So Close Yet So Far

#1 24th June 2006, 7:07 AM

216 players........NL Hold Em..........1st and 2nd win entry into the WSOP main event with $2k travel money and the fortunate player to knock-out poker professional Tony G. gets the 3rd prize........
For those that wonder who Tony G is ..........he is the guy that wreaked table chat havoc on the WPT. Anyway he is a very aggressive player and likes to put people to the test often and usually with the best hand even if only a marginal favorite.
This game was played at Doyles Room, which isn't one of my favorite sites as I have never seemed to get anything to go my way there.
Now the play........Tony is UTG and leads out with a modest preflop bet of $140 with the blinds at 20/40.
It is folded to me in late position with AQ spades. I smooth call.
This is about 15 hands into the tourny and the table has shyed away from most of any hands he has played except me and one other player, but at this point Tony has me chipped by a couple hunny. KEEP IN MIND TAKING OUT TONY WINS A SEAT.
The button and sb fold leaving me and the pro head to head with 300 in the pot.
The flop comes Js Th 6s. I now have a gut draw to the broadway and the nut flush draw with position. He delays for a couple secs then goes all in with his 2k in chips. I have about 1400 (due to a donkish play the previous hand).
Remembering who he is and having some experience of him from playing at poker champs earlier this year coupled with the hands I saw him play on TV as well as what I maintain while tracking stats and players in the articles. (surprising that a boozy mutt like me actually does have memory) I told myself that if I had an opportunity to go big in a hand with him during this tourny I would and here the situation was right off the bat in this game.
I figured he may have AK or something lame like AT with the light preflop bet, because a guy like that goes big with a modest pair preflop in that position. That for me ruled out a set. Then I figured although hoping it wasn't the case that if he had AK at worst I was in a race 44% vs his 54% with a shot at a tie at whatever it is 4 or 5%. If he had AT the I was drawing ugly with the 9 outs to the flush and 3 outs for the Qs. I didn't even think about AJ as I figured he would make and action bet with Top pair Top kick and test if I smooth called with KK or QQ.
This may seem like I have reanalyzed this play and am justifying, but if that is what you think then there it it is. This is honestly the way I approach everyhand I play save the ones I'm wasted or just don't care on.
My head swims with so much dirty water as I wade through the questions that sometimes I feel like I just carried a freakin 2 ton boulder up a hill dragging a trailer on foot after playing a tourny sometimes.
If I had to play it again I would have reraised preflop and looked for an all in , standard reraise , or the quick smooth call and tried to gauge how vulnerable my AQ was. There is my post hand "what could I have done different".
I put him on AK or AT hoping his massive overbet was a protective bet or a test of my willingness to go (him still having over cards and a gut draw). I made the call and the turn was a blank and the river gave me my Q but that filled his broadway and he chipslapped me out of the tourny.

I made the call figuring that if my gamble paid off I would have crippled him and would have had a big enough stack to force him any hand he played after that with a chance of winning the seat.
I may have just donked it up, I am sure the on-line poker superpros that read this will let me know, but what would you have done?
Anyway I now have to take my low-budget no card catching arse off and look for a new brokeman's way to the wsop.

#2 24th June 2006, 8:52 AM

I'm sorry....that guy's a beast.

#3 24th June 2006, 1:16 PM

I wouldn't want to sit at a live table with him. I might be inclined to split his wig, but at the table he was actually personable and relaxed as far as the BS goes.

The only arrogant thing he said was "Play Well people I'm bringing my A game" which isn't all that bad but consider the source.......

Another thing to consider is I wasn't around very long after making that donkey play......

Now that I reflect a little more.........it was a little too early to take that kind of risk with the reward that big and the field that small........

#4 24th June 2006, 2:23 PM

what did he have? i missed it

#5 24th June 2006, 4:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KerouacsDog

what did he have? i missed it

Tony G had AK, so he led the entire time and got a straight on the river.

#6 25th June 2006, 3:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipslap u

KEEP IN MIND TAKING OUT TONY WINS A SEAT.

Good play.
I would make that play every time in this situation.

#7 25th June 2006, 4:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish

Good play.
I would make that play every time in this situation.

But Tony G had him covered. All he would have done was cripple him. He wouldn't have actually won the seat on this hand. It's conceivable that he could have done the dirty work and someone else could get AA or flop a flush the next hand and get the actual seat.

#8 25th June 2006, 4:47 AM

Well my motivation was fueled by a couple things......if I had hit that draw any hand he played I would have attacked with any 2cards I held.........and I also really wanted to talk trash and use his quotes on him "You got to have balls man, I'm going to break you so hard man" oh the pleasure of rubbing that in his face would have been almost as satisfying as winning the seat.......

Also I'm such a low limit monkey grinding and penny pinching my way around in games an oppertunity like that is very rare....

Sometimes when life leaves a door unlocked you gotta open it up and see what's on the other side......sometimes it's bad bad juju and the door hits ya where your God split ya on the way out..........but then there's those time you find some treasure.......

I approached the hand wrong from the beginning.......but with this guy's style and I have had experiences with him before at poker champs I wasn't going to let him walk over me......

Mathmatically it was a terrible play, but really how many times is a cheeky scrub like me going to get that chance.....

#9 25th June 2006, 4:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipslap u

if I had hit that draw any hand he played I would have attacked with any 2cards I held

Again, that wouldn't prevent someone else from getting AA and getting into a 3 way pot and actually eliminate him for the seat.

But I do understand where you are coming from. And I suppose it would have been nice to rub it in his face. But you also could have done that later with a much better hand.

Oh well, you took a shot and it didn't work out. Maybe next time!

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