If ever there was a contrast in the respective demeanours of two professional poker players, the heads-up finale of Season III of the World Poker Tour’s Grand Prix de Paris was certainly it; and while avid followers of our Frozen In Time series will recognise the two lead protagonists from the final table in last month’s classic moment, we thought that this particular tournament beared repeating just to prove that there is such a thing as a happy ending in poker.
For those of you who weren’t with us last month, please allow us to reintroduce our main competitor and the new challenger. In the red corner we have one Antanas Guoga; the loud-mouthed Australian action-junkie and self-proclaimed table captain, better known as Tony G. In the blue corner we have the challenger, Surinder Sunar; the silent assassin from Wolverhampton famed for his meticulously methodical play and Zen-like demeanour at poker tables across Europe.
When we left the abrasive Aussie last issue, he’d successfully doubled through Irish professional Peter Roche and administered a rubdown of truly epic proportions to his visibly deflated foe. In the hands that followed, Tony continued in his own inimitable style and managed to get on the wrong side of virtually every player, tournament director and innocent bystander present at the Aviation Club as the six finalists were whittled down to the last two.
Surinder, meanwhile, had gone about his business in his usual quiet, dignified manner and when the two polar opposites collided in heads-up play, it was no secret who the crowd had chosen to get behind. However, for all their jeering at Tony’s pantomime villain act, it was the Australian who struck first when his huge all-in bluff with bottom pair successfully knocked Surinder off of top pair to leave him crippled after just the first hand of heads-up play.
“I had the heart and the commitment to the game to win this pot,” was the Australian’s typically reserved assessment of his performance, but while the bluff looked to have taken the wind out of Surinder’s sails, he was thrown a lifeline soon after as Tony fell victim to his own self-confidence.
With the blinds at 25k/50k, Surinder had little choice to move all-in pre-flop for his remaining 600k with pocket sixes, but the same could not be said for Tony, who bizarrely made the call with J-8. No help arrived for the Australian, and much to the barely concealed joy of the onlooking support, Surinder was gifted a way back into the match. After that, pre-flop all-in followed pre-flop all-in as the two competitors took it in turns to aim huge slugs at each other’s chip stacks. First Tony spiked a 10 on the flop to overtake Surinder’s A-J with 10-8off, then the Brit was dealt a bit of good fortune himself as his K-6 tripped up against his nemesis’ pocket tens. Clearly it was only a matter of time before a winner emerged from all of the open-shoving chaos.
In the end it was Tony who made the fatal mis-step as his all-in shove with Kd 3h met some resistance from an increasingly confident Surinder. “I’ve looked at one card and it’s really good,” said the plucky Brit, finally giving some verbals back to his cocksure opponent and flashing the Ad. “I think I’ve got you this time - I’ll call,” he continued as the dealer spread his hand to reveal Ad 7s. Despite a sweat going to the river as the first four cards rolled out 6s-10d-Qc-Js, an innocuous 6c fell on fifth street to vanquish the Australian and hand Surinder his first major title.
Punching the table in a fit of defiance otherwise at odds with his outward calm, Surinder basked in the applause of a delighted audience and a slap on the back from Padraig Parkinson as, for the first time that evening, Tony G fell strangely silent. Who says that nice guys always finish last? |
