls. Flop Qc9s6c jorgeezy bets 255 I call other guy folds. Turn Tc check-check. River Jh check check he wins with 99 (with 9c).

UTG limps I make it 4x in 3rd position with AQo two guys call behind me and then the limper puts in a gigantic reraise. I fold quickly.

Fold T6s 2nd pos to mossified’s UTG raise.

25-50

NestOfSalt who has hardly played a hand raises MP I call with A5 hearts in BB. Flop 987 all clubs check check. Turn 4h I bet he folds.

Fold T7o cutoff.

Jorgeezy raises latish I call in BB with 8d7d. Flop J44 two spades one diamond I am gonna check-fold this but he checks. Turn 6d I am gonna check-raise this but he checks. River 7s I bet 200 he calls with AK.

30-60

Jorgeezy raises the next hand to 180 mossified calls on the button I make it about 700 in the SB with A3s they both fold.

UTG fish moves in for 199 I fold K2o button.

I loved that first table and was cruisin but unfortunately it breaks and I get moved to a new table where I recognize an accomplished player named AlexandraPaul (with a newly acquired stack) who I have played with a bit in cash games and someone I think I have heard of called lilfishy897 and another name I recognize dsindy.

Right off the bat I get kings after an early position raise from a 1700 stack. Dsindy calls right behind and I make a very unorthodox flatcall hoping to induce a squeeze. Nobody else plays, the flop comes QJ2 with two spades, they check to me I bet and they fold.

Fold 86s 2nd position might play it but not at new table.

Raise 55 UTG and AlexandraPaul reraises but less than 3x. I call. Flop A42 gonna checkraise he checks back obviously has a pair, probably KK-TT. Turn 6 feel like leading will get me nowhere but a checkraise could work he checks again. River 7 no hope here I don’t think I check he checks QQ and wins.

EP raises I call with AQs in BB. Flop Q65r I check he bets something normal I call. Turn 7 check-check river 3 I bet half the pot he folds.

Cutoff dsindy raises I think about reraising button Kh7h but call instead BB calls. Flop Kd6d4h checked to me I bet 300 (a little more than half pot) BB calls. Turn 9h BB checks I decide to bet 300 again BB calls again. River 8h now BB leads out for 1140. He has about 4500 behind. I am thinking about what to do and hit the time button then realize I spoiled my time bank earlier and have just a couple seconds left I wildly make a big raise without choosing an exact amount it ends up being 4620. BB folds. Now here is what I would have thought about if I had enough time…the BB likely has one of four hands:

1) a busted diamond draw
2) a king
3) a rivered two pair
4) a rivered flush with a hand that includes the 6h.

Now if he has 1) he will fold to any raise, 2) he will likely fold to a raise, 3) he will call a small raise maybe a 3x raise but probably fold to a huge raise 4) he will likely call any raise including an all-in. So maybe my best move is just to shove in? Or maybe 2.5x.

Whew! That first hour was so much fun I went downstairs and poured another glass of Buffalo Trace.

40-80

Dsindy raises early I flat with AA next guy flats everyone else folds. Flop KJ3 all diamonds (I have Ad) I call next guy folds. Turn 7s sindy bets 1120 I call. River 5c sindy thinks a long time and checks I instantly put him in for his last 2565 he tanks and calls with AJ goodnight moon.

Next hand I raise 76 diamonds UTG and the next two guys call. Flop JJ4 two clubs I check, next guy checks and third guy manwhore throws out a small bet of 240. I think and make it 840, manwhore instantly calls. Turn Ah what a beautiful card I bet half pot which is a third of his stack he thinks and folds.

Hijack raises I make a 3x reraise in the SB with T8s he calls. Flop AQ9 I bet 60% pot he calls. Turn 5 I am gonna let him have it he checks. River an amazing jack I bet a little more than 2/3 pot which is a big bet at this point he reluctantly folds.

