Monday Night

I played the 1k Monday the week Full Tilt had double guarantees, but other than that I haven’t played it since the summer. There was Monday Night Football, and now I am sort of on a volleyball team that plays Monday nights. Tonight they didn’t need me so I decided to play the 1k Monday and blog about as I used to. I am hesitant to write down all my hands since I am playing so much poker now, and my competitors on the circuit can find my blog and see how I play. But I feel bad because all the times I blogged it as I played, I don’t think I cashed once! It was mostly just me writing down bad plays and bad beats. Imagine if I had been blogging the night I won it. That would have been the most exciting post in Bad Moon Rising history.

10-20
5000

Table has a bunch of players I recognize. Phat_cat1 who is really good on my left. LEADBOOTS across the table. Amak316, Amit Makhija, one of the best, is across the table. Regulars Wu_Wizard and YrrsiN are to my right and a player named DeMaci who I imagine is this guy Christopher DeMaci I played with in the money in a $1500 WSOP event is on my right.

Amak is a 3-betting, squeezing type player, the type of player I will probably never be, but I am still excited to play with him to see the spots he picks and how he maneuvers.

YrrsiN raises to 60 DeMaci calls on the button I make it 240 from the SB with T8s YrrsiN folds DeMaci calls. Flop JT2 rainbow one heart I check he bets 300 into 560 I call. Turn 9c two clubs I check he bets 800 into 1160 I tank and fold.

Raise JTo on button BB makes a 3x raise I call. Flop Q43 he checks I check. Turn 4 he bets half pot I fold.

Raise 44 BB LEADBOOTS calls. Flop Js7s5c check-check. Turn 8s he fires a healthy bet I do have a spade but fold.

Next hand I raise K5s from MP all fold.

Next hand I limp 55 phat_cat1 makes it 100 I call. Flop KT7 I check/fold.

Next hand I raise 64s UTG all fold.

I am looking like the fish at the table here I have played 6 of the first 9 hands and siphoned off some chips.

Raise T9o on button win uncontested.

15-30

No music tonight. Got Big Monday college basketball on in the background.

LEADBOOTS 3xs UTG I call with 87o from the cutoff. Flop A86 he bets something standard I call. Turn T he checks I bet less than half pot he folds.

Next hand raise AQo hijack all fold.

Next two hands I fold K5s and K6s in unopened pots from middle position. Then fold JTo in second position and 98o UTG.

20-40

Fold a bunch of crap including T7s UTG.

Texas has an early lead on Kansas. I went to the Kansas game at Coors Events Center last week, a heartbreaking OT loss for the Buffaloes. Kansas started the game hot but looked very mediocre for the final 30 minutes. Bottom line, I will not be picking the Jayhawks (or any Big XII team) to make much of a run in the NCAAs. I think I am gonna end up picking Kentucky to go the distance, with Syracuse runner-up.

3x T8o in the SB phatcat calls. Flop AJ9 two diamonds I bet a little more than half pot he folds.

Next hand DeMaci raises to 120 from the cutoff I make it 360 on the button with K4s he folds.

25-50

Fold K9o EP.

Raise two red aces UTG phatcat calls in second position. Flop Kh4h2s I bet 234 he makes it 687. I think for a while about raising, knowing I can confidently throw it away if he shoves, then decide to call. Turn Jh I check he checks. River 8s I bet 500 into 1700 hoping to get a call from AK or KQ he tanks a while and just calls with a set of fours. Clearly that sucked but the damage was mitigated.

Raise 88 from the cutoff the Brazilian in the SB calls. Flop KcQc6 check check. Turn 3 check check. River 2c he checks I bet 200 he folds.

Wu_Wizard raises UTG I call with two fours. Flop 733 he bets and I fold.

Next hand raise QJo from third position all fold.

30-60

Kansas is on a ridiculous run here it is now 30-14 Jayhawks. I am always fantasizing about a 16 seed beating a 1 thinking maybe this could be the year with Bill Self coaching a Jayhawks team lacking a true superstar and Syracuse having lost to some D-II team or something in November.

YrrsiN, fresh off losing a pot to Amak, raises the hijack and I fold T9o from the button.

During the break I go downstairs and watch a hand from the WPT Bellagio Cup that just aired on my DVR. I am about halfway through what I believe is three hours of coverage of a table consisting of Erik Seidel, Faraz Jaka, Alex Gomes, Alec Torelli, Justin Smith, and some Scandinavian. It might be the best WPT I have ever seen. Seidel gets owned about five times, Jaka plays his big stack really well, Torelli and Smith throw in some interesting plays, and Gomes plays about as well as anyone can play poker, picking up several pots with nothing while completely card-dead. I just watched the hand where Gomes doubles through Jaka with flush over flush to become the chipleader and thought about how wonderful he must have felt at that moment. He scrapped and clawed and fought and then was rewarded with a huge risk-free double and went on to win the tournament.

