Black v. Matusow Hand ... Good laydown??

[BlackAces]

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You figure he has to have something because the side pot was empty or close to it wasn't it?

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while this may be true, the something could easily by ATs (pretty marginal call preflop, but chipleaders do funny things sometimes). Not to mention that Matusow could have JJ or 99 and was trying to isolate against an AK or something similar, to increase his chances of winning the pot. I think this is a very tough laydown, and one that I would probably not be able to make.

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The betting doesn't really support this though.

Before the flop, with an all-in bet and a small reraise, I don't see anyone calling cold with AT, chip leader or not. He probably has a medium-large pair or AK-AQ.

After the flop, a $450K bet into a million-dollar pot isn't trying to chase someone out. If Mike wanted the other guy to leave, he would have bet closer to $700K-$800K, and probably laid down if the other guy came over the top. Mike was trying to build a bigger side pot and see if he could bust 2 at the same time, figuring the other guy might have a huge hand that he couldn't get away from.

I don't think it's a terribly hard laydown to make...it'd require some thought, but it could be done.