#250H - London Journal #16H - Million Dollar Cash Game #22 - Less Aggression Yet Smart Play

After hours and hours of mostly contained action, they started opening it up at 6 PM. Patrik Antonius and Allen Cunningham were in a pot where the flop was T-9-8, rainbow. There was $12,000 in the pot. Patrik bet $10,500 and Allen called. They both checked after a five on the turn. After a deuce on the river, Patrik bet $22,000. Allen called, saying “Those are two terrible cards.”

Patrik called out, “top pair,” and Allen showed pocket aces, to take the $77,000 pot.

Three hands later, Chris Ferguson took down a $100,000 pot (I think the biggest of the day) with Q-J. He made a pair on the flop and two-pair on the turn. It was a threatening board, though, so he let Ivey take over the betting lead and just called Phil’s $35,000 river bet.

(Incidentally, the last three hands I described in detail in this blog all showed the benefits of giving up the aggressive position later in the hand. Chris and Allen both picked up action on the river, and Howard’s trap SHOULD HAVE worked but even when it didn’t, he saved himself money by checking the turn.)

At 6:20 PM, Andy Bloch, after offering several times to sell his seat to Erick Lindgren and playing off an ever-shorter stack, rebought for another $100,000 but told Erick he was playing just one more round.

Lindgren is chomping at the bit to get in, and someone suggested DNA testing Roland de Wolfe. He hasn’t said much or played many hands (though that’s actually been the norm for the players entering the game).