Quote:
Originally Posted by masque de Z
They are illuminating to say the least. Clearly he is involved in countess others that he outplays his opponents.But not here!
The problem I have with your post is that it is taken out of context.
It is so easy to sit back, arm chair quarterback once you see all the cards and start spouting off about what someone should or shouldn't do.
But when you are playing 1000s of hands at the table against opponents whose skillset and styles are all over the freaking map, you better be varying your play to match.
The one hand where you were talking about him betting into the raiser with A 9. I'm surprised someone with A 9 would call that bet despite being the raiser. So Ivey had a good read on him, made a play, and was called by a donkey. Then river comes A, he realizes he can't get the donk off his hand so he surrenders, checks, and mucks. That is poker.
In Tournament poker, you aren't always going to have the best hand, you aren't always going to be able to push people off their hands, you aren't always going to have the right read.
You have to make the most of what the table/situation gives you.
As for his play, he is also banking on his table image and a host of other factors that are way above our level as we are not Phil Ivey.
And you have to understand, that in a field that large, nothing is standard. You have a whole range of different styles, Internet players, home game players, live players, Euro players, etc. etc. and if you think all these styles play the same then I have a bridge in Brooklyn i'd like to sell you.
DId you see some of the bluffs made in WSOP??? There was a guy who pushed all in with 75 people left on COMPLETE air on a 5 5 7 K board into a preflop raiser with something like 70BBs.
Anyways, my point is that it's easy for us to sit back, cherry pick and say, "Oh, he misplayed this or that..."
But truth is, taken into the context of 1000s of hands against players with a huge range of skills and styles, I do not fault the play of any decent player.