Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Ferguson vs. Gold

I was watching some Poker After Dark the other day, with a lineup of former WSoP World Champions: Hay-soos Ferguson, Johnny "The Orient Express" Chan, Barry Johnson, Jaime Gold, Phil Hellmurth, and Huckleberry Seed.

An interesting hand ended the 3rd episode. It's not a mind-blowing hand or anything like that, but it was a nice contrast of styles, and you can see the gears turning in both player's minds as the clip progresses. The sideline analysis is fun to witness too. And the way the hand ends is the *best* part.

Keep in mind, up to this point, Jaime is playing super solid (!) and Hay-soos is playing his normal style. Jaime is the chip leader goin into the hand and Ferguson is in second. Both have about 30k each at this point, so it's the two big stacks goin after each other.

9 comments:

Sushi Cowboy said...

Sooooo obvious that Gold has two Diamonds. Call, call, call! This game is E-Z!

jtrey333 said...

That is true - it says Gold has the 2 of diamonds and 4 of diamonds right on the screen! Hello?!

Sushi Cowboy said...

But at least Jesus can rely on the good ol' coin flip decision making process used by professional poker players around the world.

Ryan said...

I just like that Ferguson can say that he won a coin flip.

jtrey333 said...

The biggest point of the hand is when Hay-soos checks the river, and eventually calls anyways on a true 50-50 coin flip. When he checks, of course he's looking for a free showdown, but I don't think he analyzed the hand thoroughly before he checks.

Given that it's Jaime, and knowing that one of Gold's biggest weapons is to put pressure on, I think Hay-soos is best to push in IF there's a good possibility he's going to fold to a bet. I think if Jesus (BEFORE he checks) actually realizes that he's 50% to call an all-in or 50% to fold, then he's better off shoving and taking away Jaime's move than having to make a big laydown.

However, I think Jesus actually ended up getting full value out of the hand, but in an accidental way. Let's say, before he checks the river, he decides he's calling any Gold bet anyways and might as well open the door to a possible bluff by checking the river, thinking the following: Jaime's hand range is 50% a Q or 50% flush draw, and if Gold goes all-in, he'd be getting 3:1 on his money, ($7650 into a $24450 pot). That's an insta-call, getting 3:1 on a 50/50 chance that he's good.

If Gold checks, then he knows he's good and picks up at least half the pot. Win-win situation, just like it turned out to be, given that Jesus eventually called. But the way the hand played out, I don't think it was actually a good play by Jesus.

Unknown said...

Minor point, but why does Jamie Gold show here. He may as well muck and surrender. He has the nut low, is he looking for a chop?

jason said...

Maddie made a mistake, second nut low as pocket 2's would be counterfeited.

jtrey333 said...

Maddie=n00b

Sushi Cowboy said...

Maddie, stay in school so you can learn what the nut low is.