WPT LAPC-Paul Klann VS Paul Volpe

Michael Paler

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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.
 
Poker Orifice

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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.
imo, this analysis is lacking. firstly you haven't mentioned stack sizes (effective) &/or size of blinds. (just saying "he shoves all 8mill in means nothing).
I seriously doubt Volpe was aimlessly/thoughtlessly clicking buttons. He has ALOT of experience and is an excellent tournament player. (look him up online, 'paulgees81')
 
aa88wildbill

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I'd like your post Michael, very funny. LMAO
 
JusSumguy

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In essence the play was decided with junk. There was really no quality play once HU.

Heading into the last four hands Volpe played like an amateur, Lost a 4 to 1 chip lead on junk hands. He really deserved to loose.

Klan deserved to loose as well. But, at least he had a plan. Force the pro to make big decisions. He put a lot of pressure on Volpe, and (I believe) tilted him.

-
 
Michael Paler

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imo, this analysis is lacking. firstly you haven't mentioned stack sizes (effective) &/or size of blinds. (just saying "he shoves all 8mill in means nothing).
I seriously doubt Volpe was aimlessly/thoughtlessly clicking buttons. He has ALOT of experience and is an excellent tournament player. (look him up online, 'paulgees81')

Sorry, I'll try to do better. I was trying to keep it a manageable size, and I made a few mistakes even other than that! When he shoved the 10-9, he had about 8 million plus, Klann had about 2.3 million, blinds were at 400/800k, Volpe was first to act preflop. I thought I got the gist of it across, however: ie; "I have more chips, so now I can threaten/out aggres a smaller stack." Should have taken a better look, I think;

So, I have to disagree. Volpe played just like he was "aimlessly/thoughtlessly clicking buttons;" Mike Sexton certainly thought this was a nightmare mistake. That 10-9 hand after seriously short stacking Klann with trips, had he simply raised a standard amount, he could have gotten info; Clearly, Klann was going to shove with a strong hand and a small stack or fold a weaker hand to a PFR; He did not have enough chips to merely call, so therefore Volpe could have known 10-9 was no good for far less. Instead, he "aimlessly/thoughtlessly" shoved OOP with a weak hand. Instead of giving Klann a few chips, he doubled him up. (BTW, I think this is a marvelous and ingenious analytical layout to what happened on my part. If only I could follow my own great thinkings...lol)

Then, next hand, why shove J-10 into a preflop raise which shows strength? Again, had he simply 3-bet Klann's raise or flat called, he would have gotten enough info to make a more informed decision. Like, fold. At this point they were within 3 million of each other, with Volpe on top, almost back to where they started. There was simply no need to take Jack high into an all in or fold situation where the Preflop raise could have been any better Q, K, or Ace rag. Heads up, remember? Hands go up in value, J-10 is great, but what is the guy raising with? So, you 3-bet him. If he shoves, your J10 most likely is no good. If he flat calls, you get to see a flop and see what he does. You simply shove, you find out the hard way, as he most certainly did.

Then, after losing with 10-9 OOP, he repeats the same mistake with the same hand no less, and unnecessarily shoves for game life heads up with a bad hand that just cost him a lot. You are beaten by any J, K, Q, or Ace. Should have folded, and waited to be in position, even if short stacked. The previous lotto plays just did not do anything but wreak havoc on his table image with Klann. It was already damaged by making several other bad plays which cost him the chip lead he had coming to the FT. Next hand he would have acted last, and might have gotten a card higher than a 10. Although, as short stacked as he now was, I guess 10-9 looked pretty good. So did Q-rag suited to call him with....

Again, I see many online FT's where once they get heads up, they start shoving with hands that are fantastic at a full table, not so fantastic heads up. I call it "going into full Donkey-lotto mode". This leads to having a serious lack of info, by shoving first when you have no idea what you're shoving into...A better ace, a big or small pair bigger than your high card, etc. If you have a big hand, by all means. Do it without a big hand, you just lost AND gave your opposition valuable info on your play.

So, even Mike Sexton agrees with me, lol. I AM NOT saying Volpe is a bad player. I AM saying he played this final table bad. It could very well have been nerves (first major final table, first time on T.V.) or heads up could be a weakness of his.
 
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huh? How does he raise/fold (for info. or however you put it) when you say villain has 2.3mill with blinds at 400k/800k?
(I'd assume same for the next hand... if blinds actually were that large.. he can't 3bet/fold pre.. that'd be ridiculous).

