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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. |
