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 The
World Poker Tour at The World Poker Open in Tunica brought 367 players to take their shot at winning over a million dollars.
The six finalists were
Barry Greenstein,
Chip Reese, Can Kim Hua (CK), Tony Hartman, James
Tippin, and Randy Jensen. The show was not as interesting as some of the events we have seen so far and I think a large part
of that is because two of these players are professional high stakes poker players and have learned to not wear their emotions
on their sleeves (at least not at the table). The players weren't jumping up and down, doing the wave, or throwing themselves
on the floor. It was pure poker and sometimes that might not make for an entertaining show, unless you love poker skill.
The first interesting hand was when Chip called with A8 of clubs. CK
raised to $65,000 with pocket eights, James called with pocket jacks and
Barry raised to $300,000 with AK. The flop was KT3 and James checked.
Barry moved all-in for $295,000 and James laid his jacks down. I thought
about how James played this hand and I probably would not have played the
hand the same way, but he did make the correct read when he was beat on
the flop. I assume he would have moved
all-in if the flop came
without an ace or king.
 There
were many times Chip tried to make steals for the pot, but it seemed like
he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar almost every attempt. There
were a couple of traits in Chip that I was able to see that made me
realize why he is considered one of the best poker players of all time. As
I stated earlier, he was not showing emotion during any hand in the
tournament. In his interview, he stated, "What really separates top pros
from good poker players is when things are going bad. It's like life. It's
a long road that doesn't turn. It's how you handle adversity in a poker
game that matters." This has taken me awhile to learn and I work on it
every day, but I completely agree that it is one of the key factors that
separates good players from great players. The other thing I noticed about
Chip was he was taking any opportunity to pick up a pot. There are times
when good cards just aren't gonna come your way. Great poker players are
able to make money by seizing opportunities.
Tony was the first person eliminated when Randy apparently raised to
$24,000 in the dark (didn't look at his cards) and Tony
reraised all-in to
$121,000 with AJ. Randy called when he looked at his hole cards and saw AQ.
The board was AKKT8. Tony's sixth place finish earned him $120,927.
James played fabulous poker throughout the night (although pocket jacks
were questionable). On one hand, James called the $12,000 blind with the
QJ of hearts, Chip called with pocket sixes CK called with 54 of diamonds
and Randy checked his big blind with KJ of diamonds. The flop was AJ3.
Randy bet $20,000, James raised to $50,000, Chip folded, CK folded and
Randy called. The turn was another three giving both
players the same
hand. James bet $60,000 and Randy folded. James mixed it up with Randy a
few times and seemed to get the best of it in every situation.
 Barry happened to get the best of Randy on the following hand. Randy called with
83 of spades on the button, James called in the small blind with J6 and
Barry checked his big blind with K7. The flop was K87. James checked,
Barry bet, Randy called and James folded. The turn was an ace of spades
giving Randy a flush draw with his pair of eights. Barry checked, Randy
bet $40,000 and Barry called. The river was a four of diamonds. Barry
checked again, Randy bet $120,000 and Barry called. Barry knew if he gave
Randy enough rope, he would hang himself. I wondered about the
flat call
Barry made, but then figured if he had him read correctly, there was no
need to raise because Randy was not going to call anyway. He might be able
to pick up some information on Randy by seeing his cards rather than
having the cards go into the muck because of a raise. Barry has since told
me his reasoning for the check. He said, "I checked to get him to pretend
he hit the Ace. But I never check raised, because he might have hit a
miracle: an eight high straight was the nuts, he might have made a small
set, or Aces up. These were only remote possibilities, but I could not
think of a hand he would call my raise, unless he had me beat, so
raising
would have been foolish and could have gotten me knocked out."
There were many questionable plays by Randy. I had to laugh when he stated
on his interview that he was one of the ten best players in the world. He
made a few great plays, but made some moves that no top professional would
make. He played preflop in the dark and raised on another hand when he
only looked at one card. One of the not-good plays he made was when he
called with 93 offsuit. Barry called in the small blind with A5 of spades
and Chip raised $80,000 more with pocket eights. Randy called the raise
and Barry folded. I was ready for him to make some kind of play against
Chip if he hit a good flop. The flop was Q44 and Chip checked. If he was
going to play the hand at all, Randy should have made a move right here,
but he didn't. The turn was a three and Chip bet $40,000 and Randy folded.
That had to be one of the stranger hands shown on the WPT.
