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The World Poker Tour event at the Borgata was the official opening episode for Season
Two. The players were Randy Burger, Noli Francisco, David Oppenheim,
Carlos Mortensen, Mickey Seagle and
Charlie Shoten. None of the players have
appeared on other episodes of the WPT, so I had no clue what to expect from three of them. I have played with Carlos and
Charlie and have heard of Noli's reputation. I expected a lot of aggressive play from at least the three of them.
 It seemed
that 72 was a popular hand for a couple of players. Carlos raised with it preflop and got no callers. David also tried to
raise with it, but Carlos reraised him. I wonder if they purposely raised with that particular hand because they were
on television. The first exciting hand we see is when four players called to see a flop. Carlos held T8, Noli 94, Charlie QJ
and David A4. The flop was 832. After Charlie and Noli
checked, Carlos bet $10,000 and David
raised to $35,000. Charlie and Noli folded, but Carlos called with his top pair. The turn was a five giving David the
straight. Carlos checked, David
bet $50,000, and Carlos called. The river was also a five. David bet $125,000 and Carlos called. David won $448,000 on that
hand. I can't imagine what Carlos put David on. Would David had played his hand that way if he held a lower pair? Even
54 would have made trips.
Carlos made a great move against David when he raised to $24,000 with J9 of clubs. David reraised to $74,000. The flop was
883. Carlos checked, David bet $100,000 and Carlos raised to $200,000. He raised the exact amount to make David think Carlos
was inviting action. David folded and then Carlos showed his hand. I don't understand why players insist on showing their
hands especially their bluffs. If I happen to bluff, I love to throw the cards into the
muck. It is almost like when kids say "I have a secret!"
Some of the bets and calls I saw Noli make made me wonder what he was thinking. The more I thought about it, the more I
realized, he was playing "chip leader poker". He was never in danger of losing half his chips. There was never a time when
his stack was at risk. David raised with K6 of hearts and Noli called in the big blind with 43 of clubs. The flop was 884
with one heart. Noli bet $25,000 and David called. The turn was a nine of hearts. Noli checked, David bet $60,000, Noli
raised to $120,000 and David called. The river was a five and did not help David's hand. When Noli bet, David folded his
hand. Noli won a big pot by playing his hand according to his chip lead.
 Carlos got unlucky
on a hand when he moved his chips in with the best of it. Carlos called in the small blind with A5 and David raised in the
big blind with KQ of hearts. Carlos called and the flop was Q32. Carlos checked, David bet $45,000 and Carlos called. The
turn was an ace of hearts. Carlos moved all-in putting David to the test. This was a great move on Carlos' part.
Unfortunately for him, David called with his heart, king and queen draw. The river was a king keeping David in the game. If
Carlos had won this hand, he would have been in commanding position to win the tournament.
On another hand I was surprised to see Mickey lay down pocket jacks. He raised to $40,000 and when David reraised to
$90,000, Mickey folded. This happened to be the correct move in hindsight (David held pocket aces), but my first reaction
was David had been playing so aggressively that he could have easily had 72. Later I realized that Mickey had been
playing
very tight, and his short stack size was
such that the raise would have basically committed him to go all-in. In other words, David's raise did reveal that he
probably had a big hand, either a bigger pair or AK. If this is what Mickey thought, he made a good
read and an excellent
laydown.
Randy qualified to play in the WPT by playing online. He had never played in a live tournament before this event. His
inexperience showed in a couple of ways. He seemed extremely nervous when he spoke and he made a small error by not getting
more value on the following hand. He was involved in a four way action pot. He held J4 in the small blind making him first
to act. The flop was JJ7, with two diamonds. When the flop came down, he looked back at his cards and then looked back at
them again. He then moved all-in at a small pot for $233,000 and all of the other players folded. Because he did a triple
take at his cards, moving all of his chips wasn't that bad of a move. After doing the triple take, he probably wasn't going
to get any chips out of the other players anyway. He got no value from this hand and it might have caused him to lose the
next hand. He held AJ against Carlos' AT. The flop was A65. Carlos checked, Randy bet $75,000 and Carlos called. The turn
was a nine. Carlos checked and Randy moved all-in for $101,000. Carlos thought about it for a little while and then
reluctantly called. It appeared to me, Carlos thought he might be beat. I wonder what made him decide to call.
He got lucky and rivered the ten and sent Randy home in sixth place. If Randy had got a more value when he flopped a
set of jacks, his all-in move might have prevented
Carlos from calling, or at least lost when he would have made Carlo make an even worse call.
I stated previously Noli was not going to be pushed around when he was the chip leader. On one hand he raised to $50,000
with KQ and when David moved all-in for $175,000 more with a weak ace, Noli didn't give it a second thought. He immediately
called and did not improve on his hand. On another hand, he held Q8. The flop was J85, giving him
second pair. Mickey tried to bluff
him off this hand, but Noli wasn't going to have any part of it. Mickey was eliminated on the next hand we see. He held
pocket threes to Noli's pocket nines. The flop was 975. Noli checked, Mickey bet $50,000, Noli raised to $100,000 and Mickey
moved all-in. The turn was a four, actually giving Mickey a
gutshot straight draw, but the river
was a five instead of the six he needed.
Carlos left not long after that when David raised the $30,000 big blind to $100,000 and Nolie
reraised to $300,000. Carlos made a good move
by calling with his pair of sixes. It is kind of strange to see this hand take place when I have been having discussions lately about
protecting your last tournament dollars by sliding
in under somebody else's protection. David folded and Carlos got the exact situation he was hoping for. He was
heads up against two
overcards. He had a 50/50 chance
to triple his small stack. Unfortunately, the ace flopped and Carlos got knocked out in fourth place.
Noli eliminated David when he held AQ to David's pocket fives. The flop was QJ6 all clubs with Noli holding the ace of
clubs. The turn was an eight and the river was another queen. Why do the poker gods have to overkill like that?
 The
heads-up play was a little wacky because Charlie made a couple of mistakes that an experienced player should not make. It
made me wonder if he was doing it for some kind of edge. One hand Charlie called Noli BEFORE Noli announced the amount of
his bet. This made Noli bet the minimum amount and Charlie won a smaller pot then he might have otherwise. Charlie jumped
the gun again on the hand that followed. Noli announced raise and before he announced the amount of his raise, Charlie moved
all-in. Lucky for him, Noli had a decent hand and decided to call his all-in bet with his pocket sevens. Charlie took the
pot down with his A8 when he flopped the ace and Noli did not improve. THEN, on the next hand, Noli
string bets his pocket kings. I say
to my cousin who is sitting next to me on the couch, "this is like amateur night". Right after that, Vince Van Patten says
almost the identical thing. <Egad, agreeing with Vince!>
The final hand Noli called in the small blind with K5 and Charlie checked his 96. The flop was 764. Charlie bet $50,000 and
Noli called. The turn was a king. Charlie bet $100,000, Noli raised another $100,000 and Charlie moved all-in. Noli called
without hesitation and when the river was a queen, Noli Francisco had the victory.
Also see The Borgata Season Three |