Minraise button with T9s BB manwhore calls. I’ll talk about the minraise later if I have time. Flop T43 with one of my suit he checks I make some normal bet of 238 and then he goes all-in for 3547! I think it over a bit and call, he has the ol’ Q9o, it is amazing what people will do when you play wild! My friend Ethan aka Remmy3 who is one of the most unique players out there recently told me he will make what appears to be a mistake from time to time if it will get his opponents to make more mistakes against him…which kind of sums up a lot of high level poker theory…anyways when you play like a nit people don’t make as many mistakes against you. Sadly this mistake is rewarded as a jack and a king come off to give him a straight.

Rdcrsn raises hijack to 200 I make it 560 cutoff manwhore flatcalls in SB then Rdcrsn shoves for over 4k I instafold as does manwhore.

Minraise 87dd (getting a ton of suited connectors which us cashgamers loves so much) manwhore calls on button lilfishy calls in BB. Flop K84 one diamond two spades BB checks I bet 60% pot manwhore calls BB calls. Turn 8 BB checks I think forever and check manwhore checks. River As BB checks I think forever and check manwhore checks his JTo? BB has KJs I win. Interesting decisions on turn and river there.

Minraise AQs UTG BB rdcrsn calls. Flop K76 two clubs rd checks I bet something standard he calls. Turn 3 he checks and so do I…just kind of felt like he had a king here…river 2 he checks and so do I. He wins with J7s.

2nd pos raises I call with 88 on button. Flop Q82 two hearts he bets big I quickly raise a little less than 3x and he instamucks.

50-100

Minraise 98o cutoff both blinds call. 987r checked to me I bet 500 into 600 they both fold…VERY interesting if I get checkraised there.

Greg_Chimp a veteran raises early I call with 97s AlexandraPaul calls on button. Flop JT2 two clubs (I have spades) Chimp checks I am hoping both he and Paul missed so I bet a little more than half pot (572). Paul folds but Chimp calls. Turn 8c (my god I am hitting some hands today!) Chimp checks I bet 1342 Chimp calls. River 6h Chimp checks I bet 3333 Chimp calls with AJ and with that pot, ladies and gentlemen, GnightMoon is your chipleader!

Fold A3s second pos.

Fold QJo UTG.

Chimp raises button I call in BB with QJo. Flop Q42 two clubs I check Chimp bets I make a small raise gonna go with it (he isn’t that deep) he folds.

UTG raises I fold A3s in SB.

We went back to back Vines to start…feeling the need to keep things Australian and high energy I put on Runnin’ Wild from the young Australian band Airbourne…think early AC/DC.

60-120

Minraise button 66 they fold.

Minraise hijack T7s they fold.

Minraise next hand QQ guy to my left makes it 640 I jam he calls 4k more with AA and wins. Just think, normally that pot would have crippled me!

Raise 87s UTG all fold.

AlexPaul limps UTG Chimp makes a raise to 440 I have 97s on button…but Chimp is down to around 5k…I decide to fold which is good cause the BB jams.

Fold Q7o cutoff.

80-160

Minraise A2s win uncontested.

Fold 53s EP next hand.

Minraise next hand 2nd pos KJo guy to my left (who I doubled with QQ vs AA) reraises 3x Chimp calls allin I think about getting better than 3:1 and fold. Reraiser has KK and loses to Chimp’s AJs.

Alexandra raises rdcrsn calls in SB I get 33 again and call in BB. Flop A92 rd checks I check AP bets (I know AP will always bet here with no pair) rd calls I fold.

Minraise A9o button they fold.

Rd raises cutoff I call on button with 64s. Flop KK6 he checks I decide to check. Turn 3 he checks I bet less than half pot he folds. And I thought I was weak...he has good results though.

Fold K9o MP.

Next hand raise K9s guy to my left reraises again (he has shown AA and KK when doing this) I fold.

AP raises rd calls I fold Q9o BB flop Q94.

100-200

So this guy psutennis (who I reraised with T8s before making a straight) has been fairly tight and opens to 525 with 4k behind from the hijack. I have ATo in the SB. What’s the play? Y’all already know I folded, but what’s the play?

Same guy raises next hand I fold A2s on button.

Fold 32s cutoff.

Minraise 44 next hand win.