Not knocking Mike Sexton's ability & accomplishments but when listening to his analysis on WPT final tables, he's often suggesting some pretty bad advice.
 
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I'm guessing you didn't look him up?
So far in 2013
3rd place Bay101 ShootingStar 'MainEvent'

4th $15k buyin HighRoller EPT/UKIPT London

WPT Seminole HardRock
3rd in $20k HighRoller
27th in MainEvent

Cashed at EPT Berlin

EPT Monaco
1st in Event #50
1st in Event #33
20th in MainEvent

So far wsop 2013 - '4 cashes'

(last year's WSOP > 20th in the MainEvent)

As far as HeadsUp experience goes, was formerly an online HU SNG Specialist
 
Michael Paler

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Ok, Ok...here are the EXACT amounts, sorry.

huh? How does he raise/fold (for info. or however you put it) when you say villain has 2.3mill with blinds at 400k/800k?
(I'd assume same for the next hand... if blinds actually were that large.. he can't 3bet/fold pre.. that'd be ridiculous).

Not knocking Mike Sexton's ability & accomplishments but when listening to his analysis on WPT final tables, he's often suggesting some pretty bad advice.

You are correct, I am wrong. The blinds were not at 400/800; Sorry! I was watching another game on T.V. while writing that; My loose approximations were a little too loose....

One more time...and this time I got it;
Ante:25k Blinds: 125k/250k
Volpe 12,950,000 (51 BB's)
Klann 2,550,000 (10 BB's)

Volpe first to act, 125k to call; Looks at 10-9 off, shoves.
Klann looks down at AJ, calls.

Had Volpe raised to 500k, Klann would be forced to either fold or shove. You can't simply flat call a raise with 10 Big Blinds. So, if he shoves, you can fold and only lose 500k, only giving Klann a 3 million and change stack. No major increase, your short stacked opponent is still short stacked. The point is that 10-9 off is not strong enough for a (possible, if he calls) 2.5 million bet, even with this chip lead. You do not want to double the guy up. Plus, this is just prior to a level change, blinds are going up next hand.

2nd hand:
Ante:50k Blinds: 150k/300k
Volpe 8,950,000 (29 BB's)
Klann 6,550,000 (26 BB's)
Klann first to act, (K-10 off) min raise to 600k.
Volpe (J9 suited) shoves all in.
Again, no need to do anything other than to call or 3-bet here. What would Klann raise with? He is not a pro. If he had a hand worse than J9, he folds to a 3-bet. A better hand will shove. A middle hand will just call. You lose all that info by shoving. You lose the opportunity to outplay Klann on the flop. Some might say calling this all in w K-10 was bad; I say, clearly your opponent has a very wide shoving range, he has shown this all night long. No reason to suspect he is holding an ace. If he were, wouldn't he simply raise? At this point, I think Volpe has a clear betting tell; He shoves with middle-weak hands IP and raises with strong hands. Weak-weak hands he calls or folds. He has played almost every hand like this the whole FT, not just HU.

3rd hand:
Ante:50k Blinds: 150k/300k
Volpe: 2,350,000
Klann: 13,150,00
Volpe, first to act, shoves it with (again) 9-10. Again, what must Klann be thinking? Well, Q-high can only lose to A or K high. Has Volpe once, one time, shown up with anything higher than a J when he shoved preflop? Nope. So, he calls. Sure enough, the betting tell holds up. In position, Volpe shoves middle range hands. That simple.

Say what you will about Sextons view on the guys play, this time I think he was spot on. As for Klann, 1 donkey lotto move, maybe you just tried. 2 donkey lotto moves, maybe you are playing donkey lotto with mid range hands. 3 donkey lotto moves, glad I called with Q high suited, because you are clearly playing donkey lotto with middle range hands.
 
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So far WSOP 2013 - '4 cashes'
the 4th one a final table in the $10k buyin Ev.#43 2-7 draw lowball.

Was previously ranked #1 online MTT player in the world (April 2011) and has over $4 million in online Tournament cashes.
I'd guess he knows what he's doing.
 
Michael Paler

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the 4th one a final table in the $10k buyin Ev.#43 2-7 draw lowball.

Was previously ranked #1 online MTT player in the world (April 2011) and has over $4 million in online Tournament cashes.
I'd guess he knows what he's doing.

Good for him! I guess he was just having an off day. It does happen.
 
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