Toto Leonidas? I'm very surprised...

[Python49]

Am I the only one surprised at how well he's doing? I believe he's done very well in like 3 events.. making 3 final tables I believe? In the past when ive seen him play he's made some horrible maniac type moves and has sucked out on people alot. Example being 2003 us poker championship against helmuth and the 2004 us poker championship the hand he calls like a big portion of his stack on a straight draw... I forget the exact details.

I'm just surprised because I never considered him a good player at all and just a lucky fluke... I guess I was wrong before or he's just improved alot over time. Either way congrats to him he's doing very nicely.

[RiverTheNuts]

variance is a bitch... plus, in the USPC, they probably just wanted to hype up the fact that he is a nut and showed the most ridiculous bluffs and calls he made all tourney

[Sponger15SB]

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Am I the only one surprised at how well he's doing?

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I also happen to be very suprised at how he has been doing at the WSOP

[iggy]

Out of all my fantasy team players, he's the only one doing anything for me....so I'm pleasantly surprised.

[PokrLikeItsProse]

Well, it's not as if it's the first time he's made three final tables at a WSOP.

[MowrMowr]

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Am I the only one surprised at how well he's doing? I believe he's done very well in like 3 events.. making 3 final tables I believe? In the past when ive seen him play he's made some horrible maniac type moves and has sucked out on people alot. Example being 2003 us poker championship against helmuth and the 2004 us poker championship the hand he calls like a big portion of his stack on a straight draw... I forget the exact details.

I'm just surprised because I never considered him a good player at all and just a lucky fluke... I guess I was wrong before or he's just improved alot over time. Either way congrats to him he's doing very nicely.

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You may very well be the only one. I don't think he's too worried about whether or not you're surprised at how he's doing...his record speaks for itself:

Hendon Mob Link (http://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=150)

While the two particular hands you remember may seem awful, he obviously knows what he's doing...I certainly wouldn't second guess him.

[Python49]

Calm down buddy, i never said he was a bad player or meant to offend him I just said that I personally was surprised because from what i've seen of him he definitely seeemed wreckless...

[maryfield48]

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Calm down buddy, i never said he was a bad player or meant to offend him I just said that I personally was surprised because from what i've seen of him he definitely seeemed wreckless...

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That's a good thing, though, right? Like, he never crashes and burns. That's what you meant to say, right?

[RowdyZ]

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Calm down buddy, i never said he was a bad player or meant to offend him I just said that I personally was surprised because from what i've seen of him he definitely seeemed wreckless...

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You never said he was a bad player but in your first post you said

In the past when ive seen him play he's made some horrible maniac type moves and has sucked out on people alot

I'm just surprised because I never considered him a good player at all and just a lucky fluke

That sure sounds like you did call him a bad player to me.

RZ

[swarm]

He is pretty respected by top tourney players... I've seen guys like Daniel Negraneu and others tote their respect.

He's a very unorthodox and tricky player, but he's not completely reckless. The image that TV has presented him with gets him payed off by inexperienced WSOPers that are dying to catch him bluffing because of what they saw on tv... so if you pair a hot run of cards with a suckout here or there and he's going to make a run...

With these huge fields you need to be a bit different to navigate to the top.

[mlagoo]

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tote their respect

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get it

[Smoothcall]

Don't be surprised. He has at least one bracelot maybe 2 or 3. And numerous final table in big events. Has won tons of poker tournies in the LA area for years. Is very respected by the other top pros as a dangerous unpredictable player.

As far as the reckless and horrible plays you have seen. I am changing a little of my stance on this i think. Yes i have seen some plays from him that look reckless and maybe they are and are horrible. But its those calculated risks he takes that win him so many other tournies. So sometimes he will look like a dope. But he may be a genius.

[Nottom]

Another thing to add is that a lot of his more "wreckless" play came against Mr. Helmuth who has been known to make a big laydown or 2 in his time. If Toto thinks he can run over Phil with big bets he might crank his aggression another notch (and actually in that tourney he was quite effective at this IIRC)

[nath]

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Another thing to add is that a lot of his more "wreckless" play came against Mr. Helmuth who has been known to make a big laydown or 2 in his time. If Toto thinks he can run over Phil with big bets he might crank his aggression another notch (and actually in that tourney he was quite effective at this IIRC)

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Yeah-- according to Hellmuth's cardplayer column on the tournament, he made a couple of big laydowns that turned out to be horrible before finally making a call and getting sucked out.

http://www.cardplayer.com/poker_magazine/archives/?a_id=13613&m_id=77