Negreanu makes yet another good read, and other key hands from the Mississippi showpiece.
HAND 1: SO NEAR YET SO FARAZ
LEVEL 6: BLINDS 300/600, ANTE 75
Faraz Jaka (30,000): Kc 3d
Opponent (35,000): Jh Jd
BOARD: Kd Jc 4s 2c 6d
Not playing raggy aces in Texas Hold’em is an oft-recited mantra by the more savvy exponents of the game. King-rag is a whole separate concept, though, and to get tangled up with a weak king either takes the heart of a champion or the brain of a lunatic. Which camp Faraz Jaka falls into is up for debate after making what was so very nearly a genius play; but not quite.
With a raise from early position and a caller in late position, Faraz smelt an opportunity for a squeeze play and jacked up the action to 5,500. Unfortunately, both players had enough to make a call and the three players saw a flop of Kd Jc 4s. Looking down at Kc 3d, and clearly suspecting his hand was leading, Faraz opted to check-raise the original raiser’s bet to 18,000. His opponent instantly moved all-in and the once gung-ho Faraz was now forced into a call for the remainder of his chips with only top pair and a weak kicker. Unsurprisingly, after he did so and the cards were flipped over, he was trailing the flopped set of his opponent and after the turn and river brought no help the crestfallen Faraz made his way to the rail; most probably ruing the mistiming of his almost perfect play.
HAND 2: CHILD’S PLAY
LEVEL 6: BLINDS 300/600, ANTE 75
Daniel Negreanu: Qh 10c
Opponent: 2c 2s
BOARD: Qd Jd 8s 3c 6d
Reading players like a book is a skill Daniel Negreanu seems to have mastered to such a high degree that even when he gets the wrong storyline his decisions are still correct.
With the final board showing Qd Jd 8s 3c 6d and an already substantial pot of 18,000 waiting to be collected, Kid Poker made a bet of 8,500. His opponent clearly hadn’t read the script properly though and decided to turn his pocket deuces into a bluff by raising to 17,500. This bet may have worked on a less literate opponent but Daniel knows how to decipher a hand on with frightening accuracy. After initially asking if his opponent held aces he finally pieced together enough information to make the call and take down a pot worth 81,000 with his Qh 10c. While Daniel’s hand may not have been anywhere near the top of his range the small raise by his opponent, combined with the unlikely scenario that his opponent could hold many better hands than top-pair meant, for someone like Daniel, this was a pretty standard call. Once again one of the best readers in the game demonstrated that it takes a lot more than a bit of aggression to scare him off the best hand.
HAND 3: EYE SPY
LEVEL 7: BLINDS 400/800, ANTE 100
KEITH LEHR: Kd Kh
OPPONENT: Kc Js
BOARD: 7h 6s 3s 3c 9d
Sometimes the post-hand action is a lot more interesting that the activity on the felt, and in a hand involving Keith Lehr that certainly proved the case.
After announcing to the table that he was considering making a quick exit (so he could head home and attend to his wife who was suffering from swine flu) fate struck and he found pocket kings the very next hand. After his speech play a raise was most definitely in order and, predictably, an opponent sitting behind smelled a rat and instantly moved all-in with Kc Js. Lehr quickly made the call and after the board ran out 7h 6s 3s 3c 9d his opponent made for the rail, not before offering a sporting handshake to Lehr.
This is when things started to get interesting as Lehr sat blankly, seemingly ignoring the courtesy of his opponent. Understandably his opponent was a little irked and enquired as to why Lehr wouldn’t shake his hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t notice. I’m blind in my left eye.” Feeling this was another verbal ruse by Lehr his opponent gave him an indignant stare prompting a jovial Lehr to cup the back of his head and remove his left eye. A few members of the table gave a wry smile as the stunned opponent finally admitted defeat and headed for the exit.
HAND 4: PISTOLS AT DAWN
Level 13: 3,000/6,000, ANTE 1,000
Hoyt Corkins (280,000) Ah Kh
Justin “BoostedJ” Smith (492,000) Ks Kd
BOARD: Qs Jd 10h 10s 9s
Whenever two gunslingers meet across the felt the end result is usually a decimated chip stack and one wounded cowboy limping towards the rail.
With that fact in mind it’s always a good idea to come packing some heat when you get involved with Hoyt Corkins because the typically bullish player isn’t afraid to put the pressure on when there are vital chips involved.
After watching Tyler Smith raise to 16,000 under the gun, Corkins made the re-raise from the cut-off to 50,000. The action figured to fold back round to the original player at this point, but Justin “BoostedJ” Smith had other ideas as he quickly shipped in his chips from the button with pocket kings. Tyler quickly realised he was in over his head and folded, leaving a potential gunfight between Corkins and Smith.
Despite his reputation for aggressive play, Corkins took the time to ponder his options and verbalize the potential holdings Smith could make such a move with. After ruling out aces and kings he eventually made the call with Ah Kh and prepared himself to exit the theatre of conflict when Smith turned over his hand. The old dog wasn’t dead yet though as a perfect Qs Jd 10h flop meant he’d dodged a bullet of epic proportions and was virtually freerolling in the hand. A disgusted Smith could only watch in dismay as the dealer laid out the 10s and 9s to complete his misery and leave him with only a handful of chips. |
