10
My First ESPN Final Table
This is my third World Series final table. In ’96 I finished ninth in Stud which only had eight at the final table. It’s my third cash this year so I’m feeling really good.
We played pretty late last night. It took an hour and a half to bust the tenth player, and the blinds went up really fast so the average stack has about twenty big blinds. I have about fifteen big blinds. That means there’s going to be a lot of all-in poker. Everyone was playing tight trying to get to the final table, trying to get on TV. Now I think they’re going to crack and start to loosen up.
I am seventh in chips. I am hoping some of the medium stacks will bust, and we get to four- or five-handed and I can pick up a big hand and double or even triple up. I’m not going to be the one out there trying to force the action. Hopefully, I’ll be able to stay out of the fray and move up a few notches. Even if my goal was only to win the whole thing, I still think that’s going to be the right strategy, to play a tighter game, because I think people are going to be a little reckless.
Tom Franklin has the biggest stack. Last night he doubled up with A-9 versus two queens and then he won a hug pot with 7-9 offsuit. His opponent had K-Q and flopped a king and Tom flopped trip nines. Tom got all of his opponent’s chips. That’s how he became chip leader. In two hands he went from being one of the shorter stacks to taking the chip lead.
Tim Phan is going to be much more active than Tom. Tom’s not someone who’s going to go out and start raising every pot. Obviously, he knows how to steal a little bit. There are a couple other players I am predicting are going to come out with their engines firing. They’ve just been too patient for too long. They’re going to be on TV and they’ll want to show they have game, which isn’t always the right strategy. Hopefully, it will blow up in their faces.
I’ve played on TV a lot before so it won’t affect me much although this is my first time making an ESPN final table. That’s a pretty big deal.
