So it didn’t take very long this time for Isildur1 to make another apperance after the big loss he suffered a few days back. The results were probably not what he imagined when sitting dowm, however, but we did see some interesting matchups. I am thinking in particular of the 700 hands he played of HU PLO $200/$400 he played against Phil Galfond (OMGClayAiken). They didn’t play too much during Isildur1’s first stint last year, so it will be quite interesting to see what transpires in the time to come. In the match last night, it was Galfond who drew first blood, winning $149K.
Galfond flops middle pair and a straight draw against Isildur1’s lone pair. $68K pot.
This was the largest pot of the match between Galfond and Isildur1, and it shows that it is possible to get into real trouble when playing trash hands in PLO. I know the general feeling is that you should raise almost 100% of the hands from the button in HU PLO, but you need to discard the worst hands of that range. I would think that most good HU players raise some 80-85% in this spot, and Isildur1’s hand is definitely one they choose to fold.
After the flop, Isildur1 only has bottom pair and makes a play at the pot hoping that either Galfond will fold or that his two pair draw will come through for him. In itself not an unreasonable decision, but this time he finds himself in a spot where he only has 22% equity. When Galfond moves in, Isildur1 finds himself in exactly the spot he could have expected when decided to play the hand in the first place, and when Galfond hit the straight on the turn it was all over. Aggressiveness is good in poker, but sometimes you need to know when to not take a stand.
Ziigmund’s two pairs hold up against Cole South’s flush draw. $219K pot
Ziigmund was the big winner of the day, taking down $609K in 838 hands. Most, if not all of his winnings came from Cole South, and this pot was contributed nicely to that end. Ziigmund flopping top and bottom pair, the second nut flush draw and a gut shot straight draw was only too happy to get his money in on the flop here, and Cols South with his nut flush draw was pot committed once he made a continuation bet on the flop.
Ziigmund’s hand was probably a disappointment to Cole South, since it took away two of his spade winners, and since he could see that didn’t have any other direct outs. South was a 2-1 underdog on this flop, but hitting top pair on the turn put him in a lot better spot since he now could very easily river a better two pairs than Ziigmund. At this point, the odds are 55/45 in favor of Ziigmund. Unfortunately for Cole South, the six on the end meant there would be no salvation from the card gods on this hand, so he had to accept another defeat on this night.
To finish off, I give you the largest pot of the day where durrrr and Cole South get it in on the flop with durrrr as a 3-2 favorite which also holds up in the end.
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