YrrsiN raises I fold 63s in position.

Raise J3s on the button the BB Brazilian calls. Flop 532 he checks I bet he calls. Turn 8s second spade he now leads out 2/3 pot this is about the bluffiest thing I’ve ever seen I call. River 5 he thinks about bluffing again I would have instacalled but he checks I check he has KTs hey that’s MY hand I win.

40-80

Next hand fold K2s cutoff.

Next hand I get red aces again and raise. Brazilian calls from the button and LEADBOOTS calls from the big. Flop K75 rainbow Boots checks I elect to check Brazilian bets pretty big Boots folds I raise about 3x which is a third of my stack Brazilian folds pretty quickly.

Very next hand I get kings amazingly and raise. Ryanbluf calls from the button. Flop is A95 all spades (I have Ks) and it goes check/check. Turn Qs giving me the nuts I bet something bland and he calls. River Kd I bet 800 into 1200 and he folds.

Two hands later I limp 33 EP and LEADBOOTS raises just 3x from LP. I call. Flop K72 two hearts I check he bets I actually think about calling. It is just so easy for him to have no pair here but I fold.

Amak opens for 2.5x and I defend the BB with J9 clubs. Flop K64 all diamonds I check/fold.

Next hand Ryanbluf raises 3x from EP and I make a spewy call in the SB with T8dd. Flop K54 two spades one diamond I check he bets standard I really thought about raising here as it is so rare for him to have a king or better here but it was a little hard for me to have a hand also so I folded.

Next hand Amak opened MP to 200 I call with AJs on the button then the Brazilian makes it 640 from the BB and Amak calls. I decide this is not a fun spot for AJs and 50 BBs so I fold.

50-100

Wu_Wizard opens LP I call in the SB with AJ. Flop KJ8 two hearts one diamond check-check. Turn 6d I fire 2/3 pot he folds.

Raise AJ MP all fold.

I open 65s to 300 in SB phatcat calls. Flop Kc6c3d check/check. Turn 2s I bet 382 into 600 he calls. River 6 I bet 1000 into 1364 he calls with K7.

Over the last year or so of tournament poker I have almost always been limping the SB when it folds to me, but I think I am going to change that up and raise hands like that 65s against opponents that aren’t super psychotic preflop. It opens up more opportunities postflop if you learn how to bluff and slowly I think I might be learning how to bluff though clearly it doesn’t come naturally.

60-120

Raise KQs all fold.

Wu raises LP smallish I call in BB with 98o. Flop K65 rainbow I check he checks but it is unclear if he checked or just timed out. Turn T I check he bets 360 I make it 999 he calls. River 2 check-check he wins with KQo.

Minraise cutoff with 3c3h Brazilian calls in SB. Flop Ts9s2d check/check. Turn 6s he fires big I fold.

Fold 98o hijack next hand.

YrrsiN minraises I call AQhh ryanbluf calls on button. Flop AdKc8d checked around. Turn Jh checked around. River 4 Yrr checks I fire a little less than 2/3 pot both fold.

Fold A8s second pos.

I was thinking about the Saints today, thinking about them from a poker tournament perspective. I know some very good players who generally play tight and aim to make one big move a day playing the big multi-day events. I was thinking about how the Saints showed such patience, such restraint yesterday against that cover-2 defense. It would have been so easy to panic down 10-0 against the Colts, but they didn’t – they just kept grinding. All season long the Saints made these huge plays, but yesterday the Colts didn’t give them anything deep so they just kept chipping away and got back in the game thanks to clock management and Garrett Hartley. Then they made their one big move, the onside kick, and fortunately it worked out.

On a related note, Drew Brees is basically the most likable player in the league. His career has more or less been a perfect crescendo, culminating in yesterday's Super Bowl MVP. I have thought a lot about this and I think the perfect life scenario is how it has gone for Drew Brees, which is even more satisfying than the career arc of a Brett Favre or a Tom Brady. And I do believe that life, or my poker career, is set up for this sort of arc. I do believe I am poised. But first I need to play a little better. Drew Brees plays just about perfect.

Amak raises Wu calls I fold A5o in BB.

80-160

Amak raises I fold Q9o button.

Raise AJ second pos all fold.

DeMaci who has been quiet raises the button I fold K7s in SB.

