Tuan Le calling raises to 5 1/2 x BB HU with 87o and 76o

[danzasmack]

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<font color="blue">first off before anything else is said and done temp seems like a nice guy i loved his "we dancin?" comment </font>

I found his posturing a bit arrogant and irritating. Maybe that's his goal, to throw off his opponents and generate tells

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i thought it was funny. I also thought that was the goal - humor.

Had it been a tournament where flashing lights weren't everywhere I may agree with you, but every time i watch the WPT i think of it less and less as poker, and more like a show.

[Adjective]

I thought that temp was hilarious, his comments and posturing completely fit what he was feeling trying to play someone like tuan.

[benkahuna]

I think Tuan just doesn't like to fold, especially preflop heads up. I also suspect he's just some mixture of arrogant (assuming he can outplay his opponents) and willing to gamble with the worst of it. It makes for great tv and I'm certain he's a great player, but like Toto Leonidas, he plays loosely and dangerously sometimes to the detriment of his winning chances. I think what Phil Hellmuth said about Toto applies just as much to Tuan Le, that he's reckless.

I would even differentiate the chances he takes with those taken by a guy like Gus Hansen. Gus seems to be willing to give up a small edge for other benefits, such as knocking someone out with a much shorter stack out of a tournament--his call of Lederer's all in reraise in PSI w/ kqo seems along those lines.

[illegit]

His worst play of all was calling temp's re-raise for, I forget how much exactly, but it was probably about half of Temp's stack and it was obvious he had 8-high beat and would push on any flop. Tuan had a big enough lead he could probably afford to gamble but this is a terrible spot for the reasons Mike Sexton pointed out. Just keep chopping out small pots as the other 2 battle for 2nd.

[Temp Hutter]

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I think Tuan just doesn't like to fold, especially preflop heads up. I also suspect he's just some mixture of arrogant (assuming he can outplay his opponents) and willing to gamble with the worst of it. It makes for great tv and I'm certain he's a great player, but like Toto Leonidas, he plays loosely and dangerously sometimes to the detriment of his winning chances. I think what Phil Hellmuth said about Toto applies just as much to Tuan Le, that he's reckless.

I would even differentiate the chances he takes with those taken by a guy like Gus Hansen. Gus seems to be willing to give up a small edge for other benefits, such as knocking someone out with a much shorter stack out of a tournament--his call of Lederer's all in reraise in PSI w/ kqo seems along those lines.

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The fact that Tuan plays garbage hands on a regular basis (and raises with those hands) makes it nearly impossible to know when he has a real hand or if he hit a piece of the flop, etc. You are always guessing and because he is usually the aggressor, he has the edge. It may be reckless, but it has been very effective for him. I am looking forward to my next opportunity to play him.

Temp

[benkahuna]

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The fact that Tuan plays garbage hands on a regular basis (and raises with those hands) makes it nearly impossible to know when he has a real hand or if he hit a piece of the flop, etc. You are always guessing and because he is usually the aggressor, he has the edge. It may be reckless, but it has been very effective for him. I am looking forward to my next opportunity to play him.

Temp

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You have a strong point there, but I don't think he plays the maniac nearly as effectively as Ivey (so I've heard, haven't seen it) or Hansen. I think his reads are weaker and I think he makes some very marginal calls absent of pot or implied odds.

Any maniac is a pain in the ass to deal with, but that doesn't necessarily make them a very good player. It takes extraordinary judgement to play LAG well and from what I've seen Tuan and Toto don't have that judgement. Toto's heads up performance versus Seidel in the US Poker Championship was, however, quite good.

I'm going to include the caveat here that I can only base my opinion on what I've seen of Tuan on tv and his performances in tournaments. I think it's important to make the distinction also that I'm not convinced Tuan Le is a certain way, I'm just leaning a certain way based on the available evidence.