How bad were amateurs at WSOP?

[betgo]

From the looks of things on TV there were a lot of really weak players the first day of the WSOP main event. Negreanu's comment that they were unbluffable implies a table full of calling stations.

Were most of the players of the level that they could beat the $20 sit and gos or a 1/2 no limit game at the casino? Were there a lot of weak professionals and amateurs who could hold their own at medium stakes? What percentage were really weak players? Were there a lot of reasonably strong players who were at a disadvantage because they hadn't played at that level?

Was the competition at the main event easier than a lot of the side events? I am sure it was easier than the no limit lowball draw.

[mrbaseball]

Of all the players I saw last night Negreanu easily looked like the worst. He was pissing away chips like a drunken sailor.

That said we saw so few hands and so little play I don't think it is fair to claim anyone on the telecast was either brilliant or clueless.

I'm pretty sure all of those "bad" players could beat $20 SnG's. They did afterall win qualifiers to get in against a lot of other "clueless" internet players. We saw maybe 25-35 hands in 2 hours of broadcast. I find it difficult to pass much judgement.

[Bernas]

Negreanu was probably just upset because he couldn't be his super aggressive self. Caro says against a really aggressive player you should raise less and call more. He also says, you should never bluff a weak player.

[MilwaukeeBull]

Daniel also said later that he played very poorly. He didn't read his opponents and make the correct adjustments.
The level of play did seem quite a bit lower this year in the early rounds. Some of the pros were talking (whining?) about it being loose with bad calls that led to bad beats.

[Toro]

I thought the amateurs were pretty bad, but some of the pros didn't adjust well to playing amateurs. I saw a quote after the event that the pros said they will do better next year because they will play less fancy, more straight forward poker.

Two hands that I thought were amusing that involved pro vs. amateur were as follows:

1. Amateur had JJ and raised preflop and "world" Hennigan re-raised with AA. It got back to the amateur and he paused and then said drawing it out " I'm going to r a i s e" and then hesitated again and said "all-in". Hennigan says "call" and amateur says "are you sure". That one was pretty good. It reminded me of a lot of guys I see on-line that can't believe opponent has anything but AK.

2. Sam Farha raised with a low pocket pair and got called by the amateur with K8s. The flop came and the amateur bet although he missed completely. Farha read him perfect and called. Turn same thing. River he hits the 8 beating Farha and bet again and now Farha makes a crying call. Farha was irritated that he lost the hand and tells the guy to stick to the internet where they can't see you shaking like a leaf(not his exact words) when you are bluffing.

[SossMan]

[ QUOTE ]
2. Sam Farha raised with a low pocket pair and got called by the amateur with K8s. The flop came and the amateur bet although he missed completely. Farha read him perfect and called. Turn same thing. River he hits the 8 beating Farha and bet again and now Farha makes a crying call. Farha was irritated that he lost the hand and tells the guy to stick to the internet where they can't see you shaking like a leaf(not his exact words) when you are bluffing.


[/ QUOTE ]

If he really read him correctly, then he made a terrible play on the flop and turn. 66 is too vulnerable to not raise if you read your opponent as very weak. Looks like Monday morning quarterbacking to me.

[durron597]

Thank you SossMan for the verification! I said the same thing on the WPT board, glad to know someone who's opinion I respect verified this for me [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Toro]

Very good point! By just calling and not raising he let the amateur get there to beat him. In retrospect I think that was part of why he was upset that he lost the hand.

[burningyen]

Men the Master's elimination (AA vs. flush draw) was pretty painful to watch. Anyone know the chips in the pot and how many the amateur would have left after his call?

[Potowame]

Not sure of the Pot size, but the amature was all-in call.

seemed like the 5+1 UB MTT I play, noone will lay down a hand once invested preflop, its going to the river. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]