Michael Paler
Legend
Silver Level
Well, I always wait for the televised WPT events, so this is old news (last month).
The heads up match was just so crazy. I think Paul Volpe knows where his weakness lies.
Ok, this was live game amature vs plain old amature; so going into heads up it was looking good for Volpe. He had a decent chip lead and all that experience. I wasn't so optimistic, however; had you not told me he was one of the new "internet geniuses" I could have guessed. I thought he made a lot of horrible calls. Early in the game this loose aggressive style quickly cost him the chip lead position. Eventually, the willingness to just outright gamble cost him the title and all the first place money.
The first two hands brought yet another surprise; Klann has got a set of cojones! Knowing Volpe would want to play small pot poker and outplay him on the flop, he blunted this with sheer aggression preflop and postflop. In one early heads up hand, Klann (holding J4) just plain old ran over Volpe (J6) on a board that was highly coordinated (8J10 board, i think it was) by shoving to Volpes bet out with top pair. The pot would have been split. Volpe folded.
Then, Klann made his first mistake, which also proved his thesis: He limped in w AQ, allowing Volpe to check with 23. After hitting his deuce on the flop, Klann bet out his top pair (ace) for 800k. Volpe called, and the turn brought another 2 for trips. After checking, Klann bet out again, Volpe check-shoved, and Volpe insta called, giving him a HUGE chip advantage over Klann.
Then Volpe went loose-insane. I don't know how else to describe it! It was over in three hands.
First to act Volpe looks down at a 10-9 off, and shoves it preflop. All 8mil+. Not a good idea, as Klann had AJ on the button and gladly called with the short stack. No help for either player after 5 cards gave Klann his first double up, now putting him within a few mil of Volpe.
Next, if shoving once with a bad hand out of position doesn't work the first time, why not try it again, only in position? So, holding a K-10 Klann raises preflop a standard amount, Volpe looks down at J0 suited and decides to shove! Klann thinks about it a bit, and calls (K-10 is pretty good even against ace-x heads up). Again, no help after 5 cards now gives Klann the upper hand, and a very healthy chip lead that Volpe had held just two hands earlier.
Next, and last, hand (I think Volpe just gives up here after the horrible beating he had just sustained, maybe), he looks down at (again) 10-9 and shoves with it once more, out of position with a horrible hand. While Klann only held a measly Q-rag, he sure hadn't seen anything to indicate that Volpe had changed his mind and stopped the donkey lotto plays. So, he calls and that, as they say, is that. Klann takes it all.
So, what happened? Well, I don't think it would be unfair to say that maybe Volpe simply choked under the pressure of being on camera. Hey, the guy did not make the final table with the chip lead playing like he did once there. I think that much is obvious.
Then again, maybe not.
The heads up match was just so crazy. I think Paul Volpe knows where his weakness lies.
Ok, this was live game amature vs plain old amature; so going into heads up it was looking good for Volpe. He had a decent chip lead and all that experience. I wasn't so optimistic, however; had you not told me he was one of the new "internet geniuses" I could have guessed. I thought he made a lot of horrible calls. Early in the game this loose aggressive style quickly cost him the chip lead position. Eventually, the willingness to just outright gamble cost him the title and all the first place money.
The first two hands brought yet another surprise; Klann has got a set of cojones! Knowing Volpe would want to play small pot poker and outplay him on the flop, he blunted this with sheer aggression preflop and postflop. In one early heads up hand, Klann (holding J4) just plain old ran over Volpe (J6) on a board that was highly coordinated (8J10 board, i think it was) by shoving to Volpes bet out with top pair. The pot would have been split. Volpe folded.
Then, Klann made his first mistake, which also proved his thesis: He limped in w AQ, allowing Volpe to check with 23. After hitting his deuce on the flop, Klann bet out his top pair (ace) for 800k. Volpe called, and the turn brought another 2 for trips. After checking, Klann bet out again, Volpe check-shoved, and Volpe insta called, giving him a HUGE chip advantage over Klann.
Then Volpe went loose-insane. I don't know how else to describe it! It was over in three hands.
First to act Volpe looks down at a 10-9 off, and shoves it preflop. All 8mil+. Not a good idea, as Klann had AJ on the button and gladly called with the short stack. No help for either player after 5 cards gave Klann his first double up, now putting him within a few mil of Volpe.
Next, if shoving once with a bad hand out of position doesn't work the first time, why not try it again, only in position? So, holding a K-10 Klann raises preflop a standard amount, Volpe looks down at J0 suited and decides to shove! Klann thinks about it a bit, and calls (K-10 is pretty good even against ace-x heads up). Again, no help after 5 cards now gives Klann the upper hand, and a very healthy chip lead that Volpe had held just two hands earlier.
Next, and last, hand (I think Volpe just gives up here after the horrible beating he had just sustained, maybe), he looks down at (again) 10-9 and shoves with it once more, out of position with a horrible hand. While Klann only held a measly Q-rag, he sure hadn't seen anything to indicate that Volpe had changed his mind and stopped the donkey lotto plays. So, he calls and that, as they say, is that. Klann takes it all.
So, what happened? Well, I don't think it would be unfair to say that maybe Volpe simply choked under the pressure of being on camera. Hey, the guy did not make the final table with the chip lead playing like he did once there. I think that much is obvious.
Then again, maybe not.