Great job Todd, enjoyed meeting you yesterday & enjoyed railing this event!
Watching Todd's bust-out hand now. Feed skipped around like crazy, and I missed most of it. Well-played, sir.
Final 3 were the bottom 3 not long ago.
Congrats on the FT Todd and to all the backers.
Well Done Sir
gg druff. you played well and got it in good. that's about all you could do.
Really good run Druff. These limit tourneys are insane at the end. Well played.
gg druff
Druff nothing you could do bro!! Get em next time!!
Fuck 'em All Druff
GG Druff. I know you wished for more but not much you could do. When the blinds get big and you get into spots that don't work out your stack dwindles away fast.
well played Druff. Time to take a bracelet in a NL event I guess!
GG Druff!
So obviously this wasn't the result I was looking for. While not awful (like finishing 9th), it is still somewhat disappointing. At the same time, I knew coming in that I would have to catch a lot of good cards to win, and that just wasn't happening today.
Since a lot of the talk has been about David "ODB" Baker's ESPN 3 criticism of my play and certain actions, I'll first explain the background between me and him, and then I'll talk about my thinking regarding those hands/actions.
I'll do it in Q&A format:
Q: It seems like David Baker didn't like you. It seemed he took every opportunity to bash you. Is there any kind of history between you two?
A: Yes, but it's a stupid history. In 2007, a limit player from Katy, TX (David's city) showed up on Absolute Poker. At first I thought it was David, with whom I had no problem at the time. I asked him if he was David, and the guy said he was actually an 18-year-old from Katy, but knew of David. From that point, it became an inside joke where I'd put "nh David" when he'd win a pot, and stuff like that. Then he started typing in the chat that I was actually the one who was David Baker. It was all harmless, and everyone knew it was all a joke. I also never went along with his claims that I was David Baker when the kid said it. Anyway, somehow this got back to David and he mentioned it during a 100-200 game at Commerce. He said that he heard I was "impersonating certain people" online. I knew exactly what he was referring to, and told him the whole story. He just grumbled and didn't really respond, and I could tell he didn't believe me. Ever since then, he has been generally rude and surly to me whenever I play with him, and while we never had any direct confrontations, I could tell for certain that he really disliked me.
Q: The announcers said your call with 44 from the SB to Justin Bonomo's UTG raise "was terrible". Why didn't you just raise or fold that hand?
A: Bonomo had enough chips to where it wasn't a desperation raise, but there was also a fair chance that I was ahead of him. I decided that the 44 was too good to fold, but at the same time, didn't want to be pot committed to get a ton of chips in if he seemed to be ahead of me postflop. Basically, I wanted to just call, and then see what happened on the flop, and then evaluate what to do from there. For example, if the flop came AKJ, I'm folding. If the flop came A93, I'm calling one small bet and check-folding the turn without improvement. If the flop came low, I was going to check-raise and see what he did, as he could easily have missed. Basically I wanted to be able to give myself a chance to win the hand without committing myself to a ton of chips if I didn't hit the set. Indeed, he had JJ, so while I would have won the hand anyway, I would have committed a ton of preflop chips with 44 vs JJ had I three-bet, which would have been a mistake.
Q: Let's talk about the other 44 hand against Nassif. He three-bet you from the SB, and the old man called in the BB. On the flop of 922, Nassif bet, the old man called, and you raised. Nassif 3 bet, the old man folded, and you called. You folded to the A turn. David did not like any of this. What was your thinking?
A: If the old man raised the flop, I was obviously folding. Since he just called, I thought there was a good chance he missed. The question was whether Nassif hit or missed. I knew he would probably make that clear on the flop. If he hit, he would 3-bet out of position. If he missed, he would probably call and wait for the turn. Obviously I was done either way once the A hit the turn, but I felt that raising the flop would make it clear where I was in the hand. Once I knew I was in trouble (his 3-bet), I called one more small bet to hit the miracle 4, as it was definitely worth doing so given both the existing size of the pot and the fact that I'd get the remainder of Nassif's chips if I hit it.
Q: Why were you occasionally waiting a few seconds to fold in obvious folding spots? David said you were "Hollywooding" and didn't like that.
A: I did this to somewhat disguise the times when I would legitimately have to think about what I was going to do. Obviously I wasn't going to be an asshole and do this frequently, nor would I tank 30 seconds in obvious fold spots. However, I felt an extra 5 seconds here and there couldn't hurt. Nitpicking about crap like this made it clear that David wasn't commentating from a neutral point of view.
Q: Why did you 4-bet AKo out of position?
A: Unlike in cash games, where you'll get QQ type hands to call you all the way down on an A or K high board, in tournaments people will fold if they don't like the board. The problem with AK is that it doesn't get a lot of action postflop if it's ahead (the best you can hope for is top pair, worse kicker, or occasionally two pair over two pair). I decided to 4-bet the AK both to make it harder for people to fold when an A or K is on the board, as well as to perhaps force them off a board neither of us care for (such as 77 on a Q95 board). Also, if they raise me post flop after a 4 bet, I know it's probably serious business and my overcards aren't worth chasing.
Q: When Nassif had QQ and you had AJ with the A99 flop, why did you check-raise the flop? Didn't that make it too easy for him to release on the turn?
A: No. He wasn't betting the turn with QQ (he had position) if I flatted the A99 board. I knew that I wasn't getting a lot of action out of him either way, and wanted to reduce the number of chances he had to catch his miracle card. If I check-call the flop, he checks the turn and maybe calls the river, plus gets an extra card (river) to beat me.
Q: Your 22 against the old man in the BB was criticized by Baker when you didn't bet the turn on the 9948 board. He then spiked a ten on the river to beat you with AT. You did fold correctly, but why not just bet/fold-to-a-raise on the turn and push him off?
A: This was a weird hand, as he was very short stacked, flatted pre, and then CALLED the 994 rainbow board despite having very few chips behind. I thought he was too short to want to chase overcards at that point, as they might not be good for all he knows, and one small bet on the flop was huge to him at that point. I figured if he was calling with 994, he had to have a pair or better, and if he didn't, there was a good chance he wouldn't risk the rest of his chips bluffing at me out of position. If he check-raised the turn, he would have had just barely enough to complete the check-raise, and I've seen many desperate players do that with total crap. I decided I was likely screwed with the 22, and was at most going to put one more big bet to call it, and would probably fold unless the river was a total blank (like 3). I didn't like the ten, and folded. I do see the reasoning to bet with the 22 on the turn, but I just had a hard time figuring out what he was flat-calling with a 994 rainbow flop given his tiny stack behind, and thought it was more likely a slow play and than an overcard call-off. Most players are either check-raising or folding that flop. I admit that I was very close to betting that turn, but he very well might have gotten it in anyway (given his low stack) and rivered me.
Any other questions?
yebsite would have shipped it
Oh, not that this really matters much, but with this cash I moved into the #10 spot in all-time money cashed in WSOP Limit Holdem events ($547k), just a few thousand ahead of Brock Parker.
Nice going Druff!
I know it must be a disappointment to come so close to a second bracelet and not win it, but 5th/170 in a field full of solid pros is a real accomplishment. And you've done your backers well.
:thumbsup
SOBCHAK SECURITY 213-799-7798
PRESIDENT JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., THE GREAT AND POWERFUL
Old Guy Michael Moore wins the bracelet.
Last edited by BeerAndPoker; 06-23-2013 at 02:15 AM.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)