Live Play Question

I was watching one of the final table sunday million replays on pokerstars.tv, and it seemed like almost every hand was mucked preflop - the pattern seemed to be that someone would raise, and everyone would throw away anything they were holding, even a lot of times when they were holding good cards.

I was wondering then, is this how final tables really play out in real life at the WSOP events, and then most of these actionless hands are edited out? Or is it just an online thing?

I think what you saw is exactly how final tables play out in "real life" versus on TV. You have to remember that a TV broadcast of a final table is usually a 2 hour show (thinking of ESPN WSOP broadcasts) of which there's only maybe 80 or 90 minutes of poker shown once you account for commercial time and the time spent with interviews, etc. Considering that a final table might take 10 to 12 hours to play out in real time, that means that at best they can show 1 out of every 9 or 10 hands. And those are always going to be the AK vs. pocket 10s race hands, big bluffs, etc., because those kinds of hands are the most entertaining. So you're definitely not going to see all the hands that are just preflop raise-and-take-its or where everyone folds to the big blind ("ground skinners" in Mike Sexton lingo). Really, the only poker show that shows just about every hand that's played is Poker After Dark on NBC.

having been in the gallery at the wsop and then watched on television i can tll you that is how it happens.

Well, I watched part of the EPT live final table on pokerstars and got to see that the preflop agressor wins the pot almost every hand. Good thing they edit the shows for ESPN because it got boring watching the EPT live final table where there are not only no card cams, but you never see anything either way because it goes into the muck preflop

Especially in a no-limit game, yeah this is pretty much the norm - live and online.

Look at any tournament where PokerNews has done hand-for-hand blogging of the final table, 90% of the pots are taken down preflop because there's a lot of money on the line and often people shy away from playing a big pot unless they've got a big hand.

In a limit game things will play a bit differently because the players don't have to worry about having their whole stack on the line if they get involved in a hand.

That's why these players are at that level. They don't play like freerollers hoping the river will help them. They take the gamble out and rely on skill. No special secret. Just discipline.

ya just cause the hand looks good doesnt mean it is they wont play JK in early pos cause they could be getting raised by bigger hand there are super tight , why would they risk playing a hand that they have low chance in winning ?

Not really! Watch the WSOP on TV and you will see,
that the players play nearly every hand, for example: 8s 6c, Jh 7c.....
If you can play such hands then it's ok....^^

when the blinds are so high, i think they fold just for that reason. i can say from my experience, that is what i do. you dont wanna riskso much money on a small hand. and when you do get that big hand you can go all in and steal blinds or just bust someone, or double up.

That is how the game is played at higher limits, even in a regular 100nl ring game most players would follow the pattern of folding 90% of all hands whilst out of position.

Another thing youl notice is that good players do not like to call either. They will usually raise or fold.

Erm... the WSOP* shows footage that's very heavily edited. This year's HORSE final table, for example, got shown in about 90 minutes of footage. But the final table when played live went for 14 hours.

You'll also notice that the button skips around the table in a non-sensical fashion and stack sizes don't necessarily reflect the result of the previous hand.

The way they cut those 14 hours down to 90 minutes is by cutting out all the boring stuff referred to in the OP.

(* and nearly every other poker show on TV. Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker show most, but not all, hands. Which is why Poker After Dark is so boring, for the most part.)