Friday 22nd August 2008

Welcome to Hold or Fold - The UK's only Poker E-Letter dedicated to
helping YOU become a better player!

In this week's E-Letter -

       *This game is easy !

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Hiya there and how have you been this week??

I'm just getting back into the swing of things after my holiday - I have won a satellite to
the Sunday PokerStars Warm-up but as it's bank holiday weekend - I have social stuff to
go to - friends to have a drink with etc etc - so no doubt - I'll leave it this week and run
it over to next Sunday -

I did, however, have a splended night at my local Poker night last week - we decided to add
a bit of spice to the game and play a £5 bounty as well as the usual pot - So, if you knocked
someone out - you took their fiver too...

Well - not only did I win the first prize of £60 but I also knocked 7 players out !!

The babysitter got a bonus that night !!

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This game is easy !

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I was trawling through YouTube looking for a hand to talk about this week when I came
across this one from the 2007 WSOP Main event...

There were so many great quotes I could have used, it was difficult to pick one...

You would have thought that a table with Hevad Khan and Umberto Brenes would have been
extremely loud - but they are, surprisingly, very sedate in this particular hand...

The blinds are 10k/20k with a running ante of 3k

Umberto is first to act and he folds Ah and 10c -
 

The Chip Leader, Dag Martin Mikkelsen is next to act and he picks up Ad and Kd - he raises
it up to 60k.
 

Chris Lovelace is next to act and he picks up the two black eights - 8c and 8s - he decides
to re-raise to 150k -
 

Norman Chad commentating: "Lovelace bought in for the $10,000 entry fee says 'I want
to know if I can play with the big boys!'"

Lon McEarhan also commentating: "So far - so good - over to Hevad Khan now"

Hevad folds his hand.

Everyone else folds back around to Dag who wants to know how much Chris Lovelace has left
- and he hears it's about 200k, he re-re-raises him all-in.

Chris decides to call and put his tournament on the line - technically he is ahead by 56%-44%
but it is also the classic coin-toss!

In total, there is 765k in the pot.

Lon McEarhan: "That is one of the most sedate all-in calls we've ever seen at the main event"

The Flop comes down: 10d Jd Jh !!
   

The odds are now 62% in Mikkelsen's favour - Dag smiles and realises that he's now got the
advantage.

Hevad Khan wryly laughs: "What a way to miss and still be monstrously ahead!"

Norman Chad: "Lovelace's pocket eights are good but in dire straights !"

The Turn card comes down: 6d


This gives Mikkelsen a flush but there is still a chance that Lovelace can make a full house -
he's hanging in there with a 10% hope against hope !

The River comes down: Qd !!!!!!


Hevad Khan WOWWWWWWssss and claps his hands !

Chris stands up and shakes Dag's hand - he then shakes every players' hand - he's finished in
109th place and earns $58,570 - he's a happy man !

He turns to the table with a big smile on his face: "What a helluva way to go out - Enjoy
it fellas !!"

Norman Chad is relieved: "Our eardrums are fortunate - Hevad or Umberto wasn't the one
to hit that Royal Flush !!"

Mikkelsen rakes in the chips and smiles: "This game is easy !!"

You can view the hand at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvflmlnIpdw

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Post Mortem

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Not alot you can say really - Chris Lovelace put his tournament on the line with pocket 8's
after a raise from the chip leader - although technically he was in front before the Flop -
it was still a very risky strategy...

If you're up against the chip leader or a very short stack - it is very likely that you will be
called with your re-raise - if he had just called the raise in the first place, with a Flop like
J J 10, it might have been easy to fold to a raise - there again - he might have thought
that his 8's were good and gone all-in anyways -

Either way - it's very unusual to see a Royal Flush - I've never had one playing live and only
had 2 playing online - so when you get one - it's good reason to celebrate !!

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Well I hope you have a good week - may the cards be with you and I'll see you again next Friday.

All the best

Meg Arana
Hold or Fold