Online Poker Sites
Poker Players
Poker Games
My Journal
Poker Tips
How to Play Poker Basics
Poker Hands
Poker Terms
Poker Tells
Free Poker Games Online
How to Play Texas Holdem Rules
Poker Tournaments
World Poker Tour
WSOP
Poker Stats
PokerTracker
Sharkscope
Calculatem
ThePokerDb
Official Poker Rankings
Shana Hiatt
Courtney Friel
Sabina Gadecki
Site Map |
 The Bicycle
Casino hosted the third Legends of Poker World Poker Tour event and it was appropriately titled. The true legend of poker,
Doyle Brunson was amongst the six finalists
along with Lee Watkinson, Grant Helling, Tom Lee, Pete Lawson, and Joe Awada. The six players beat 661 players to make
it to the final table.
I was at the final taping of this event and was amazed at how quickly
the first four players were eliminated. About an hour into the event,
they were already heads up and I was wondering if they were going to
have enough film footage to even get a two hour episode out of it. The
great thing about this particular episode is that hands that wouldn't
normally be shown were shown. We were able to see how players were able
to pick up blinds with raises and how
No Limit is not only about the
cards, it is about situations. An example of this was when Pete raised
the $20,000 big blind to $55,000 on the button with pocket Tens. Joe
reraised an additional $100,000 from the big blind with 82. Pete had a
strong hand so he reraised another $225,000. Many times, players on the
button raise with weaker hands if the action is folded to them. If Pete
had a weaker hand, he might have folded his hand and Joe's aggression
would have been rewarded. In this particular case, it was not. Joe folded his hand.
There were two players that started the tournament out short stacked.
One of them was the first person eliminated. Joe raised to $75,000 with
pocket Jacks and the action was folded around to Tom in the big blind.
Tom only had about $150,000 in chips and he had to think how he wanted
to play his pocket Nines. He decided to call the bet and when the flop
came K87, he moved all-in. I liked the way he played the hand because he
decided preflop that this was the hand he was going to go with. He knew
that he was going to move in on the flop and maybe he could get his
opponent to fold. If he had moved all in preflop, then there was no way
that Joe would have folded any two cards. Joe called the all-in bet and won the hand.
The most memorable hand of the tournament was when Lee raised to $60,000
with pocket nines and Joe called on the button with pocket deuces. Doyle
was in the blind with QT of diamonds and he called. The flop was 987 all
hearts giving Lee a set and Doyle the open end straight draw. All
players checked. The turn was a seven giving Lee a
full house. All of
the players checked again. The river was a deuce giving Joe a full house
too. Doyle checked, Lee bet $150,000, and Joe moved all-in. Doyle folded
and Lee quickly called winning a pot over two and a half million. I was
surprised at the large bet by Joe and I am sure Joe has had some time to
rethink the way he played the hand. He started the day out as one of the
chip leaders and finished in fifth place.
Grant was the next person eliminated when he moved all-in on the button
with A3 of hearts. Lee was in the blind with 98 and he decided to call
the additional $115,000 bet. He was the chip leader by a huge margin and
the call would not affect his stack at all. Lee turned a pair of nines
and Grant finished in fourth place.
Lee and Pete did some battling when there were three players left. They
got into a few raising wars and one of them cost Pete. Lee called an
additional $10,000 in the small blind with Q6 and Pete doubled the bet
with J6 of diamonds. Lee called. The flop was 762. Lee checked, Pete bet
$115,000, and Lee reraised to $300,000. I couldn't believe I was seeing
all of this action on a 762 flop. I was even more amazed when Pete moved
all-in for an additional $610,000 and Lee called!! Did Lee have that
good of a read on Pete? Was he just playing the role of chip leader? I am
not sure what it was, but he ended up winning the hand with a pair of sixes, queen kicker.
The heads up battle was a treat to watch. It seemed Doyle made every
correct bet, fold, move, etc. He played a flawless heads up match and
showed why he is considered a legend. When the heads up match started
Lee had more than a 3-1 chip lead on Doyle, but that didn't last long.
On the first hand of the heads up play, Lee raised with 53 and Doyle
called with 65 of hearts. The flop was 743 giving Doyle the
straight.
Doyle checked, Lee bet $100,000, and Doyle called. The turn was a ten
and Doyle checked again. Lee bet $200,000, Doyle raised to $600,000, and
Lee moved all-in. Doyle said, "I call by the way" and showed the
straight. The river did not help Lee and the two players were almost exactly even in chips.
Doyle kept the pace up and kept taking chunks of Lee's stack. Lee's
emotions started to get the best of him and it contributed to his second
place finish. Instead of playing a patient game, he started getting
desperate. The last hand was the biggest example of his frustration. Lee
raised the $40,000 blind to $120,000 with Q3 of clubs and Doyle called
with Q9. The flop was QJ7. Doyle checked, Lee bet $150,000 and Doyle
moved all-in. If Lee folded the hand, he would still have $1,280,000 in
chips and that was pretty close to where Doyle started when the heads up
match began. Obviously, with patience the chip deficit could have been
overcome as Doyle had already shown. Lee did not fold the hand and
called the huge all-in bet. Doyle was the winner of the Legends of Poker
WPT event and the audience gave him a standing ovation. I was one of the
people standing for Doyle. I stood out of respect for him as a player
and a legend in the game, but more than that, I stood because he played
the most masterful game of heads up poker I have ever seen.
See also Bicycle Casino Season
One and
Two. |
