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 The
televised World Poker Tour Event held in Tunica, Mississippi was described by Tivo as "three young guns go up against three
of the biggest names in poker." The "three young guns" were
Michael The Grinder Mizrachi, Raja Kattamuri
and John Stolzman. The "three of the biggest names in poker" were
Daniel Negreanu, Chau Giang and
Scotty Nguyen.
The first hand shown was a great example of the two going toe to toe. All of the players folded to Daniel in the small blind
and he raised to $60,000 with pocket tens. Michael reraised to $210,000 with pocket kings. Daniel said, "I figured you might
do that. I really had a feeling." He then said, "I make it one million dollars and Michael called the remaining of his
chips (Daniel had him out chipped). Daniel flopped an inside straight draw, but he never got there and Michael doubled up.
Scotty has had his fair share of final table appearances on the World Poker Tour, but it seems he usually makes at least one
mistake while playing. This event was no different. His first mistake wasn't very costly, but in
No Limit Holdem every mistake makes a difference.
On this particular hand, Scotty put out an unnecessary bet. John raised to $70,000 with JT and Scotty called from the
big blind with A6. The flop was K99 and both
players checked. The turn was a ten and both players checked again. The river was another nine. Scotty bet $70,000 and was called by John.
Scotty's ace high was good enough to take this pot down without a bet. He was only going to get called if John had him beat. Therefore
his bet would only cost him money, not gain him money.
Raja was fortunate that he turned a $200
satellite win into a final table appearance
at this event. He was unfortunate that the episode showed only one he played and it was a losing one. Chau raised the $20,000 big
blind to $60,000 with pocket kings and Raja moved in for a total of $398,000 with
AK and Chau called. Once the hands were turned up,
Daniel let Raja know that he folded one of the aces. The flop was T93. The turn was a jack giving Raja a straight draw, but the river
brought a six and Raja finished in sixth place. His $200 investment netted him $247,630.
 Mike
Mizrachi might not be a familiar name to most people (at least when this tournament was played), but many online players are
aware of his screen name "The Grinder". He is a highly respected player online and I am sure it did not take long for most
of the players on the table to recognize his talent for the game. Michael raised to $62,000 on the
button with A5 of spades. Chau mentioned just a
few minutes prior that he was going to play every pot. After the small blind folded, Chau made good on his word and called the raise
with K6. The flop was K62 with two spades. Chau checked, Michael bet $70,000 and Chao called. The turn was an ace giving Michael top
pair and a flush draw. Chao checked, Michael bet $130,000, and Chau moved
all-in. Michael thought for a moment and then folded
the hand face up. Mike Sexton said that Chau was probably disgusted that Michael was capable of making that
laydown. The wondercam showed that the river was
not a spade and Michael would have been eliminated if he had made the call.
Michael still ended up finishing in fifth place when Daniel got extremely lucky. Daniel raised to $80,000 with pocket sevens and Michael
reraised all-in to $387,000 with pocket eights.
Daniel asked for the dealer to pull the bet in and then he turned to the camera and started to talk. He did a great imitation of the
commentators. He said, "See the dilemma Daniel now faces is he knows that in the best case scenario, he is 50/50, so will he make
the call?" He did make the call. The flop was 965. If either player
made a set, the other would have made a straight.
The audience saw John had folded 87, so Daniel had exactly
one out to win the hand. The turn was a deuce,
but the river was the eight!
Windows - Mac
Scotty was the next player to go when he faced the same exact hand three times. Scotty moved in for $430,000 from the small
blind with QJ and Daniel called an additional $405,000 with K8 of clubs. Scotty won the hand and he doubled up. I mentioned
earlier that Scotty has a tendency to make at least one mistake while playing at the WPT final table. His second mistake of
this tournament was trying to get a player who was pot committed to fold his hand. John raised to $200,000 on the button
with K8 of clubs. Scotty reraised all-in for over a million with 98 of spades. John thought for a second and then said he
had to call because of the pot. He called his last $370,000 in chips and doubled up through Scotty when he flopped a king.
The next hand we see, Scotty moved in from the small blind with A6 and Daniel looked down at K8 of clubs again. He stood up and said,
"this is too bizarre." He made the call again, but this time he was able to take Scotty out of the tournament when he flopped two pair.
 Once the
play got down to three people, John used a great strategy. He seemed to know it was necessary to play big pots against Chau
and Daniel because both players
were more experienced. He knew that his best shot was to get into race situations with these players and hope he faired well
in them. He had his first opportunity at a race when he raise with pocket threes and Chau moved all-in with AJ. John said
that he wanted to get into coin flip situations, but this was not an easy call to make. Chau could have had a pair of fours
and John would have been in a lot of trouble. John folded his hand.
John got his chance to play for all of his chips against Daniel, but it was not the situation he was hoping for. Daniel
called in the small blind with pocket queens and John checked T7. The flop was 983 and Daniel bet $120,000. John moved
all-in for $935,000 more and Daniel called. Daniel said he was up against his favorite hand. I am not so sure he feels the
same way since the turn was a six giving John the straight and crippling Daniel.
On the next hand, John raised to $200,000 with A6, Chau called from the small blind with AQ and Daniel called all-in from
the big blind with AK (he didn't have enough chips to fold the hand). The flop was 872 of spades. Chau checked his queen high
flush draw and John checked his ace high flush draw. The turn was a five of spades giving both players the flush. They checked
again. After the four on the river, Chau bet $120,000, John raised to $400,000, and Chau folded. Daniel finished in third place.
 A lot of big pots were
being played in the heads up play. After Chau moved in on the first hand, John said, "I thought you were supposed to play
small pots against me." Playing small pots against John would probably work, but John was not going to let Chau do that. I
liked that Chau was trying to take control of the game and I liked that John made that comment to Chau to try and slow him
down. John wanted to dictate when the big pots were going to be played.
The key hand of the heads up play was when Chau called with AJ and John checked KT. The flop was Q85 and both players
checked. The turn was a jack. John bet $340,000 and Chau called. The river was an ace giving John the straight and Chau two
pair. John moved all-in and after some thought, Chau called. Chau was only left with $220,000 after that hand. John moved all-in
in the dark because he was already pot commited.
Chau looked down at J3. He knew he had to call, but he didn't like what he saw. He said he shouldn't have looked at it. John turned over AT.
The board brought no help to either player and John won the event.
See also Tunica Horseshoe World Poker Open Season One and
Two
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