Wednesday, November 28, 2007

An Unbelievable $998,000 Pot on High Stakes Poker:Antonius sends Farha to HELLsinki!


Every poker player wants to go to poker heaven, but no body wants to die.
Patrik Antonius was an Angel of death and creative destruction, a Finnish wrecking ball to the human hangover Sammy Farha: on Episode 14 of High Stakes Poker.
Patrik sent Sammy straight to Hellsinki, leaving poker's wiseguy with that "out of money" experience and a concussion, with, yes--a pair of nines verses a king high flush draw---believe it or not.
Antonius moved all-in with his flopped top pair of nines . Sammy Farha was feeling lucky with his king-high flush draw and two overs, and insta called. They must have read the cliff notes to Malcolm Gladwell's Blink.It's a book about rapid cognition, about the kind of thinking that happens without thinking, in a blink of an eye....and then you go broke.
At first it looked like Sammy was going straight to HELLsinki, but then when The Finddagrinder agreed to mercy him--and run it four times, things cooled off. It was more like heck---a 50-50 split pot situation--Antonius, however, won three times, walking away with about $750,000. Sammy, Patrik want's to thank you for not smoking your signature unlit lucky cigarette!
Sammy is fearless at the table. You have to give him that. Yet, feeling 100%fearless and playing deep stack poker is like feeling athletic and going to a sports bar. It’s a bad decision. It is the in to your sane, a kind of voluntary madness. The surest way of getting nothing from something. The road less traveled-the psycho path!
Denial is not just a river in Vegas

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The Godfather Of Poker Keeps His Friends Close And His Frenemies Closer.Brunson Scoops $800000K


"Don Dolleone, I am honored and grateful that you have invited me to your table on the biggest hand of televised poker history-Luca Brasi
10-2 offsuit- sleeps with the fishes and dines on the whales!

Doyle Brunson took Cirque du Soleil billionaire Guy Laliberté to clown college last night on High Stakes Poker---to say it was a circus, would be an insult to the bearded ladies, mimes and interpretive dancers. A moment of silence was in order as Guy was nearly drawing dead.

Doyle did "that thing with the thing bada bing-all-in" to Guy aka Moe Greene. It was the difference between Doyle's lightning Ad10d Suited verses Laliberté's lightning bug, Ace Rag.

Doyle agreed to run lightning twice and it struck in the same place twice!--- taking down the largest pot of record so far in Season 4---- $818,100; keeping the HIGH in High Stakes Poker. Spot on Texas Dolly.

Eating What You Kill Is So Money but it wasn't personal. They were not playing together, but were not playing against each other either. It was like...the smell of Napalm in the morning---Victory.




When the minimum buy-in was raised to $500,000 a few weeks ago, it was only a matter of when not if a huge heads up pot would be contested. Doyle, however, has been pretty tight-is-right. While Guy was loosey goosey, mixing it up, splashing pots, and making good calls, like calling Jamie Golds bluff the other night.
Doyle raised to $11,200 with Ad-Td, and got called by four players, including Laliberté who held with Ah-5h. The flop comes rainbow Ac-Js-4d. Doyle bets $40,000 and only Laliberté called.

Brunson fires another bullet when the 2d fell on the turn, betting his nut flush draw--$110,000. Any easy fold for Guy. Instead, Laliberté raises! to $310,000; putting Doyle almost all-in. Brunson Makes the right mistake (a 75% favorite to win) and calls. They run it twice. Guy loses both times--Brunson takes down $818,100, keeping the HIGH in High Stakes Poker. Spot on Texas Dolly.
One thing is for sure---Infinite patience brings immediate results to your deep stack game, and Doyle proves this time and time again.
Let there be flop!
Doyle Gets his Freak-onomics On: Hay Mr. Laliberté---When you don't have good cards, somebody else probably does: "You can't lose what you don't put into the pot." Too much respect for money makes you a bad NLH player---does that make Laliberté, one of Forbes rated richest in the world, a good one?

Well in an upcoming (unreleased) Episode (15)---the largest pot in High Stakes Poker History $1.2 Million! --- Guy, Quebec's second largest cultural export after Celine Dion, lets fellow francophone David Benyamine off the hook in a "Let them live" move with top two pair and David shoving all-in on the flop, drawing to the nut flush, a huge dog. In Ben's case--you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate.