Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
You can go a long time watching poker before you see poker like this – a moment of brilliance from a great player.
Here’s the background: Jamie Gold has been playing extremely aggressively, raising frequently preflop and picking up a ton of pots by following up after the flop. He’d also been tabling his bluffs, at one point slamming down 2-3 on a J-J-Q-Q-X flop.
He opened-raised once again to 800k and was called by Allen in the big blind. The flop came 8d-3d-8h. Allen checked and Gold bet 1 Million. Allen called.
The turn was a 2, and Allen checked again. Gold checked.
The river was a Qs and Allen checked. Gold be 2 Million, and Allen thought for some time, then called. Allen showed A-9 – no pair, just Ace-high, with a mediocre kicker. Gold mucked. Cunningham raked a huge pot.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
In a few weeks Jamie Gold will be the talk of the poker world. Win or lose, he seems to have the type of personality that will elicit strong opinions. Depending on how ESPN cuts the footage from the last few days, he may seem petulant and arrogant. Players who have shared the table with him, however, generally have good things to say about him – call him a nice guy.
Whatever the general opinion of him that develops, one thing his for sure – the guy is NAILING cards, and he has been for days on end now.
Here’s a hand that shows just how hot Gold is. Allen Cunningham raises under-the-gun and Doug Kim calls behind him. Gold mucked, and as his cards headed for the muck, they flipped over, exposing A-T.
OK, you think, that’s a good fold. Allen’s been tight, as has Kim. It’s likely that A-T is pretty far behind and could get you in trouble on the flop. But then there’s the flop K-Q-J. The guy just shouldn’t fold a hand, it seems.
Note from my surreal life. As I sat watching the action in the media bleachers, I turned around to share a laugh with a cheering fan. It was Ron Jeremy
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
The singular theme of this Main Event is that the play has been exceptionally fast. Play started today with a re-raise preflop and an all-in. Dan Nassif in hand number two, took his Ace-King high against Jamie Gold’s set of deuces. Not a bad couple of weeks for Dan, though. He won $1.5 Million
Nassif was in good humor after busting. He offered apologies to his friend who ordered the pay-per-view on ESPN.
The chip leaders now have the following:
Richard Lee 15 Million
Allen Cuningham 17.4 Million
Jamie Gold: 30 Million
Gold continues to catch hand after hand.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
We’ve reached the final nine. Sometime in the early morning on Saturday, a new champion will be crowned.
It’s been a long World Series, and I thought I’d use this day off to discuss some of my impressions from this year’s WSOP.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
Leif Force, perhaps the tightest player in the history of the WSOP main event, busted out in eleventh position. Leif played a bizarre form of short-stack poker. He started the last level with just about 1,6 Million, He continued to fold an incredible number of hands, and spent a good deal of time with between 900 and 1.2 Million. Several times he folded his small blind when the pot folded to him. He also didn’t play aggressively when on the button.
Leif took a bad beat about an hour into the level, when at the other table, one player was all in with Queens but was against Kings. He would have made the final ten had a Queen not hit on the flop. Leif looked crestfallen when he heard the announcer describe the flop.
Forced to play a couple of hands with a desperate stack, Leif actually bluffed, but the bet was weak, and he was called. In the second form the last hand he played, Leif called all but 300k form the small blind, then surrendered on the flop. In the last hand, he was all in with a flush draw and an overcard against top pair.
Allen Cunningham added significantly to his stack. In a key hand against the Jamie Gold, the chip leader, the two saw the flop when both were in the blinds. The flop came J-s-4-s-4d. Jamie checked and Allen bet 400k. Jamie called. The turn was the Ad, and both players checked. The river was the 7s and Jamie bet out 800k. Allen raised to 2.8 Million, and Jamie, after some thought, called.
Jamie seemed to be flirting with tilt. He lost that big pot to Cunningham and another large pot to Eric Felich. But soon after he seemed to calm down. We’ve just moved to a 10-handed table, and it could be some time before we lose another player. Everyone has chips, and the play has become cautious.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
Twelve players remain, and all of them will have payouts of 1.2 Million or more. When the tournament director made the million-dollar announcement, some were noticeably moved. Leif Fore, a 21-year-old who looks very much like a hippy, cried.
Allen Cunningham, who has been in that club for a long time, joined in the compulsory round of applause, but seemed mostly unmoved.
The play has been relatively fast, though things have slowed some now that we’re down to 12. Allen Cunningham has padded his stack slightly, but the force of the tournament is clearly Jamie Gold. He’s catching cards continually and now has almost 30 Million. He’s badly outflopped opponents and in one hand took KK against JJ for a big pot.
