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27th July 2007
Welcome to Hold or Fold - The UK's only Poker E-Letter dedicated
to
helping YOU become a better player!
In this week's E-Letter -
*Witnessing Great Art...
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Hiya there and how have you been this week?
I've had some OUTRAGEOUS badbeats this week - I was SO CLOSE to
winning a seat for the EPT in London - I was playing a Double- Shootout
of 81 players with 9 players on 9 tables. The top player from each
table makes it to the final table and there the winner would have
a seat for London in September with second/third players receiving
$1000.
I had easily made it to the final table and was holding my own very
well when I picked up A 10 on the button. The player to my right
raised and I called it with everyone else folding.
OK - you might say that was a dubious call with A 10 but I had him
down as stealing the blinds as my PokerTracker statistics showed
him stealing alot.
The Flop came down 10 8 3. My opponent tried to trap me by checking
- I went All-In with Top Pair Top Kicker - when he called me - I
suddenly thought he might have an overpair - but he showed K 10
- Wa Hay !! I have him dominated !! He has only 3 outs - the remaining
three Kings in the pack to hit...
Guess what came on the River?? Grrrrrrrr - another King of course...
it knocked the stuffing out of me and I ended up in 5th place.
So near but so far :-( As for the Living the Dream Qualifier - I
was out first hand when my QQ got beaten by 55 - 1066th out of 1069
players - what a joke !
Am I disheartened?? No - absolutely not !! I KNOW I played well
- In both situations I had my money in with the best hand and lost
out to outrageous badbeats - but I know that if I continue to play
with the best hand - they have to hold up generally in the long
run !!
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Bluff -v- Bluff - who will blink first??
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This week's highlighted hand is between Phil Ivey and Paul Jackson
- both very noted and respected poker players. Alot of people will
quote Phil Ivey as the greatest Poker Player ever (aside from Stu
Ungar) and this hand coming up will show you 4 minutes of Poker
Artistry.
The Date is 25th November 2005 - the Venue is the Casino De Monte
Carlo and the Tournament is the Monte Carlo Millions with $1m awarded
for first prize. It had been an invite-only field of 111 players
and we are now down to Heads Up between Phil Ivey and Paul Jackson.
Phil has roughly a 4:1 chip lead over Paul and there is 44,000 in
the pot for the Blinds and Antes.
Paul is first to act and he picks up 6S & 5D.
He limps in for 12,000 and action moves to Phil. Phil picks up QH
& 8H.
When you watch Phil Ivey - you can't help but to notice that his
demeanour never changes. He sits slightly hunched over the table
with his mouth slightly open and his eyes dart here and there and
everywhere. He is VERY difficult to read and always looks a bit
menacing.
Phil raises the pot by 60,000 to make it now stand at 116,000.
Paul calls and the odds pre-flop stand at 64% in Phils favour.
The Flop comes down as 7C JC JH.
Neither player has hit anything.
Phil is first to act and the odds are now 75% in his favour.
He puts 80,000 in the pot which now stands at 256,000.
The (unknown) commentator says: "That is pretty standard
poker playing - the big stack - on a Flop like this - in an unraised
pot - he wants to keep making tester-bets - trying to find out if
the little guy connected in any way. And with that kind of Flop
- it looks unlikely. So Phil Ivey says 'okay, I've got Queen High
but I'll take a stab at this'."
Paul Jackson decides that Phil is bluffing and re-raises another
170,000 to make the pot now 426,000.
The (unknown) commentator continues: "And look at this
- Re-Raise by Jackson !! Now - I like the play because Paul Jackson
is willing to get into a poker match here, he's not just going to
sit around and wait to flop the nuts. This may be the line in the
sand here for Paul Jackson. Though if Phil Ivey thinks really deeply
about this, he might be asking himself - 'now wait a minute, if
this guy had a Jack in his hand - would he re-raise me here? - probably
not, so what the heck is he doing??'"
Phil Ivey ponders and thinks and then he re-re-raises another 220,000
- !!!
