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May 29, 2003
World Poker Tour in LA
I've been watching the World Poker Tour for a while on the Travel Channel and its been quite interesting but last night's episode at the Commerce Casino was definitely the best I've seen. I am not surprised that Gus won for a second time (I didn't see the first one) as his aggression clearly had the other players terrified, even very good players like Andy Bloch. Having watched Gus bet and showdown terrible hands, clearly trying to later set up traps, the other players seemed terrified of betting into him and thus possibly walking into a trap. Interestingly, Gus even seemed to benefit from being in early position, totally against the norm, as it allowed him to dictate the play and nobody was daring to raise him, even when he checked. I could never play anything like his style but it seemed damn effective last night. His bluffs also successfully bought him a bunch of calls of bigger bets later, just as he wanted. He really did get screwed in the hand where the player getting kicked out hit QQ on the Turn and announced it, causing Daniel to bail when otherwise Gus might have taken him for a bunch and still went on to win. Well played, Gus.
Posted by aarondf at May 29, 2003 03:40 PM
Comments
I'm glad you liked the episode.
I don't think I'm terrified of any poker player, although it may seem I am sometimes. If I really was terrified of Gus, I would have re-raised or folded more to avoid playing hands after the flop. My strategy all along was to be willing to play hands with Gus but to play cautiously so I don't risk going broke before the short stacks. For a more detailed explanation you can read my comments on the Commerce WPT posted at http://www.wptfan.com/article.php?story=20030528232221556#comment114 .
Andy
Posted by: Andy Bloch at June 19, 2003 12:31 AM
Thanks for the comment and congratulations on your success on the tour.
I know that we are heavily influenced by what hands they show but I was still amazed at how rarely people raised Gus when he raised pre-flop and then didn't raise on the flop. I did read your comments and had checked out your excellent site before. From the comments, not betting (playing after Gus I believe) the 859 flop with A8 is an example of what I thought was kind of timid play. Also, I am above only singling you out by name because you are obviously an excellent player, not at all to indicate you were more scared than the other players.
Posted by: Aaron at June 23, 2003 01:12 PM