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 The World Poker Tour at the
Reno Hilton was one of the worst to date. There were some great bluffs in certain situations, but most of the hands were
mediocre. It felt like I was watching an episode of
Celebrity Poker Showdown
(though not quite as bad). Every time I see an episode like this, it makes me realize the importance of top play at the
final table to make exciting TV. The six final table players were Tony Bloom, Young Phan, Paul "Eskimo" Clark, Michael
Kinney, Harry Knopp and Pete Muller.
I was impressed with the
laydowns two players made in the first hand
of the tournament (even if it was downhill from there). Pete raised to $33,000 with AJ of diamonds, Young called with AQ and Michael
reraised to $150,000 with pocket kings. Both players
laid their hands down. With the rise of poker, it has become a rarity to have players make laydowns with aces in their hand. It looked like Young
read Michael's raise correctly as him having a big hand,
so Young new his AQ was likely way behind.
 The second hand we see eliminates
Young Phan. Young raised to $36,000 with A6 and Harry called the additional $30,000 in the small blind with KJ of clubs. The
flop was AKT with all of them diamonds. Harry checked, Young moved all-in for $106,000 and Harry called. I couldn't believe
the call Harry made when there were three diamonds on board and he didn't have any. The turn was a three of diamonds
and the river was a queen of clubs giving Harry the straight.
Michael earned a lot of pots by being the aggressor. On one hand, Tony called with 86 of clubs and Michael checked in
the big blind with J5. The flop was A65. Mike checkraised Tony and won the pot with the worst hand.
Eskimo won a huge pot giving him the chip lead. Harry called with pocket aces, Pete called with JT, Michael called in the
small blind with J9, and Eskimo checked with Q6 of clubs. The flop was 974 with two clubs. Harry bet $30,000, Michael
called, and Eskimo reraised to $150,000. Harry finally decided to show some strength with his
pocket Aces and moved
all-in and Eskimo called. I think
this was a decent call Eskimo made because he was one of the shorter stacks and if he had won the pot, he would be chip
leader. The turn was a three of diamonds and the river was an ace of clubs. Eskimo won a little over a million in
chips on this particular hand.
Eskimo won another big hand when he raised in the small blind with JT of diamonds and Tony called with J9. The flop was J87
giving both players top pair and straight draws. Eskimo checked, Tony bet $40,000, Eskimo raised another $150,000 and Tony
moved all-in. Eskimo called the all-in bet without giving it much thought. I was surprised at how both players played this
hand so aggressive. The turn and river brought no help to Tony and he finished in fifth place.
Players seemed to be dropping fast and I knew Pete was going to be the next to go after he made a horrible call. Harry
raised to $60,000 with KQ and Pete called with AJ of diamonds. The flop was K62 and both players checked. The turn was
deuce of diamonds and Harry bet $70,000 which Pete called. The river was a five of spades. Harry moved all-in and Pete
thought about it for awhile, but called. The reason why I thought this was such a bad call was because of the table
chatter that Harry was doing. There were certain tells that a few of them had and this was definitely one that Harry
continuously displayed. After that hand, Pete was left with a small amount of chips and he made a
move in the small blind with K6. Michael
called the additional $72,000 with KT. The board helped neither player and Michael won the hand because his KT played.
 We saw Harry get burned earlier in the program when he
slowplayed his aces. The same thing happened
to Michael when he slowplayed two pair. He called in the small blind with K8 and Eskimo checked his
big blind with T9. The flop was K86 giving
Michael top two pair and Eskimo a straight draw. Both players checked their hands. The turn was a queen and it was checked again.
The river was a seven giving Eskimo the straight. Michael bet $50,000, Eskimo raised another $150,000 and Michael called.
Michael managed to win a few chips back when he
outdrew Eskimo. Harry called on the
button with Q8, Michael called with
K5 of diamonds and Eskimo checked his 43 of clubs. The flop was K43. Michael checked, Eskimo checked, Harry bet
$50,000, Michael called and Eskimo raised to $200,000. Harry folded his hand and Michael moved all-in. It was the best
situation for Eskimo to be in and I am sure if he won the hand, he would have won the tournament, but fate was not on his
side. Michael got the king he needed on the turn and Eskimo was
drawing dead.
I stated earlier that Harry had a tell of doing a lot of table talk when he had a strong hand. Michael had a few tells
of his own and it showed on this particular hand. Michael raised to $60,000 with AJ and Harry called the extra $40,000 in
the big blind with 86 of hearts. The flop was JJ2 and both players checked. The turn was another jack giving Michael four of
a kind. His expression and body language changed significantly when that jack hit. He looked dumbfounded and he didn't look
like he knew how to handle it. Harry did not pick up on it and bet $200,000. Michael moved all-in and Harry folded.
Mike Sexton's
comments about this hand were right on. There was no reason to move in at that moment. He should have let Harry have a
free card and hopefully he would make
something where he would get some more of his chips.
Harry finished the tournament when he took QT against Eskimo's 97. The flop was 773. Eskimo checked, Harry bet
$175,000 and Eskimo called. The turn was a ten of spades making a possible flush. Harry went all-in with his two
pair and Eskimo called with his three of a kind. The river was a jack giving Harry no help. It seemed like Harry
acted hastily on this hand. Eskimo check-called him on the flop and Harry should have at least considered the notion
that Eskimo might have a seven or the flush.
When the play got heads up, Michael
continued to play the role of aggressor and won a lot of uncontested pots. The key hand of heads up play occurred when
Michael raised the $30,000 blind to $75,000 with KK and Eskimo called with Q2 of spades. The flop was Q64. Eskimo checked,
Michael bet $150,000, and Eskimo moved all-in. Michael jumped up out of his seat as he announced call. The turn was an ace
of hearts giving Eskimo the flush draw, but the river was a ten of diamonds. One of the uncontested pots ended up with
Michael making a great play. Michael raised with 32 offsuit and Eskimo called with 85 offsuit. The flop was 544.
Eskimo checked and Michael checked. The turn was a queen and Eskimo checked. Michael bet $60,000 and Eskimo raised to
$160,000. The river was a nine that made a flush possible. Eskimo checked, Michael bet $350,000 and Eskimo folded. Eskimo
must have put Mike on a draw, but bad luck for him, the flush draw came and Michael was able to
bluff his busted straight draw.
The final hand of the tournament was a little different than most of the ones we have seen on the WPT because all of the
money got in preflop. Michael made a move for the pot and moved in with J6 offsuit. I am sure he was not thrilled when
Eskimo called with KT. If he wasn't thrilled at that moment, things would soon change when he
hit the flop of 864. The turn was a seven and
the river was a deuce. Paul Clark finished in second and Michael Kinney was the Champion of the World Poker Challenge.
Also see Reno Hilton World Poker Tour - Season One and
Season Three |
