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The Lapc Volpe Disaster...titanic Has Some Competition.


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Well, I always wait for the televised WPT events, so this is old news (last month). However, the heads up match was just so crazy. I think Paul Volpe now knows where his weakness is. I hope so, for his sake.

 

Ok, this was "live game amature" vs "plain old amature"; going into heads up it was looking good for Volpe. He had a decent chip lead and all that online experience. I wasn't so optimistic, however; had you not told me he was one of the new "internet geniuses" I could have guessed. I thought he made a lot of horrible calls and plays. Early in the game this loose aggressive style quickly cost him the chip lead position. He played it like an online $100.00 buy in event. Eventually the same willingness to just outright gamble, that cost him the chip lead position early on, also cost him the title and all the first place money.

 

The first two hands brought yet another surprise; Klann has got a set of cojones! Knowing Volpe would want to play small pot poker and outplay him on the flop, he blunted this with sheer aggression preflop and postflop. In one early heads up hand, Klann (holding J4) just plain old ran over Volpe (J6) on a board that was highly coordinated (8J10 board, i think it was) by shoving to Volpe's bet out with top pair. The pot would have been split. Volpe folded. Nothing wrong with that.

 

Then, Klann made his first mistake, which also proved his thesis: He limped in w AQ, allowing Volpe to check with 23. After hitting his deuce on the flop, Klann bet out his top pair (ace) for 800k. Volpe called and the turn brought another 2 for trips. After checking, Klann bet out again, Volpe check-shoved, and Klann insta called with top pair, giving Volpe a HUGE chip advantage over Klann.

 

It's over right? No way can you come back from such a huge chip deficit. Right? Well...unless the other guy just implodes, but that would never happen...

 

Volpe went loose-insane. I don't know how else to describe it! It was over in three hands.

 

First to act Volpe looks down at a 10-9 off, and shoves it preflop! Not a good idea, as Klann had AJ on the button and gladly called with the short stack. Mike Sexton couldn't believe it either. I'd love to hear what he really wanted to say about it unplugged. No wonder the guy is in the hall of fame. True gentleman. No help for either player after 5 cards gave Klann his first double up, now putting him within a few million of Volpe. Bu-bye massive chip lead. Hello small chip lead.

 

Next, if shoving once with a bad hand out of position doesn't work the first time, why not try it again, only in position? So, holding a K-10 Klann raises preflop a standard amount, Volpe looks down at J10 suited and decides to shove again! Not call, see a flop, no sir. ALL IN. Klann thinks about it a bit, and calls (K-10 is pretty good even against ace-x heads up). Again, no help after 5 cards now gives Klann the upper hand, and a very healthy chip lead that Volpe had held just two hands earlier. Bu-bye small chip lead, hello short stack.

 

Next, and last, hand (I think Volpe just gives up here after the horrible beating he had just sustained, maybe), he looks down at (again) 10-9 and shoves with it once more, out of position with a horrible hand. While Klann only held a measly Q-rag, he sure hadn't seen anything to indicate that Volpe had changed his mind and stopped the donkey lotto plays. So, he calls and that, as they say, is that. Klann takes it all. Queen high takes it. "Queen high beats 10 high" came the refrain from Sexton, over and over with every card that hit the board. So sad.

 

So, what happened? Well, I don't think it would be unfair to say that maybe Volpe simply choked under the pressure of being on camera. Hey, I seriously doubt the guy made the final table with the chip lead playing like he did once there. If he did, his luck finally ran for the hills. I think that much is obvious. He did tell Matt Savage afterwards that (I'm Paraphrasing) "if you told me coming in, that I would take 2nd place, I would have been happy with that for my first major tournament. Now that I'm here, it's not so great."

 

Yeah, no kidding.

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