Friday night at Mo Sun was a disaster.
I'll let that phrase marinate for a second. Ive documented on here how I've been pissing money away on table games the last few times Ive went to the casino, mainly because I like to gamble and secondly because I had some reservations about playing live poker again.
Well thanks to various people (not limited to but including HoP)I've kicked the table games habit and headed right for the poker room Friday night determined to build my bankroll.
Everything started out fine, no nerves, and I splashed around early. The table was about 6 regs/decent players with 3 absolute fish. I bought in for $120 just to get a feel for the able before I dump all my money in. And it worked until this particular hand....
Im in seat 10 and UTG, I haven't raised pre-flop yet so when Ip ick up 8-8 I figure I can go here. Standard raise was to 12 and I caught only one caller, seat 1.
Flop comes down J-9-J
Figure this is a fairly decent flop for me givin my table image (tight pre, loose post)and the caller being a guy who can find a fold.
I throw out a $20 bet, and seat 1 calls.
Turn A
Heres my thinking, if the dude is calling with a naked Ace on the flop and thinks im continuing the bet with A-K/A-Q he'd smooth call the flop to see what develops on the turn. When the Ace comes out I figure my best chance for a fold here is put a decent sized bet on the turn to show that the A probably hit me good and any lesser Ace is walking into a trap. If he has the J here, im expecting a re-raise. So I put a $50 bet out into a pot of $80ish, and to my surprise the guy again just calls. Im perplexed by this move. J would probably raise here because I've stated I like my hand. A call here pretty much telegraphs I'm beat.
River is a Xx
I check. I can only beat a rediculous bluff and 2 calls from this guy pretty much says he has a hand.
Expecting a betI am confused when seat 1 checks behind. He flips up A-9 for aces up and I muck.
Basically the rest of my night was summed up by my worst mistake. I had K-K and raised preflop and caught one caller, the rock of the table.
Flop was all undercards, and I bet at it and rock called. This is where the bells should have been going off, but I was blinded by something. Turn was still an undercard and I bet again, this time the rock pops me from 60 to 200. And inside I should be screaming to let this hand go, but like an idiot I call off half of my stack in front of me. I ran into a set of tens which turned into quads on the river. Even the biggest of idiots could have seen that coming, yet I was caught up in the moment and didnt put on the brakes to think.
In the end I ended up down to full buy-ins and obliterated my bankroll. And all I can do is shake my head as I think of that stupid play...
In other news, blogger Jordan asked me to write a small tour guide for Bethlehem, PA since that seems to be the eventual destination of a bunch of poker playing New Yorkers due to its 90 minute closeness to NYC.
Heres my write-up: Bethlehem
I only hope I did Bethlehem proud. It still is so amazing to me a casino got built there, if you had asked me 10 years ago if I thought they would ever get a casino I would have laughed. The place is an insanely religious area and have had some close friends turned into cult-like followers (not an exaggeration, and no Im not anti-religion) the protests that took place during the Sands opening actually surprised me that they weren't bigger.
Well now at least when I go home to visit my fam, I have a place to crash when the hotel opens and play some poker! Maybe even some Mid-Atlantic blogger gatherings.
Thanks again HoP for letting me guest write!
4 comments:
First hand your line is pretty standard.. just bad spot to do it in.. results were bad but I would play it that way everytime and assume you win a fair share. I did that exact thing last night and the guy folded on the turn.
Sorry about your losing session. It's one of my mantras, in fact, it is the HoP #1 Rule of Poker, so excuse me if you've read this from me before, but:
#1 Rule of Poker: When you know you are behind, fold.
Now, I always throw on the disclaimer that this does not include when you have lots of draws and are temporarily behind. It's simply a reminder to myself that when I think I've lost a hand, FOLD. It's amazing how many times I'd think I was beat but would call. How about when people say, "I know you got me, but...I call." It's as though our brains can figure it out, but our hands can't help but push our chips in. So, when you know you are behind, fold. It's so stupid that it bears repeating.
Also, thanks for your contribution about Bethlehem.
Well, I grew up in Bethlehem, and it too surprises me that there's now a casino there--and a nice one, at that (and the one time I was in it, it was busier and more alive than any AC casino I've seen--and that's just with slots).
But I wouldn't call Bethlehem "insanely religious." There are people serious about their faith there, but, there are everywhere. The protests against the Sands were done by a ministry, but, it was a ministry to the poor, and their objections were they believed it was "predatory" against the sorts of people they normally help. (I disagree with them, but, clearly their reasons weren't necessarily 'religious,' not any more than those screaming NIMBYs getting arrested every week out in front of the Sugarhouse in Philly.)
It still surprises me that the Sands is there, though, because I would call Bethlehem very traditional, with a lot of pride about its 'heritage.' It has pretty steadily resisted change, at least, that's how it always seemed to me. It also never had any time for anything whimsical, and I can't imagine anything more "frivolous" than a casino. Plus, it's rather xenophobic, with a constant paranoia about New Yorkers invading their space.
And, it's pretty much a dump. So I had to keep reminding myself when I was in the Sands that this was right in the middle of the south side, the dumpiest part of the dump. I still can't believe something that nice is in Bethlehem. I still think "building a casino" is the rust-belt cop-out for urban renewal and shows a lack of true vision for building a sustainable 21st century economy, but at least Bethlehem built a nice one. (Compared, to, say, Penn National's, the only other PA casino I've been in, which feels like a Home Depot with slot machines.)
I do hope to hit it again once table games are running, which can't happen fast enough, as I'd love to have nearby alternatives to that overpriced hellhole AC. So maybe I'll see you there.
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