Minraise JJ next hand lilfishy calls in BB. Flop 543 two clubs he checks I bet 616 into 900 he calls. Turn 9s he checks I bet 1400 he calls. River Qh he checks I bet 3019 he folds.

Fold A5o 3rd pos next hand.

Napoleon drops in and boots up my second laptop to play a sesh beside me. This is good news as the Buffalo alone prolly wouldn’t be enough to get me through this tournament.

Fold 87o second pos.

Tennis raises and again I fold a medium ace in the SB.

Fold 85o cutoff.

120-240-25

Raise first hand after the break K4s EP AlexP reraises I muck.

Raise next hand KQo a guy named rewired calls. Flop J92 two spades I bet 60% pot he calls. Turn 7h I bet a little less than 2/3 pot he folds.

Lilfishy raises MP I have JTo this is the weekly “I think about reraising but fold” hand.

Next hand raise (by the way every open is a minraise for me right now) button K8o win.

Raise next hand 64o button calls AP makes a huge shove I fold of course.

Raise next hand 75s win.

Rd raises next hand I fold A6s rd takes out a guy with aces against queens.

Fold J7s second pos.

Lilfishy raises on an 8k stack I fold 65o button.

Raise KJo cutoff button calls AP calls in BB. Flop QQ9 checked around. Turn 8 AP bets pretty big I fold.

140-280-25

Raise J8s 3rd pos win uncontested.

Fold 64s next hand.

Fishy makes it about 700 LP psutennis makes it about 2k from the button I jam from the BB with AK. PSU tanks a long time and then calls 9300 more with jacks and I lose the flip.

BB has 4k behind folds to me in SB where I have K3o I jam he calls with AJs I river a 3 and win…I am supposed to jam there right?

Small blind is missing folds to me on button I minraise J2o and AP reraises…kind of regret that I opened that one.

Raise 99 and the button flatcalls on a shortstack…right away I tell Nappy this smells like aces…the flop comes 773 I bet a small 800 and he moves in for 2100 more…this is the most obvious aces ever…yet I still find a call and he has aces…thoughts?

Stack at 10k which is about avg…

Fold KTs UTG missing SB.

PSU raises a little less than 3x on the button I defend BB with K5s. Flop J73 two spades I have clubs I check and fold.

Rocking the newest Queens of the Stone Age Era Vulgaris now. About as hard as I can handle but very very good.

Guy I doubled against the obvious AA raises I fold JTo in SB.

Raise button with tens TIMEX calls in BB. Board of A42J7 is checked all the way down and he wins with two pair A4.

170-340-25

8465 chips

Lilfishy raises to 805 and I fold Q9s on the button.

CzarBushov (new to table) raises to 804 and I have AQo two behind him…I was discussing this player (Chris Bush) with a friend recently who told me he was rather sung…I reraise to 2k thinking I will probably fold and keep my last 6k if he or someone behind me jams. Everyone folds.

Czar raises an orbit later and I fold QJo on button.

Raise K7s hijack BB calls. Flop A86 one of my suit he checks I bet a little more than half pot he tanks into the bank and then surprisingly folds. Usually bad news when you are bluffing and they go into the bank.

Raise KTo MP AP calls and then PSU puts in a big reraise from the BB. I fold.

200-400-50

PSU (who has 25k) makes it about 1k in 2nd pos and I have 22 and 8400 in MP…this one is close right? I end up folding – he doesn’t open a ton of hands and has already shown he won’t fold in a marginal spot preflop.

Fold 85s UTG.

Bush (who has been very active this round but I think with hands) raises hijack and I fold A2s on button with 7700.

This is a bad time to be GnightMoon as I can’t pick up a hand and rdcrsn who is very short is shoving if folded to.

Rd goes broke.

250-500-50

Fold A6o 3rd pos.

Fold A7o next hand.

Fold A8s UTG next hand.

Bmf823 aka Ben Fineman who has one of the best blogs in poker (which I especially enjoy now cause I love reading about the downswings of others) sits down to my right on a similar stack.

