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19th October 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 Tiger rolls over like
a little Kitten
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Hiya there and how have you been this week?
Well... My quest continues to build up my bankroll by playing 200
Sit and Go Tournaments - after getting up to $1276 last week - I
decided to go up a level
and try my hand at the $55 tables - I got hammered four times in
a row and my bankroll slipped down below the $1000 mark - so I went
back to $33 tables and now I'm back up to $1127 profit after 193
tournaments...
I'm going to keep trying to venture onto the $55 and if I lose I'll
back down to $33's until I build up enough of a bankroll to go up
again - and I'm going to keep doing this until I can break free
and win a few of the $55's and I should be well
on my way to a bigger bankroll...
I'll keep you informed...
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The Tiger rolls over like a little Kitten
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There are two hands I want to highlight this week - they are both
very similar
and the point I want to illustrate is that you have to stay true
to your feelings
and experience and stay confident...
Unlike Richard Ashby at the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour in Manchester...
One thing you have to take into consideration is the fact there
are 7 players left and the difference between the first prize of
£88,300 and 7th prize of £11,400 is alot to think about.
So the 7 players left have the following chip stacks:
Dave Colclough: 1,088,500
Barry Neville: 577,000
Tom Sambrook: 320,000
Chris Bruce: 286,000
Richard Ashby: 282,000
Nick Slade: 234,000
Ryan Fronda: 91,000
Vicky Coren is commentating: "Looking at the chip leaderboard,
Dave Colclough has gone over the Million Mark."
Keith Hawkins also commentating: "The guy who is not going
to be happy about this is Barry Neville - Every time he enters a
pot, Dave is there, waiting
in the bushes, to re-raise or get involved."
The blinds are 7,000/14,000 with a running ante of 1,000 so there
is 28,000 in
the pot before we start.
The table folds around to Dave 'El Blondie' Colclough sitting on
the button -
he picks up KS & 9D and he raises it up by 42,000.
Richard Ashby is next to act and he picks up 10H & 10C.
Vicky Coren: "Richard Ashby is a very brave player, I
don't think he's letting himself get pushed around."
Keith: "No - Richard is one of the biggest online players
in Britain - He is an excellent player - Very aggressive - With
two tens - he'll definitely be seeing the Flop at the very least
- I wouldn't be surprised if he re-raises here."
Richard calls making the pot stand at 105,000.
Vicky: "Just calling - I think perhaps he's hoping he
can trap Dave Colclough into betting again with no hand."
Keith: "I think that with the other stacks behind Dave
being pretty level, Richard is thinking 'if I can get a double-up
now, I can get into clear second place.'"
Vicky: "Yes but for some reason - he didn't want to try
and close down the pot then and there pre-flop."
The odds are 68% in Richard's favour.
The Flop comes down: 4D JD 9H.
Richard checks.
Dave asks Richard to move his hand so he can see how many chips
he has left.
Richard duly obliges and Dave has a good count up of Richard's chips.
Keith: "Dave will definitely be betting this flop."
Dave bets out 100,000 making the pot stand at 205,000.
Vicky: "Dave bets almost a pot-sized amount - and now
surely Ashby, who only started the hand with just under 300,000,
has got to move in."
Keith: "Well - again - with all these stacks so closely
grouped behind Colclough, I think he can lay this down. He's looking
at the leaderboard, looking to see if he can get second place..."
Richard passes.
Vicky raises her voice in complete surprise: "He DOES
pass - passes the tens."
Keith replies: "No I think that's fine - he could easily
think that Dave has a Jack there or even if he thinks he has a flush
draw and two overcards - Dave's favourite."
Vicky: "I don't know - to me the only reason not to re-raise
pre-flop is to induce a bet on the Flop and when that happened,
he passed ! I think that was a little too tight."
***************************************
Then not too long after that - this happened...
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The table folds around to Dave Colclough in the cut-off position
and he picks up
KC 9S and he raises it up 44,000.
Vicky Coren: "Dominant so far has been Dave Colclough
and he has his raising boots on again."
Keith: "Well he's going to carry on raising until someone
stands up to him I guess."
Richard Ashby to act next on the button - and he picks up JC JD
and calls the bet.
Vicky is aghast: "AGAIN flat-calling with a very big hand
now this time SURELY it's a trap - he's NOT planning
to pass on the Flop..."
Keith: "Well he's maybe waiting to see if there is an
Ace on the Flop - or maybe he's just trapping him - we'll see what
the Flop brings..."
The Small blind and Big blind both fold.
The pot stands at 116,000 and Richard is 64% favourite to win this
hand.
The Flop comes down: 6H 10H 9D
Dave immediately says: "All in !"
Keith: "Dave straight away has moved all-in"
Vicky: "Shouldn't be a difficult decision here for Ashby."
Keith: "No - I think Richard will call here - it's the
perfect Flop for him."
Richard Ashby looks nervous - he looks at his cards again - He counts
his chips, takes off his cap and puts his hands on top of his heads
with a big sigh.
Keith: "Well maybe he thinks Dave might have a bigger
pair - but surely with Aces or Kings, Dave would not move all-in
- he'd have bet half the size of the pot, trying to get Ashby to
commit. There's no hand here that Richard can be scared of - Dave
could have a flush draw but with Richard's chip stack - he's just
got to gamble here - even if Dave's an even-money shot against him
- he's got to call here."
Richard continues to prevaricate - thinking about it too much -
I don't personally understand, he's supposed to be an aggressive
player and yet he's letting Dave walk all over him - I know he's
thinking about the leaderboard and whether this is a good time to
take a shot at doubling-up - but he can't get a much better chance
than this - an overpair to the board.
Vicky: "He did say before the final started that he was
very nervous about playing on camera
- do you think that might affect his thoughts??"
Keith: "Well I know that the first time I played with
cameras - I played alot tighter than I normally do - I was scared
to look silly in front of alot of people but sometimes you have
to take a deep breath and stick your chips in."
Richard bites his lips - looks over at Dave who sits there with
his arms folded and licking his lips - and after deep thought -
he folds again.
Keith: "That is surprising."
Dave says to Richard: "Don't tell me you passed a ten
again."
Richard: "Jacks that time - what did you have??"
Dave looks at him with complete amazement - "What are
you doing?? You should have just moved over me before the Flop -
I had King-Nine - honestly - I'm telling the truth!"
Richard: "Yeah I believe you - I just... sigh... I don't
know..."
Dave: "What are you doing Rich for Christ's sake??"
Richard: "Yes I know."
Vicky: "The shrewd pro kindly - quite honestly I think -
telling the younger player that he's playing too tightly."
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Post Mortem
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OK - I know that I have never played in front of cameras - with
the lights and lenses pointing at you - an audience behind you and
commentators who can see your cards and advising what you should
and shouldn't do - I can understand that it must be a real pressure
situation -
But surely - with all the hundreds and thousands and even tens-of-
thousands of hands I've played - experience should count for alot
- situations can't change just because everyone can see what you're
doing -
Richard Ashby froze - on the one hand - he was taking into account
that the prize money increased alot with each position and he didn't
want to go out in 7th position and on the other hand - Dave Colclough
was completely rail-roading the table and bullying everyone in sight
- and Richard felt he couldn't stand up to him -
But Richard has a reputation of being an aggressive player and he
acted like a little kitten and let Dave take his chips off him without
so much as a whimper - obviously - his confidence was shot and he
had no belief in his own playing abilities or cards - he eventually
went out in 6th position but he could have got alot more if he had
stayed true to himself.
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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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