POTD #81 Monte Carlo Monday: I Get Lost in a Three Bet Pot vs Jason Koon

I bluff with a nut blocker and make my flush. What should I do?

Today we have another Monte Carlo Monday memory failure. I thought this hand was played in 2024, but then realized it was played vs. Jason Koon, who was playing the PokerStars Big Game and showed up late for Triton Monaco 2024, which means it had to have been a 2023 hand. You’d think recalling all these old hands would improve my memory, but instead, I feel I am overstuffing my memory and all of my memories are getting mixed together. Oh well. Do you know what another area of poker is where trying to stuff your brain with tons of information might sharpen your cognitive abilities or might turn your brain into a soupy morass of random facts that you can’t access or use efficiently? Remembering unconventional solver plays.

In private coaching, I am often asked about odd nodes. What are good boards to lead from the BB? How often should I three-bet the flop? My general advice is, don’t focus on these unusual plays. Poker is hard enough; you should master simple poker before you focus on how to best go down obscure lines. However, if you want to play versus the best poker players in the world, you do need to learn about these odd nodes. Edges are small enough that any time you find an unusual play that your world-class opponent is not prepared for and execute that strategy well, it can be a big money maker for you. Additionally, when you play against the best in the world, even if you want to play simple poker, you will inevitably be forced to play complex poker. You cannot always dictate the line you go down, so it helps to know how to play complex lines both as the initiator and as the responder. In today’s hand, I play a three-bet pot vs. one of the best in the world and try out a play that I didn’t fully know how to execute and cost myself some value.

HH: Triton App
Triton Monaco 2023 Event #7 $30k NLHE Level 1
(SB/BB/BBA) (500/1k/1kk) 200k Starting Stack

Sam (208k) raises the LJ to 2.5k with A♠️Q♣️, Jason Koon (220k) three bets the CO to 8.5k, it folds back to me and I call

Flop (20k) 8♦️8♠️6♠️: I check, Jason bets 10k, I call

Turn (40k) 2♠️: I lead 25k, Jason calls

River (90k) 9♠️ : I check, Jason checks and I win.