ULTIMATE POKER CHALLENGE DAY 1 REPORT by BLAIR RODMAN

[ansky451]

Awesome report.


Oh, and to anyone trying to knock the 77 fold... jesus, give the guy some credit. I think he plays at high enough a level that he can make ridiculous laydowns.

[Exitonly]

no one was really "knocking it" we mentione that he plays at a higher level and might have extraordinary reads.

But the reason to post hands it to create discussion, we don't have to like everything he does because *gasp* he plays at a high level. He makes mistakes too (as he admitted w/ his river raise w/ AA).

[KramerTM]

Look, right or wrong, you had a strong read and you went with it, so props to you. That said, I think I am always calling all in in this spot mainly because if I am wrong, I will live to fight another day.

Awesome report... keep 'em coming!

[Blair]

Experience in poker is a critical element in advanced play. For players with thousands of hours at the tables, sometimes the answer just comes to you, and you're not sure from where. In fact, I often try to blank my conscious mind and let my subconscious do the work, something known as soft focus. That's what happened with Tommy. I was a little confused, especially after his call on the flop. I expected him to either move in or fold. When he moved in so quickly on the turn when the ten hit, I suddenly got got this very strong intuition that he could have only had 9's. Then I worked it back in my head. The only hands he could have called a raise of that size on the flop were an over pair to the board, or a set. I might have given other players credit for other possibilities, but not him, especially considering he originally raised from the 1-hole. His range of hands for an early position raise , at least in my mind, was AK, maybe AQ, and a pair of 8's or higher. When he called my raise, I eliminated AK and AQ. If he'd had AA,KK,QQ or JJ, and chose to continue with the hand after my raise, he would have been comitted to the pot and would most likely have moved in there in case I was getting out of line with some weird drawing hand. That left TT,99 and 88, none of which I could beat. Nines made the most sense, because on the flop he would probably have moved in with a set of 8's, and either folded or moved in with tens. With 9's, had he missed the hand, he could still have gotten away from it with 16k to work with, if I moved in on the turn. And in fact, that's what he told me his thought process was when I asked him about the hand. He also told me that he moved in because he didn't want to give me a chance to check behind him and take a free card that could hurt him.

[ansky451]

[ QUOTE ]
no one was really "knocking it" we mentione that he plays at a higher level and might have extraordinary reads.

But the reason to post hands it to create discussion, we don't have to like everything he does because *gasp* he plays at a high level. He makes mistakes too (as he admitted w/ his river raise w/ AA).

[/ QUOTE ]

meh, you win. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[betgo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
no one was really "knocking it" we mentione that he plays at a higher level and might have extraordinary reads.

But the reason to post hands it to create discussion, we don't have to like everything he does because *gasp* he plays at a high level. He makes mistakes too (as he admitted w/ his river raise w/ AA).

[/ QUOTE ]

meh, you win. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem I have with this is that you have to be right like 90% of the time with the pot odds you are getting. I just think this is being too cleaver. If the money was a little deeper, I can see going with this read.

I am sure he had a really strong read. Part of it is Blair Rodman's ability. However, part of it is the opponent. Obviously, he was playing a good player who was solid and predictable. Against an online qualifier or a loose player who liked to raise with suited connectors and such and represent whatever hit, it would be impossible to get such a read.