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 The
Aviation Club de France in Paris hosted the World Poker Tour where three Frenchmen, Claude Cohen, Alain Hagege, and Jacques
Durand took on poker pros from around the world,
Allen Cunningham from the United States, Tony
G. from Australia, and Christer Johansson from Sweden. The set was different than what we are used to. It did not have the
WPT pillars and lights, but instead looked like the backroom of a hotel.
The first hand of the final table Alain raised to $18,000 with Q5 suited and Jacques held pocket aces in the big blind and reraised to
$38,000 which Alain called. The flop was K85 and Jacques moved all-in. There was no messing around with his hand and Alain folded his
bottom pair. It seemed that all-in
moves might be the tone for this tournament. Most players would have tried to take more money from their opponents by
slowplaying their aces.
On the second hand we get our first taste of the talkative and often very annoying Tony G. He raised on the
button with 53 of clubs and Claude called
$8000 more in the big blind with QT. The flop was AQ6 with two clubs and both players
checked. The turn was a five of clubs and
Tony led out with a $12,000 bet with his pair of fives and
flush draw. The river was a four of
clubs. Tony bet out $20,000 and Claude called him instantly. Tony asked, "You called just like that?" He yelled,
"it's a flush" and let out a hearty fake laugh and then said, "that's $20,000 just like that, one second, no thinking"
and continued to say, "you better be careful with your money". He didn't stop talking after the hand and it was easy to
see that he was capable of doing numbers on these players.
I previously stated that with pocket aces a player should usually try to extract as many chips from an opponent as possible.
The same goes for the following hand. Christer raised with QJ of diamonds and Allen called with KQ. The flop was JT4
giving Christer top pair and Allen an open end straight draw. Christer bet out $15,000 and Allen called. The turn was an ace
and Allen led out with a bet of $30,000. A check-raise would have been a better play to get more chips from Christer. An ace is a
scare card for Christer so even if he did not put Allen on a
straight, he would probably put him on
an ace and lay down the hand. I don't think Allen maximized his profit on this hand.
Alain was eliminated when he raised to $18,000 in first
position with AT. Tony G.
reraised to $50,000 with pocket queens
and Alain called. The flop was KKQ and Alain moved all-in for $58,300. Tony G. quickly called. Alain needed
runner runner ace to win the hand. When
it didn't come, he started to leave the table and Tony called him back to shake his hand and it appeared Alain did so reluctantly.
 After that hand,
the show did a short segment on Tony G. It showed how he did not stop talking at the table. Most players seemed irritated by his actions, including
Howard Lederer. Howard has one of the best temperaments
of any player that I have ever seen, so for him to get annoyed with Tony means something. When Howard was eliminated before making
the final table, Tony tried to shake his hand and Howard threw his hands up and to the side. He refused to shake Tony's hand.
Toward the end of the bit on Tony, he said, "If I can't beat them, I have to talk them out of their money."
We see how it is important to remember all of the betting patterns on the following hand. Allen raised on the button with Q8
of spades and Tony called in the small blind with JT. The flop was AK8 and it was checked around. The turn was a four and it
was checked again. The river was a king and Tony bet 30,000 and after a little thought from Allen, he called with his
eights. Tony checked on the flop and the turn so it was almost impossible that the second king was going to help his hand. I
would have been surprised if Allen had laid his hand down.
 At first sight of this hand, I thought
this was the strangest play to date on the WPT. Tony raised to $20,000 with pocket queens and Christer re-raised to $60,000 with AK. Claude folded JT
suited, Jacques also folded with AJ. To my surprise,
Tony folded his pocket queens!! I thought "this is an example of a premium hand that we wait for in
No Limit and he let it go." The more I thought about it,
the more I realized that Tony wanted to go to battle with the players that had less chips than him. If he put Christer on AK, he would not want Christer to
outdraw him because he would be out the door. If it was another player,
I would hope that Tony would have moved all-in over the top of him. He folded in a situation against somebody that could have busted him. I probably
would have not made the play, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me.
Tony lost a significant amount on an unlucky hand. Tony was on the button and raised the $10,000 big blind to $30,000 with
AK. Claude moved all-in with J4 hearts!!?? Tony quickly beat him in the pot. Horrible luck for Tony when the flop came A77
with two hearts and the turn was a six of hearts. The river was a queen. Tony buried his face in his hands after losing that
pot. That pot was worth $177,000 and took many of Tony's chips.
Tony was eliminated a few hands later when he moved all-in with A3 in first position for $61,000 and Jacques called with AK.
The board did not give either players a pair and Tony was sent packing.
Finally we get to see Christer in action.
Unfortunately, he lost a great deal of chips on back to back hands. The first hand, Christer raised the $10,000 blind to
$31,000 on the button with pocket fives. Jacques, moved all-in for $128,500. Christer thought about it for awhile as he
studied Jacques. I am not sure what he saw in him, but he must have sensed some kind of weakness because he called. Chris's
demeanor at the table reminded me of Howard Lederer's. He is always composed and appears to be a methodical thinker. Even
when Jacques flopped the ace, Christer's composure did not change. The pot was a huge one for Jacques.
Christer raised again on the next hand when he was dealt an A9. Allen moved all-in with AQ. Chris studied Allen and called
again. The flop was K63, the turn was a three and the river was a jack. Luckily, Christer had enough chips to survive both
player's all-in moves. I was amazed at how Christer did not let either of these hands affect how he played during the rest
of the tournament.
Amazingly on the next hand we see, it is Christer that raised again. He raised to $30,000 with pocket eights. Jacques moved
all in with 54 spades. Chris beat him into the pot. The flop was JT6 with two spades. The turn was a 7 diamonds and the
river was a deuce. Christer won the pot that he needed to stay in the tourney. He smiled from ear to ear. Jacques's move
might have worked against another player. Another player might have second guessed his hand after losing two huge ones back
to back, but Christer did not. Jacques finished the tournament in fourth place.
Claude moved all-in in the small blind with K3 for $189,800 and Allen called with AT with less chips than Claude. The flop
was 765 giving Claude a straight draw. The turn was a three and the river was another three. It was a horrible beat for Allen,
but one can only hope to get their chips in with the best hand which he did. Allen left the tournament in third place.
Head-up, Christer raised the 10,000 blind to 60,000 with pocket sevens and Claude moved all-in over the top of him again for $445,100 with
AK suited. Chris called after he
thought about it for awhile. The flop was J63, the turn was a ten and the river was another ten. Claude was only left with
$29,800 to Chris's $832,600. The following hand Claude moved all-in with for his remaining chips with T2 and Chris called
with K2. No ten came and Christer was the champion of this event.
See also Paris - Season Two and
Season Three |
