FULL TILT POKER BLOG

#017 – FTOPS #3 Update D – Learn, Chat … and Mess with the Pros

Posted by Editor | Filed under Andy Bloch, FTOPS, Roland de Wolfe

We’re at the second break in FTOPS #3, NLHE. We’ve seen off half the field. There are 1,314 players remaining. The average chip count is 6,289. I have finally peeked above the average, with 6,720.

Roland de Wolfe leads the pros with 19,153, in 14th place. He spent much of the last hour in second place. Huckleberry Seed, after spending a long time with 12,000 chips, is over 14,000. Andy Bloch, after spending an equal amount with 9,000, is third among the Full Tilt pros, is over 12,000.

It seems the players want to get in as many chips as possible, as fast as possible, against the pros. I watched Roland’s table for awhile. He raised pre-flop with A-Q and a player with 5-5 pushed in 5,000 chips (an above-average total for the tourney at the time). Roland called and busted him when an ace hit.

I then saw how Roland played the exact same hand in a different, and much more profitable way. A little while later, the player under the gun (UTG) raised the 50-100 blinds to 350. Roland, with 5-5, called. The flop came T-J-5, 3 suits. UTG bet 850. Roland calle. After a six on the turn, UTG checked and roland bet 1,600. UTG raised to 5,200. Roland re-raised all-in, to 8,000. UTG, with J-T for 2-pair, called and lost.

UTG can be faulted for raising in early position with J-To. But look at the great odds Roland was getting for hitting. (The more likely situation would be the under-the-gun raiser having the kind of premium hand you’d expect like A-A or K-K, but the result is the same – the chance of winning a giant pot. And if Roland doesn’t catch a five, he usually will get away pretty cheap.)

Just before the break, a succession of short-stacked players wanted to get all their chips in against Roland before the flop and he had good enough cards to oblige. In a space of four hands, against players with about 2,000 chips, he had A-Q against T-T, which he lost; K-Q against K-J, which he won; and K-T against A-J, which he lost.

Andy Bloch also made a play, in moving up from 8,000 to 12,000 chips just before the break that you might find interesting. He was in the blind blind, at the (80-160) level. A player starting the hand with 4,000 chips raised to 444. Andy, with 9-8o, called.

The flop was Jd-Js-9d. Andy checked. The raiser bet 577. Andy then pushed in his entire stack of 7,524 (though about 3,000 would have put the raiser all-in). The guy called, showing 6-6, and lost.

These tournaments are a great opportunity to watch the pros play – seeing how they display aggression and use their stacks, when they play conservative (Seed and Bloch played very few hands for a long, long time, though they may change after the blinds go up and antes are introduced – or maybe not), and how they manipulate opponents and play after the flop. And plenty of these guys – like Andy and Phil Gordon (hanging in with above-average chips) – are nice enough to answer questions about how they play.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Be Sociable, Share!