Sorry for being a little late on the post this week, despite having the episode posted last Monday on YouTube. In any case, durrrr did not disappoint in his return to the HSP tables, turning a very derty 6-outter vs. Howard "I guess we chop" Lederer.
But before that, we finally saw the hand that was released as this season's teaser before episode 1 ever aired. Patrik Antonius starts the action with a straddle. One thing you absolutely can't deny after watching this season: the straddle creates ridiculous action. I used to think that straddling can't possibly be +EV since you're forcing yourself to put in $$ in the worst position at the table, but if you are a poker god like this guy or this guy, the additional action the straddle creates is probably +EV. In any case, Phil Laak finds AJo and pops it up to $6k, getting a call from Howard Lederer with 88 and Antonius with Ts4s (PA def been reading spritpot and understands the power of spades). The frop comes 4h3s2h. Antonius checks to Laak, who bets $16k. Lederer folds the best hand for about the 86th time in his HSP run. It comes back to Antonius, who calls with top pair and a backdoor spade draw. It would have been pretty interesting to see what would have happened had Lederer stuck around...Antonius might have raised, he might have folded, he might still have called...I have no idea. And I don't know what would have happened on the turn either. In any case, Antonius calls because he probably thinks Laak is going to be c-betting any A, any hearts, and also probably will not be able to extract that much value on later streets if he has a weakish overpair like TT-55.
The turn brings the Ks and Laak bets $37k into $52k. You can't blame Laak for barreling again, given that he can rep AK. However we've seen Phil Laak check back top pair and overpairs on boards like these earlier in the show, so at the very least his bet here probably takes QQ-55 out of his range, and perhaps even questions the credibility of him having AK. We've also seen him limp AK earlier, and while that hand didn't go to showdown, maybe Antonius has seen him limp AK in the past. Without QQ-55, Laak's vb'ing range is down to A5s, sets, and maybe AA/KQ/AK. His bluffing range is Ax, and any hearts. And, since we've got the straddle on, there's also total air like QJo. So Antonius decides to call. Why not raise with pair+fd? The reason is that Laak is probably not folding a K or better, he's certainly not folding a straight or a set, and he's not calling with any worse hand (POSSIBLE very rare exception of a single hand, Ah3h). When Laak polarizes his betting range by checking back his medium-strength hands like QQ-55, Antonius is better off calling than raising.
After Antonius calls, the river brings a Qd. Antonius checks again. You really can't blame Laak for betting here. Antonius' hand looks very weak, and although Laak has the nut no-pair, Antonius could have a weak hand that beats him...he could have rivered a Q with a Q-high heart draw, he could have a 3hxh hand, or say...Ts4s. Antonius just levels him and takes advantage of how polarized Laak's range is. He would almost definitely check back AK or AA on the river. His value betting range is pretty much limited to A5s, sets, and KQ (and that only some of the time). Just not quite wide enough a range for him to rep given the pot odds Antonius is getting on a call and how weak Antonius's hand looks. Well played by both players, just a little bit better by Antonius. Note to Phil Laak: if the river is a J, can you make the same bet? I'd say no...which makes Patrik's call good.
The other great hand, just for pure comedic value, was the last hand of the show, where Tom Dwan 5-bets preflop with 86o, gets called by Howard Lederer, who then has probably 100k or so left in his stack with 130k in the pot, and they check down a Q3289 board, shipping durrrr a monsterpotten with 3rd pair no kicker. Howard, you really want to take a flop out of position against the best Hold 'Em player in the world? You have the nuts vs. his range preflop (this is a guy that has shipped in 200k preflop with Js2s before), shove and get it in!! Really rough show for Howard...this hand, folding the 88 earlier, and getting bluffed off the best hand by Cassavetes, one of the only non-pros at the table (just ask this guy, never fold presto!). It's still a small sample size, but the theme of this season has been that the young guns (Antonius, durrrr) have really outshone the older pros (Lederer, Negreanu).
-BRUECHIPS
5 comments:
Truly, Howard is not in his comfort zone with that bunch of people. I wonder how he felt when everybody was sayin that he got "Durrrred". I actually felt a little bad for the guy because I do actually like him.
I guess Zigmund didn't have the best results. Barry.. was pretty much schooled although he did win some big pot(s).
Whatever the case, I don't think I would ever get tired of watching Dwan and patrick.
I'm a little surprised that Patrick is ahead on the Durrrr challenge by almost 200K with plenty more hands to go.
True, you're right about Ziig...and Eastgate, too. Although they got pwnd by durrrr for the most part, not any of the older guys. And Ziig pwnd Negreanu for a bi when he turned trip sixes.
I thought Barry played the best of all the non-durrr, non-Antonius players. His turn xr vs. Elezra was very sick. Doyle played well but very tight. Same for Benyamine. I don't remember him mixing it up too much, but he played well. Elezra made some pretty bad plays IMHO, but got paid big on his AA vs. Daniel. Basically, I'd say Dwan and Antonius are a cut above everyone else, and Negreanu and Lederer are a cut below (at least on this show...for all the Kid Poker fanboys out there, I'm sure Daniel has had much better days, but on this show he did not play well...don't think anyone can really argue with that).
-bruechips
Looking at the big hands from the durrrr challenge, it looks like Antonius has run pretty hot. Which is important in PLO. When you have two great players playing, even if one is better, the edge is pretty thin.
Nice recap, thx. I had a c0mment about straddles, b86 this is from my phone, so maybe later when I get home.
The most interesting thing about this episode . . . when durrrr sat down, the level of crappy silly banter died down significantly at the table. People know they have to up their game against this guy. It's a testament to how tricky / dangerous he can be. The action w/Lederer is pretty amusing. Lederer clearly does not have to want to make any huge decisions post-flop (wants to take it down pre with a hand that he probably wouldn't even three-bet in a lot of other situations), but durrrr is forcing him to play post-flop OOP.
Laak's inability to balance his range(s) makes him extremely exploitable. His play really shows the risk of checking top pair and overpairs "too" often - it removes your ability to bluff often enough to be profitable.
Post a Comment