The (unknown) commentator gasps: "A RE-RAISE - well there
you are - right back in the face of Paul Jackson !! We are watching
SOME poker here Barry ! Both guys with nothing !! Phil Ivey's nothing
is a little bit better than Paul Jacksons - Nobody connected with
that Flop and here we are raise - re-raise - re-re-raise !!"
Phil looks like a predator just eyeing his prey and Paul Jackson
looks everso slightly nervous - I'm amazed sweat isn't dripping
down his forehead !!
And just when you think Paul will lay the hand down - he RE-RAISES
again !!!
Another 300,000 !!! The pot is now 966,000 !!
The (unknown) commentator catches his breath and shouts:
"OH MY GOODNESS - Jackson is Re-Raising - WHAT the HECK is going
on here??? This is incredible !! And you can almost hear the wheels
turning in Phil Ivey - is this for real?? And I'm thinking - Phil
Ivey has GOT to fold here."
There is silence for what seems like a lifetime as Paul sits impassively
and Phil's eyes dart back and forth as he tries to work out what
to do.
The (unknown) commentator carries on: "I mean - is his
(Phils) opponent going to raise him twice with nothing? After Phil
Ivey has shown strength??"
Phil ponders some more (see the Post Mortem below - Phil pondering
some more was actually about seven minutes !!) and then asks
Paul: "How much do you have left??"
These are the words that can send off the national anthem in your
head if you're holding a great hand OR it can strike mortal fear
into your heart if you're bluffing your little socks off.
Paul manages to keep his voice from wavering too much - although
personally I feel he sounds very weak as he informs Phil that he
has about 380,000 left.
The (unknown) commentator continues: "Lets put this into
perspective - we're looking at a million-chip pot and both players
have NOTHING !! We are looking at two players bluffing with nothing
- BOTH of them. Who's going to blink first with two cards to come??
I don't think Phil's going to blink - I don't see how he can possibly
continue with this hand. Everything Paul Jackson has done..."
He was going to carry on but Phil Ivey announced: "All-in".
The (unknown) commentator has apoplexy: "WHAT ?!?!?!?!?!?
ABSOLUTELY ASTONISHING POKER!!!"
Paul can continue no longer and lays his cards down and Phil picks
up the pot of 1,547,000.
Barry (surname unknown) says: "Phil Ivey is the guy that
did not blink."
The (unknown) commentator sums up: "Watching this hand
was like witnessing great art - it was absurd and wonderful at the
same time. It was just mind-blowing what we just witnessed."
You can view the hand for yourself at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Qap3VT_ZY&mode=related&search=
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Post MORTEM
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Paul Jackson later gave an Interview with UK Poker News and I quote
directly from their website:
QUOTE
PJ: The Internet clip is edited in that between my final
re raise and him asking me how many chips I had left he stared me
down for around 7 minutes (though it seemed like about 3 weeks)
and I was extremely uncomfortable.
Some people have suggested that I misplayed that hand and that I
could have won the hand had I moved all in or flat called and then
moved all in on the turn. I have to agree that I could have won
the hand and I would have if I had known his hand.
It is easy to look in hindsight at a given hand (particularly where
both hands are moderate) knowing both sets of cards and knowing
how the betting went and to say that had one of the hands been played
differently that player could have achieved a better outcome.
I felt at the time that my flat re raise was the strongest possible
move in terms of indicating strength and I also believe (as did
all the commentators at the time) that 99.9% of players sitting
in Phil Ivey?s seat with his hand and facing that betting pattern
in that situation, would have folded his hand.
UNQUOTE
In my personal humble opinion - this is poker played at the absolute
highest level whereby both players have decided that the other has
nothing and that they can steal the pot by raising bigtime to make
the other player lay down the hand - I agree that 99.9% of players
in that situation would have laid the hand down - but this is Phil
Ivey - one of the greatest poker players ever.
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Well I hope you have a good week - may the cards be with you and
I'll see you again next Friday.
All the best
Meg Arana
Hold or Fold
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