Interesting hand comes up as Czar open-limps from the cutoff on an 18k stack with three short stacks behind him. I have T6o in the SB and end up calling 250 more getting over 5-1. BB checks. Flop comes A54 two spades we check to Czar and he bets half the pot...very likely with nothing…obvious float here but I only have 6300 to work with…I fold.

Folds to me on button I fold Q2o.

Fold A6o MP on 6k…hand a little bit too weak and stack a little bit too big to shove.

Fold A5o 2nd pos a couple hands later.

Fold JTo UTG next hand. Blinds about to go up.

Folds to Fineman in SB who jams me in of course with 5300 behind. I fold J6o laughing about an old “all I need is a medium jack” joke spawned at the Borgata involving Matt Viox.

103 left I am in 101st 36 get paid…now this is territory I am used to!

300-600-75

5k in chips.

Put on the short stack anthem “It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over” by Lenny Kravitz, which gamblegambel and BlueFlare used to laugh about. We are playing songs now no longer albums as the ETB (expected time of bustout) is rather expeditious now.

Fineman open-shoves for 8800 I call all-in with AKs and river an ace to beat his 77. His bad luck continues. But he does double up flopping a flush the next hand on a desperation shove…but then busts the next hand. Hang in there man.

TIMEX raises 2.5x EP. No small blind. I call in BB with KQ spades looking to flop pair or draw and check-jam allin. Flop 776 two hearts I check he bets I fold.

Folds to me on button I have 8800 and JTo. TIMEX has 11k in BB and SB has 8k. I think about minraising or even limping but decide to put these guys tournaments at stake and jam. TIMEX tanks into the bank but folds.

“Love is Blue” by Paul Mauriat. Some of the best music you can listen to while playing poker.



Minraise KJo and TIMEX (on a short stack) flatcalls from the cutoff. Rather strange. Flop 952 I check he checks. Not sure what is going on here yet. Turn 6 I am really confused and check, he checks again. Still trying to figure out what he has. River 8 I think the best way for me to win this pot is the old value-bet bluff of 1/3 of the pot, but now I am pretty sure he has A high and he is a math guy if I remember right from the pokerroad interview. I feel like I might get looked up here by A high and check, he checks and wins with an unexpected AQ that weirdly flatted preflop.

400-800-100

8500 chips.

S Gromenkova who literally has not played a hand since sitting down half an hour ago shoves for 8200 in second position. I have KQs in SB and fold instead of calling all-in so I am down to about 7k after paying the blinds.

This is ugly shove poker now as most of the table is short stacks with one big stack (PSU).

PSU raises UTG and I fold A3o with 7k.

An orbit passes no chance whatsoever down to 5300.

PSU raises to 2k and I fold QTs on the button with 5300.

Buy a round with T5o from the hijack when it is finally folded to me. Next hand it is folded to me again and I fold 85o on 7200.

Next hand DJ_Ponytale raises early on a short stack, I jam with jacks, he calls with tens and I win. 16k with blinds approaching.

Folds to me I fold 42o in SB with a decent-sized stack in the BB.

Minraise T9o from the cutoff sadly S Gromenkova jams from the BB and I fold.

Next hand felt I would look strong with a raise so I jack it up with J4o but Timex shoves and I fold again.

500-1000-125

Minraise 2nd pos AJo on 10k stack they all fold.

Next hand minraise ATo UTG they all fold again.

66 left I have 14k 36 get paid avg is 29k.

Fold 75o cutoff.

I boot up the table of imabigkidnow as he is is one of the leaders (albeit with less than 50 BB). He is one of the most intimidating and entertaining big-stack players.

Administer another walk with 85o and 11.5k stack.

Next hand a new big stack Jagz7 raises 2.5x fairly early I jam with AJ he folds.

American Idiot from Green Day probably the best popular rock album of this decade.

Raise ATo cutoff everyone folds.

Raise next hand KQo button calls as does Jagz from the BB. Flop A97 BB checks I check button bets it Jagz folds I fold.

TIMEX jams UTG for 15k he has me barely covered I am in the small blind with AQo. Felt like this one was very, very close and eventually called it off. Lost to his jacks.

So overall thought my play was much better this week and I started to turn a corner but you be the judge.