"jesus" Makes A Strange Preflop Play On Pad

[SlackerInc 0]

David Sklansky says the rule of thumb is not to bet more than 40% of your stack without putting it all in; Copernicus said recently to his mind, it was more like 25-33%. So this would seem an odd play indeed, but perhaps clever in terms of multiple level thinking?Winner take all ($120K). BB t1200, no antes.Tony G: t41000Gus Hansen: t29000Clonie Gowen: t29000Chris Ferguson: t21000Hansen folds. Tony G. raises to t3000. Chris Ferguson has [Ah 5d] and raises to t15000.Ferguson had not long before this mentioned his distaste for all-in preflop poker; so maybe he would have been embarrassed to push right after saying this? Surely he can't be saving that extra six grand back, especially when only first place pays. Maybe this is intended to send the signal that he's got a monster, where he is not afraid to get pot committed preflop? But it's almost a little too outrageous, to where I'd think this could easily be discounted (one step higher level thinking). I can't see myself making this play, but he's got the bracelets. What do you guys think?

[ramenandeggs 0]

i was thinking he was telling tony g that he's serious and is committed to this hand.

[ChrisRichey 1]

i was thinking he was telling tony g that he's serious and is committed to this hand.

Yep. He was just letting him know that he had no fold equity, so he better have a hand he wants to showdown if he's gonna play. What about Gus's call for like 1/4 or 1/3 of his stack with 46h? That was just sick, god I love him.

[throwemaway 0]

Yep. He was just letting him know that he had no fold equity, so he better have a hand he wants to showdown if he's gonna play. What about Gus's call for like 1/4 or 1/3 of his stack with 46h? That was just sick, god I love him.

The hand that we should be questioning is from earlier week between Jesus and Farha...Jesus brings in standard with JJ at 100/200 to 600..Sammy reraised in the sb, to about 2500 I believe with AKc....Then Jesus 3 bet to about 9.2 K if I recall correctly...If Sammy called, he would be left with 9K..At this point, I figured calling would not be an option, as he would have put in half his stack...Then when he did call, I figured it was a stop n go..Instead, he c/f when Ferguson put him all in on a flop of 2 44..Just totally baffling..If he was planning on pushing the flop if he hit, that is retarded because then most of the time, his action is going to dry up..AKs is a hand you want to see all 5 cards with if you are going to play it for a lot of chips..This hand didn't make any sense to me at all...Anyone want to defend Sammy's play or at least explain what he was goin for?

[ChrisRichey 1]

Yeah, Sammy's play didn't make ANY sense to me on that hand. I forgot about that one. Obv we would pwn the "pros".

[SuperJon 175]

The hand that we should be questioning is from earlier week between Jesus and Farha...Jesus brings in standard with JJ at 100/200 to 600..Sammy reraised in the sb, to about 2500 I believe with AKc....Then Jesus 3 bet to about 9.2 K if I recall correctly...If Sammy called, he would be left with 9K..At this point, I figured calling would not be an option, as he would have put in half his stack...Then when he did call, I figured it was a stop n go..Instead, he c/f when Ferguson put him all in on a flop of 2 44..Just totally baffling..If he was planning on pushing the flop if he hit, that is retarded because then most of the time, his action is going to dry up..AKs is a hand you want to see all 5 cards with if you are going to play it for a lot of chips..This hand didn't make any sense to me at all...Anyone want to defend Sammy's play or at least explain what he was goin for?

The only thing I can think of is Sammy loves to gamble. He may have put Chris on a hand like JJ or QQ, and figured that he had a shot to hit an overpair. With the pot as big as it was, if Sammy made a hand, perhaps he thought Chris wouldn't be able to fold a pair with just one overcard on the board. I have seen Chris make calls like that before, so it is possible. I'm sure Sammy's line of thinking was in a winner take all format he's going to need to take some chances and get lucky. Does this make it a correct play? No, not really. But to each his own.

[mrdannyg 274]

Not sure if this is the exact same thing, but in a recent blog, Shannon Shorr discussed a play where he raised a large % of his stack, as opposed to go all-in, to encourage other players to reraise, as opposed to get called by multiple players.

[throwemaway 0]

Not sure if this is the exact same thing, but in a recent blog, Shannon Shorr discussed a play where he raised a large % of his stack, as opposed to go all-in, to encourage other players to reraise, as opposed to get called by multiple players.

Nahh, this was a button vs blind battle 4 handed

[ramenandeggs 0]

Farha was telling Shana Hiatt afterwards though that he made a big mistake that hand. and I love gus for the 4 6 suited too, lol.

[SlackerInc 0]

AKs is a hand you want to see all 5 cards with if you are going to play it for a lot of chips..This hand didn't make any sense to me at all...Anyone want to defend Sammy's play or at least explain what he was goin for?

I won't defend it--I thought the same as you. In fact, what went through my mind is the item I've repeated before from Sklansky and Miller's NLHE book, that AK is the prototypical "move in" hand. Once Ferguson reraises, he's got to make the decision right there to move in or fold.But then, Sammy makes a lot of plays that seem less than optimal...