Barry was able to win a decent size pot when he raised with K2, Chip
called with K4 of spades and Randy called in the big blind with QJ of
spades. The flop was Q98 all clubs. Randy checked, Barry bet $50,000 with
his king of clubs, Chip folded and Randy called. The turn was a seven of
hearts and both players checked. The river was a ten of clubs. Randy
checked, Barry bet $150,000 and Randy called with his straight. I didn't
understand this call either. Barry checked on the turn, what could Randy
have put him on? If he had a pair, Barry wouldn't have given Randy the
free card. Barry bet when the fourth club came on the river and that bet
screamed of flush to me, but then again I am able to see the hole cards
from the start of the hand.
 CK
did not make much of an impression on this show. We were not able to see
many hands he was involved with. I am not sure if this was because of WPT
editing or because he did not actually play many hands. He got eliminated
when he moved all-in with AT and Randy called him with pocket tens. The
board was J8762 and CK left the tournament in fifth place.
After CK was eliminated there was a "Pro Tip" segment featuring
T.J.
Cloutier and it seemed he was talking directly at me. He spoke about
observation being the best thing. When you are not in the hand, see what
the other people are doing when they are in the hand. He said, "That's the
best thing you can learn in any kind of poker game."
Barry seemed to play terrific poker all night long, but there was one hand
that was questionable in my opinion. James had been playing great poker
all night and he stated he was just going to call with the best hand he
had seen all night. He held AQ and Barry held A9. Barry raised to $120,000
and James moved all-in. Barry mucked his hand. I suppose Barry
decided to test the statement, and he found out what he needed to know.
The hand that was my favorite of the evening was when Randy raised with J9
in the small blind. James made a comment about being tired of the small
blind picking on the big blind. He decided to call and make a stand with
K6 of clubs. The flop was 964 with two clubs. Randy checked, James bet
$100,000 Randy raised to $300,000, and James moved all in. After the chips
were counted out, Randy decided to fold his hand rather than call another $412,000.
 There
were two people eliminated on one hand which was a first for an episode of
the WPT. Chip moved all-in for $281,000 with K5 of spades, James called
with pocket queens and Barry moved all-in over the top with
AK
suited.
James thought about it for a little while and then asked what would happen
if both players happened to get eliminated on this hand. I suppose he got
the answer he wanted because he decided to call. All of the players stood
up and watched from behind the table. When the flop was being put out,
Randy was chanting "ace, ace, ace". I thought that was inappropriate, but
Randy got his wish when the flop was AK6. (If Barry wins the pot, Randy
immediately moves up two spots on the pay ladder, worth about $450,000.)
The turn was an eight and the river was another ace. Chip had fewer chips
when the hand started so he finished in fourth place and James finished in
third. I can think of another episode where a non-winner stole the show. This time the non-winner stole my heart.
(More thoughts on this hand.)
The heads up play was fantastic. It seemed like there was move after move
after move. The first hand, Barry raised to $100,000 with T7 and Randy
called with KQ. The flop was AK5. Randy bet $90,000, Barry made it
$500,000 and Randy moved all-in. Barry folded his hand. Barry won many of
those chips back a few hands later when he raised to $100,000 with 65 of
spades and Randy called with 54 of hearts. The flop was K42. Randy
checked, Barry bet $160,000 and Randy called. The turn was a three giving
Barry the straight. Randy led out and bet $400,000 and Barry moved all-in
and picked up the pot. Randy happened to pick up a pot on a
bluff awhile
later and showed the cards to Barry. I usually don't agree with showing
hands, but in certain situations you might be able to set another player
up for a future hand. Barry was not your typical player and there was no
way Randy was going to be able to set him up by showing his a bluff. The
only thing that was going to accomplish is to give Barry some added
information he didn't want him to have.
After that hand, Randy told Barry to get some guts and make a big pot.
Randy said he raised to $200,000 and told Barry not to show guts and move
all-in. So Barry said all-in with his AQ and Randy folded his hand. Randy
got himself into trouble again and might have cost himself the tournament
when he said, "I am tired and I am only gonna look at one." He raised to
$100,000 and Barry called with QT. The flop was T43. Barry checked, Randy
moved all-in and Barry called. Randy did not improve on the turn or the
river and Barry was the winner.
Barry pointed out to me the similarity between the final hand Sammy Farha held against
Chris
Moneymaker in the 2003 World Series of Poker. He said, "My flop
was T43. I called a million dollars immediately when the pot was only
$200,000 with top pair. If Randy had fours and threes, the result
merchants would have said I made the same mistake Sammy made." He
went on to say though that "my call was more indicated than Sammy's since
Randy had been showing me his cards [revealing his hand via betting patterns,
not literally showing] and had never made a big bet with a good hand."
It is always nice when we can root for the "good guy" and this was certainly the case. Barry donates 100%
of his tournament winnings to charity. You can read more about that and Barry in his
profile.
Also see the World Poker Open - Season One and
Season Three reports. |