He has eliminated a string of players, and now that there are only 6 players at the table, he’s stepped up his aggression and is picking up a lot of pots.
Three more eliminations and the day will be over.
It’s difficult to report on specific hands because we’re kept at a distance fromt the tables.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
The quantity of luck that it takes to win a large tournament is almost unfathomable. Getting good cards is only part of the issue. You need to catch big hands against fish or good players with second-bests. A good table draw is also critical.
Going into the final two tables, Jeffrey Lisandro got a terrible draw. Short on chips, with just over 2 Million, he was put on the featured table in seat 5. To his immediate left is the chip leader, Jamie Gold, who is playing a lot of pots. To Jamie’s left is Allen Cunningham, who is second in chips.
The blinds are high – it costs 220k to play a round. Lisandro is going to have to find some hands in the next hour or to be competitive.
Meanwhile, it seems that Gold and Cunningham are showing each other respect. Gold was unusually deferential in a blind-vs.-blind confrontation, and just ceded the pot to Allen.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
Play continues at a torrid pace. In only 20 minutes, four players dropped. After an hour and a half of play, we’re down to 21 players.
At Allen Cunningham’s table, the pots are phenomenally large. Whereas at the other tables, most of the pots are heads-up, at Table 3, many of the raised pots were called in two or three places. One pot was raised to 250k and called by three players, including the blinds. It was checked all the way to river – no one wanted to stab and the board, which contained 4 hearts and a pair o 8s.
Amid the insanity, Cunningham was quiet, playing few pots. His stack was reasonable short – in the 2.2 Million range – and he wasn’t taking chances with this chips. He stole blinds a couple of times, but didn’t contest pots where he raised post-flop and was called.
Allen was involved in two very large, valuable pots. The first occurred 20 minutes before the break. A late position player limped. The small blind raised to 400k, and Allen came over the top all in. All folded.
The second major hand was the final deal before the break. The under-the-gun player raised to 175k and was called by a Swede in middle position who was something of a calling station. Allen called from the big blind. The flop came K-5-2 and Allen checked. The UTG player bet 400k and was called by the Swede. Allen then thought for a moment and declared “all in.”
The pre-flop raiser looked furious but folded. Then the Swede thought and thought, then called, tabling 9-9. The turn and river came Q-Q, giving Cunningham the full house – 5s full of Queens.
The pot will propel Allen into the top 5 or 6.
UPDATE: Early into the next level, with blinds of 30/60k and a 10k ante, Allen took his pocket Aces against Kings, eliminating a player and building his stack to over 13 Million. There are now 18 remaining players — two tables.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
Allen Cunningham has made the final 27, guaranteeing a payday of just under $500,000. He has, in my humble opinion, played brilliantly. I chatted with Allen just after the today’s play.
JG: Is this a highlight of your poker career?
AC: I don’t know what ‘highlights’ mean, but this is the most fun and excitement I’ve had in a tournament. Even if I get knocked out next, it’s been really exciting getting this deep in a big tournament.
JG: I’ve been watching you play and you seem to play a lot slower than many of your opponents. Is playing slower working to your advantage in this field?
AC: I’m playing the way I think you should play. Some of the guys are really playing terrible, going broke with hands they shouldn’t go broke with. I’m trying not to take too many chances because there’s a lot of money in the higher places. If I can make the same playing a hand slow or fast, and there’s a risk I’ll go broke playing it fast, then I’ll play it slow.
JG: You won a big pot with a set earlier. It was a limped pot and you were in the small blind. You bet out every street. Is that the way you normally play a set?
AC: Yeah, I fired three barrels and he called. [I bet out there because] it’s often best to hope he has something. If you just keep betting it’s tough for him to get away.
JG: There are some very large stacks around. Is that something that’s going to be in your mind as you play tomorrow?
AC: It’s not in my mind at all. I just need to do the best with the chips I have.
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(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5, rated) Posted by jgreenspan | Filed under Uncategorized
In the last two day of play, Allen Cunningham has played exactly two big pot. One occurred yesterday when he was very short and took a race with K-J against a pair of 7s. He won.
The second big pot just went down.
A player who started the day among the chip leaders limped in middle position. Allen limped from the small blind and the big blind checked. The flop came Qd 7c 5s. Cunningham bet out 125. And the big stack called. (This player had made some strange calls earlier and had burned through some chips.)
The turn was the Js. Cunningham bet 300 His opponent called.
The river was the 6d. Allen measured out a stack of red, a stack of black and a stack of orange – 800k. His opponent called in a shot. Allen then showed his set of 5s and raked a huge pot.
With this pot he eclipsed the 3 Million chip mark. There are bigger stacks out there, but there is no player in the field who is more respected or feared.
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