2nd November 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 -

       *Jerry Yang wins the WSOP 2007

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Hiya there and how have you been this week?

Well - I've had a mixed week - Last Sunday I went to Reading Casino to play in the Regional finals of my Poker League. I came in 14th out of 68 runners and was really pleased with the way I played - I had absolutely no cards at all*** apart from Pocket Queens once - ABSOLUTELY NO other pocket pairs - not even Ace-King once - so I spent the whole tournament fighting and stealing for all I was worth !

I really feel that if I had some better cards - I would definitely have made the final table - but it was a good day and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The other night I came in 7th out of 210 runners cashing $260 which was great and then last night I crashed out in 24th place out of 180 runners when my Pocket Rockets got beaten by Trip 6's :-(

They were paying to 20 places :-(( Never mind... onwards and upwards !!

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Jerry Yang comes out of the blocks with vigour

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***Unlike Jerry Yang who hit some amazing cards at the final table of the World Series of Poker 2007. Having said that - he also made some amazing moves and put himself in such a position that he could take a few blows on the chin !

I was glued to the telly watching the whole Main Event and it really was a spectacle - One thing I really loved about it was that on the final table there were 7 different countries being represented -

Of the nine finalists - there were players born in Denmark, England, Russia, South Africa, Vietnam, USA and of course Jerry from Laos - and this, I feel, makes it truly a World Series of Poker.

One hand I really want to highlight shows that not only did Jerry Yang hit some cards but - as I said - he made some amazing moves - and this hand shows you just one of them...

First to act is 35 year old Lee Childs with Pocket Queens - QS & QH.
 

The blinds are 120K/240K with a running ante of 30K from each player and Lee raises it up a standard 3-times the Big Blind to 720K - so the pot sits at 1,350,000.

Jerry Yang is next to act - he has a very slow, deliberate way of looking at his cards and finds Pocket Jacks - JS & JH.
 

He announces: "Raise - 2.5 Million"

Norman Chad commentating says: "Two big pocket pairs going bump in the night early!"

Next to act is Lee Watkinson who picks up rags and he folds quickly.

Philip Hilm, Tuan Lam & Jon Kalmar also fold as do Hevad Khan, Raymond Rahme & Alexander Cravchenko.

So it's back to Lee Watkinson who calls the bet making the pot now stand at 5,360,000.

The odds are 82% in Lee's favour.

Norman Chad: "Somebody is usually all in pre-flop with these type of hands, but not this time."

The Flop comes down: 7C, 4D, 2C
   

The Odds are now 91% in Lee's favour.

Lon McEarhan also commentating states the obvious: "The Queens of Childs leading the Jacks of Yang."

Childs is first to act and he says: "3 Million" and stands up to start putting his chips in the middle...

Lon McEarhan: "Lee bets 3 million with those three baby cards out there".

Norman Chad: "Yes - he's gotta like that."

The pot is now 8,360,000.

Jerry Yang sits there with his hands on his chin, his sunglasses his eyes and his cap down so you can hardly see his face.

He announces quietly: "I'm all-in".

As he says that - Lee Childs looks like he's blowing out candles on his birthday cake as he lets out a HUGE sigh. He finishes putting his original bet in the middle, takes off his shades and turns to the rail to speak to his dad.

Lon McEarhan gasps: "And Yang comes over the top - WOWWWW!!"

Norman Chad: "My goodness - Lee Childs wasn't even done putting his three million in yet and Jerry Yang goes ALL-IN!"

The pot is now 19,400,000 !!

Lon McEarhan: "And what a tough spot so early for Lee - that's his dad Bill Childs".

Bill Childs looks at his son with his arms crossed and slightly swaying from side to side - he says: "Make the right decision."

Lee looks at him, rubbing his hands and says: "I don't know if I can lay it down."

Bill Childs answers with all the wisdom of a dad and says: "You'll know. Just play it like you've been playing it."

Norman Chad: "Father and son stretching the 'one-player-per-hand' rule."

Lee returns to the table, puts his elbow on it and rests his face in his hand...

Norman Chad: "The other day we saw Childs lay down Pocket Kings post-flop to Yang who raised with an inferior hand - the stakes are even higher here."

Lon McEarhan: "Yes this would be for almost all of Lee Childs' chips!"

Lee wipes his eyes and then looks like he's praying for inspiration.

He turns to look at Jerry and says: "Big hand huh Jerry??"

Jerry meanwhile, hasn't moved a muscle, same position as before, his hands covering his mouth, his shades covering his eyes and his cap covering most of the rest of his face.

Lon McEarhan: "Big decision for Lee - obviously he doesn't want to be crippled so early on the final table."

The camera turns to Jerry's Wife, Mum and Dad who are all gazing up at the screen with deep concern on their faces.

Norman Chad: "If Childs makes this call, Jerry is all but out of here."

Lee is still pondering and apologises to the table for taking so long: "I'm sorry fellas"

Raymond Rahme replies: "No problem - it's a big call."

Lon McEarhan: "HUGE decision for Lee Childs."

Lee finally looks at Jerry and says: "I'm going to show you some respect Jerry - I think you're - I think you're - oh gosh - I don't know...I'm going to fold this."

And he shows the Queens to the table.

Norman Chad: "I like the laydown - I don't like him showing the cards."

Jerry finally moves out of his statue-like-position and stands up to rake the chips in. He also taps the table to say 'nice hand'.

Lon McEarhan: "Lee wants to see those cards!"

Lee Childs mutters: "I think I made a good laydown - I don't know though."

Raymond Rahme chips in: "Bad laydown... I think so."

Norman Chad: "Wowww - It WAS a bad laydown and this one might haunt Lee for a long time."

The camera zooms back to Jerry's mum, dad and wife who have huge smiles on their faces and they clap their hands for all they're worth.

Lee walks over to his dad: "I didn't know where I was at."

His dad gives him a high-five and shakes his hands saying: "Good laydown."

Lon McEarhan sums up: "So Jerry Yang has come out of the blocks with vigour and has set
the early tone at this 2007 final table."

You can view the hand at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chiAmnj0Ogw

You need to scroll forwards to about 5 minutes.

There are also loads of other videos of the final table being shown on YouTube and if you missed the television broadcast - then I'd settle down and watch them all - it's fascinating viewing !

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Post Mortem

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If Lee Childs had called this hand - then Jerry Yang would, most probably, have not won the Main Event - but just like last week - the operative word here is 'would'

As it is - He DID win the Main Event and many congratulations to him - he won by being aggressive, making moves at the right time, playing other people's weaknesses and also forcing other players to bluff him when he was holding the nuts.

Reading some of the comments on the YouTube page - people are writing that it was a bad laydown - but when I look back over some of the previous hands I've written about - one thing I've said is that great players MUST be able to lay down big hands if they think they are beat.

Jerry might have had Pocket Aces or Pocket Kings OR he might have hit Trips on the Flop - he didn't - but Lee wasn't prepared to put his tournament on the line with the possibility that he did - and in the end - it was Jerry who identified WHO would lay hands down and he went for them "with Vigour" as Lon McEarhan put it.

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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