28th September 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 -

       *The Legendary Texas Dolly hits the rail and
       *The Youngest Player ever wins a WSOP Event !

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Hiya there and how have you been this week?

I am continuing to plough my way through 200 Sit and Go Tournaments and I have currently played 112 of them !!

When do you get the time to play that many I hear you ask??

Well I play the Speed Tournaments so even if you win, it shouldn't last longer than half an hour or so.

And how are you doing I hear you ask??

Well - I'm pleased to announce I'm up to $850 in profit and I'm really getting into the swing of playing these Single-Table Tournaments.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to report a profit of over $1,000 by the time I send out next week's e-letter !

Bolstered by my slow-but-sure climb in my bankroll - I entered a 70-man Multi-Table Tournament and won it for $396 - it was only $11 to enter PLUS I came in the Top 3 of a 40-man qualifier for this Sunday's 300K Tournament - so I'm feeling like a sandwich...

...on a roll !! (boom boom!!)

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The Legendary Texas Dolly hits the rail

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The living legend, Doyle 'Texas Dolly' Brunson leaves the WSOP 2007 under very unfortunate circumstances...

It's fairly early on in the World Series of Poker Main Event with 6,358 players vying for first prize of $8.25 million!

Doyle has had his ups and downs and is currently sitting with 23,625 chips and the blinds are 200/400.

To be honest - I watched him play a H.O.R.S.E. event in the WSOP 2006 when he laid down some amazing hands - but on the feature-table here at the WSOP 2007 - there have already been a couple of hands where he's made some dubious calls which is why he is only 3,625 chips up from his starting stack.

Andrew Cohen, a WSOP rookie, picks up QC & QD and he raises it up to 1,200 so the pot stands
at 1,800.
 

Everyone else folds around to Doyle Brunson sitting in the Big Blind and he picks up AH & QH.
 

Norman Chad commentating says: "Doyle once claimed that he does not place Ace-Queen."

However, Doyle calls the bet making the pot 2,600.

He is a 2:1 underdog to win this hand.

The flop comes down: QS 7D AD !!
   

Lon McEachern gasps: "WOWWWWW - Doyle THINKS he loves that flop but his two-pairs trail
the three-queens of Cohen !!"

Norman Chad: "Doyle shouldn't play Ace-Queen huh? That is a DISASTER flop for him."

Doyle's eyes flit across his opponent and he checks.

Andrew Cohen puts in 2,000 chips.

Lon McEachern continues: "Doyle slow-plays his two-pair and Cohen bets 2,000 with his set
of Queens."

Norman Chad: "Cohen, a bartender here in Las Vegas has Doyle where he wants him!"

Doyle re-raises to 5,500 making the pot stand at 10,100.

Little does he know that he only has a 9% chance of winning this hand.

Andrew Cohen heart-rate must be going off the scale as he tries to remain calm and give the
impression that he has a marginal hand... He knows that the only hand that can beat him is a
pair of Aces and with one on the table... that is highly unlikely.

Cohen re-raises to 12,000 and very quickly Doyle goes all in and Andrew calls.

Doyle has committed all his chips on this hand and the pot stands at 47,500.

Norman Chad: "This is a Horror Film for Doyle Brunson."

Doyle puts his cards face-up on the table and grins when he sees Andrew's cards.

Norman Chad: "And a rueful smile from Doyle, he now sees that flop will likely end his Main Event quite quickly!"

Andrew stands up looking very nervous.

Lon McEachern: "Cohen looks like he can't quite believe he is going to knock out the great Doyle Brunson!"

Doyle laughs and says: "Better get some aces up there!"

Norman Chad: "It's been 30 years since Doyle's last Main Event title - not looking good right here."

The Turn card is: 3S


Norman Chad: "And now Doyle Brunson is going to need an Ace or his 2007 Main Event is going to be over very early."

The River is: 6D


Lon McEachern: "The River Card is the Six of Diamonds and that does send Doyle Brunson to the exit, done in by Andrew Cohen."

Doyle smiles broadly and shakes Andrew's hand. He gets up with the aid of his walking stick and leaves the table. The crowd applaud their respect for the legendary man - now aged 74 years !! - He may not have gone far in this Main Event but he still holds 10 WSOP Bracelets and the crowd and all the players have the utmost respect for this man.

The P.A. announces to the room that Doyle is leaving and the camera shows literally thousands of players stop what they are doing and clap enthusiastically.

Lon McEachern sums up: "So the legendary Texas Dolly hits the rail and the entire room acknowledges the great players' exit!"

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Post Mortem

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It was just the absolute worst flop that could have come down for Doyle Brunson. He hit two-pairs whilst his opponent hit a Trips. Just like a cold deck, he would have needed to overcome 95%-5% odds to win this hand.

I know I have shown you some amazing bad beats over the last few weeks - but I'd like to emphasize that those are the exceptions that prove the rule that if you get your chips in with the best hand, you will win !

Unfortunately, Doyle thought he had the best hand and slow-played it accordingly and the only hands that could have beaten him were AA, QQ or 77 - and as he had AQ in his hand - the odds of his opponent having AA or QQ were greatly diminished - I think he played it correctly and I don't think even the great Phil Ivey would have got away from that one.

By the way - Doyle has some amazing tutorials and advice on his website which is well worth visiting: www.doylebrunson.com

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The Youngest Player ever wins a WSOP Event !

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As you probably know, the WSOP came to London for the first time this year and that mean't that players under the age of 21 were eligible to take part - The age limit in the USA is 21 while it is 18 in Europe.

I am pleased to announce that an 18-year old girl from Norway won the WSOP Europe Main Event.

Quoted directly from: James McKeown (Bluff Media)

For the good of the game, the tournament couldn?t have picked a better or more popular champion, as Annette Obrestad's victory will surely tap into a market that the game has so far been unable to reach. A young, likeable, Internet based, and most importantly female winner, will have been the kind of result the organisers could only have dreamt of when the decision was made to send the game?s most recognised brand to Europe.

Annette's victory was everyone?s victory. Harrah?s have got their wish for a successful expansion into Europe, Betfair have poker?s hottest property in their stables, poker has a new superstar, women poker players have a new role model, the online community has a certified icon, and Europe has proved once again that it houses some of the finest talents in the modern game. That's a pretty favourable return in anyone?s book.

http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/news/article.asp?newsID=1853

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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