Ryanbluf raises UTG DeMaci three-bets I fold 77 on the button.

Fold J7s MP.

Raise 98s win the blinds. Table is playing real tight. Everyone just stalling around waiting for the antes and bigger blinds not putting chips out there this tends to happen in the 1k Monday.

Amak open-limps which surprises me I didn’t know he did that. Then after he loses the pot to a ryanbluf checkraise on QQ6

amak316: heh misclick pre =(

100-200

Open fold 33 in third position.

Fold KTo each of the next two hands.

Limp K2s in SB phatcat has gotten short board of A748J is checked down I beat his 62.

Amak raises to 500 I call on the button with T9 clubs. Flop J87 rainbow not too bad he bets 775 into 1300 I just call. Turn 6 second heart he checks I bet 1679 leaving myself with 3000 he jams I call of course. He has QQ and is drawing dead. Double up.

Fold A5o cutoff next hand.

I raise A9s to 479 from the hijack phatcat shoves for 2800 right behind me I fold.

Next hand raise T9s all fold.

Next hand find A9s again and raise. This time it is Amak that jams from the SB for 3700 that is not a bet I can call.

Fold T7s UTG.

120-240-25

Phatcat has 3500 in the BB I have J9o in the SB. What do you do? I limp and the board of K88K6 is checked down and I win vs 47.

Limp QTo from the cutoff phatcat folds the button and the Brazilian folds the SB. Ryanbluf checks the KK9 flop and I check. Turn 9 check-check. River J he checks I bet a little more than half pot and he calls with A4. That hand had a lot of different possible permutations.

Wu opens from the cutoff I 3x from the big with AK he 4-bets half his stack. There is kind of this running joke that I get 4-bet every time I reraise someone in a tournament, whether I have it or not. Honestly it is just kind of ridiculous. I hardly ever reraise yet seemingly every time they come right back over the top. My timing is just laughably bad. This time I stick it in, he has AQs, and for once this scenario develops like it’s “supposed to” and I win the big pot and vault into the top ten with 20k in my stack.

Folds to me in the hijack and I fold KJo! Honestly I don’t know if I’ve folded this hand in this position in an unopened pot in no limit hold em in years, literally. But I looked to my left and it was nothing but shove stacks and they were big enough to get me to fold.

Fold A9o second position.

140-280-25

DeMaci opens from the cutoff and I fold 55 on the button. What the heck is going on here? Both blinds had shove stacks and DeMaci didn’t really have enough for me to setmine. BOTH blinds shove, DeMaci folds, phatcat has 77 Brazilian has AK board comes 5337x.

DeMaci raises I fold Q9s someone shoves behind DeMaci busts his A9s with AK.

Raise pocket sixes to 618. Table has gotten shorthanded with these bustouts. Ryanbluf on the button makes it 1789 with 6543 behind. This could definitely be a move and a shove on my part might be profitable here but I lay it down.

Cutoff who is new to the table 3x raises I fold A9o in the SB.

Same guy now minraises on a 9500 stack I think for a while from the cutoff with AQs and end up cold-calling. Phatcat then tanks into his timebank and calls as well on a shortish stack. Flop is T98 all hearts obviously not what I was looking for first guy bets pot we fold.

Same guy minraises the next hand UTG to 560 I make it 1511 in third position with ATo folds back to him and he calls. Flop is AcKc9 and he leads out for a little less than a third of the pot. I call. Turn 3 check check. River Q he bets like 10% pot I call he has KJ spades I win image not good.

170-340-25

Fold K8o cutoff.

Try to open a pot from the hijack with QJs but hafizzle who is new to the table raises a quarter of his stack on the button and ryanbluf jams from the SB. I fold and hafizzle eventually calls it off with a pair of eights. You cannot get these tourney donks off a pair of eights, nines, or tens preflop with an uninvested four-bet, an invested five-bet, a steel pole, a stick of dynamite, or the Ebola Virus.

Amak busts out to the guy who called my reraise with KJs. Good news.

That KJs guy raises 3x on the button and I elect to call with 53 of diamonds in the BB. He has chips and doesn’t appear to play well. Flop AdQd5s I check and he bets half pot. I can play a smaller pot here – this guy probably won’t fold an ace. But I raise gigantic, he turbo-ships and I can’t outrun his AQ in a 30k pot. Knocked down to 6k.

Next hand there is a MP raise to 800 and I make an unorthodox call with KQ in the SB. Flop Q97 I check he bets half pot I jam and he folds.

200-400-50

Next hand DeMaci raises the cutoff to 921 and I ship 8452 on the button with pocket threes. He calls with AQ and again I can’t win the race.