Guess whos chipleader in ftops # 29?

not anymore, robl is at the top now, and jan skampa who was a shortstack an hour ago, sick

gogogo cheong

massive hero even if he did hit lights out

From what I saw and was involoved with him online the guy is a TrainWreck, gets amazingly lucky in many pots and playing many of his hands so horribly , runs huge bluffs in many bad spots where it was very obv his opponents was trapping him, calling off stack with bottom pair, etc... But my observations were post wsop after he got red pro. I know it is so unlikely to make final table main event without being very good playing 8 day marathon, but I saw and was involved in tournamnts with him on ftp that he was just a train wreck rolling the dice in blind seemingly, maybe because he just doesn't care anymore after making allot of money ,Idk.

Have a look @ His online results pre-WSOP

maybe he was a "massive hero" before, but he's a massive donkey now, wish he'd be in my table every table every tourny I play.

He is a "massive hero" for being railed by Lauren Kling.

http://www.cardplayer.com/cptv/chann...oker-questions

his play was novice at the final table, no way around it.

Completely incorrect.

When you win the WSOPME, you cannot get away from the spotlight/publicity/scrutiny.

You bringing up Yang's name just makes your point invalid. When you win the WSOPME, you will be talked about for years/decades. If you finish 2nd, you get maybe a week-month of publicity. After that, you're an after-thought.

Dennis Phillips is far from the norm, he appeals to the every day guy, he had a deep run the year after too, and he seeks out the spotlight.

?? You think that he would knowingly 5b/fold to avoid a flip with a tonne of dead money out there?

You guys are neglecting to take one crucial thing into consideration. Cheong had just watched rounders the night before the final table. When duhamel 5bet, cheong saw it all play out in his head. Hed come back over the top, then duhamel would ask "did you have it", and hed say "sorry john, I dont remember". It didnt work out, but according to the movie it was still a good play because he was repping aces.

Wow, 16 pages on one hand, even if the thread was to be about a player. There are a lot of interesting posts and thoughts. Before I add my $.02, I'll first say there are many more advanced poker minds in this thread than mine.

Here are my thoughts and/or questions though mostly rhetorical.

-Why is it that so many people think being hyper-aggressive and not adjusting one's play is superior to adjusting to the moment? Yes it is a way to stack a lot of chips, and sometimes all of the chips, but sometimes not. It is impressive to have that kind of balls and disregard for actual money, but isn't the point of the game to end with the most money? Especially if we're talking about a tournament, you're trying to get ALL the chips.

-Why is it that we can't say both Duhamel AND Cheong are impressive players? Why (even if this is a Cheong thread) can't we see merit and talent in both players styles, and even their lines on the A7 v QQ hand?

-Everybody is saying Cheong is a better player because he figured out a way to be the temporary chip leader and table captain. Isn't adjusting one's play to get the desired results equally impressive?

-Duhamel says he was preparing for a 5-bet situation while Cheong was running over the table. I believe that to be true, but I also think he'd have played a 5-bet bluff differently than he played the 5-bet stronger hand. He'd been watching Cheong run over him, and the table as a whole. He found a really strong hand in position and played Cheong like a fiddle. Last time I checked getting players to do exactly what you want them to do is a highly praised skill. I have no doubt that in that moment during that hand, Duhamel's plan was to get Cheong to shove. Duhamel would not have minded if Cheong mucked and gave up those chips, but I believe the shove/call was the plan.

-People seem to think that if Cheong had let the A7 go, he would have been able to win the whole shooting match. That may be true, or Duhamel would have been able to continue having a good read and still won. Or Racner could have caught lightning and smashed them both. You know what? None of that matters because that hand DID happen and Duhamel is the Champ.

-Many have said that what's so impressive about Cheong in the A7 hand is that he had a read and he went with it instead of pussying out. I agree that, yes it is impressive. BUT, 1) his read was wrong and 2) Duhamel also had a read on his opponent and also went with it. The only difference was that Duhamel's read was right.

-Many have mentioned key suck-out Duhamel had near the FT bubble. Suck-outs are a ginormous part of the game. Do people think Cheong had NO suck-out in the Main Event?

I believe that both Duhamel and Cheong are strong, talented players and I look forward to seeing them on TV again.

Very good post, Duhamel deserves proper recognition for a well played WSOP ME, and deserved to win IMO. Sure he got lucky when he should have been felted on a couple occasions, but getting through more than 7k players requires getting lucky and get hot at the right time(s). He also got unlucky on several key hands too, and still prevailed. The AK vs. Raceners' AQ comes to mind, and although Duhamel was the short stack after that hand he made his way to the top and won the thing. Cheong also played a superb series but bad timing during the most critical moment was unfortunate. This was the best final table in recent years and one of the best of all time IMO.

Thanks Joe, I really appreciate that. And I agree, it was a really great final table. I watched the stream and freaking loved it.

That espn3 live stream was excellent, I doubt I'll watch the highlight show in the future since most of the hands they show the cards are already revealed on the live stream. If they showed more of the bluff/steals that didn't go to showdown so we could see what cards are being played I'd be more inclined to watch the espn telecast. I wish they could make a dvd from the live stream w/ one disc no hole cards and one w/ the cards revealed, that would be the nuts

THAT is a fantastic idea!

All in all, my impression from the main event final table was that there were some very bad strategic decisions.

1. Mizrachi, I thought, just blew up. He had control of the tournament, he was in first place for a while... but he was in there mixing it up with VERY marginal hands and even eventually making huge plays and colliding his entire stack. I really felt that he should've "grinded" and just looked for big hands or better spots...

2. Dolan I felt kind of gave up at the end. I thought he might've done better, or waited a bit before getting all his chips in.

3. Cheong's play down the stretch was pretty bad I thought.

For one, the pay jump between 3rd and 2nd place was like 1.5 million dollars. Why the HECK is he getting all-in with A7 when Racener is sitting there with like 15 BBs or whatever he had?

Duhamel is obviously kind of inexperienced, but he is a ballsy kid. The mistakes he makes are making calls that are too loose, and spazzing out at times being over-aggressive. He proved it over and over and over.

So, after the 5-bet and building this big pot, and you've got the aggro sky diver sitting there, just waiting to "go for it" yet again... if you shove you better have an actual hand I think. What, suddenly Duhamel is some awesome player who is subtly and ingeniously making this min-raise 5 bet, intending to fold to a re-raise? Not likely.

And ok, yes, it IS possible... Duhamel wants to apply pressure, but not commit... So Cheong makes the "Ivey" play. But what is the chance that Duhamel folds any of his 5 bet range? Is he 5 betting with pocket sixes or something? His range is probably AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AK and AQ and he probably calls with 100% of that range 100% of the time.

From what I could see, Duhamel was both timid (and thus looking for big hand) and not likely to back down once the play of the hand begins.

So, with zero percent fold equity, Cheong is simply getting it all-in with A7 against AA-JJ, AK-AQ.

So he has like 25% equity in that spot. Losing patience like that and coin flipping with Duhamel while Racener has so few chips, and there is such a huge pay jump... is just terrible. Especially because after eliminating Racener, Duhamel would likely be content to just play a big pot for the whole thing.

Imo, he shouldn't even be mixing it up with Duhamel (again and again) until Racener is out--and shoving over the top of Duhamel's 5-bet just seems really really bad.

imo I think that Mizrachi and Cheong could both have finished higher, and very likely won the main event, by just exercising some common sense and being more patient. I know it's easier to say that, but that just really jumped out at me watching the broadcast. I know it's tough being there though under all the pressure and fatigue. But yeah... there seemed to be some errors in not folding to 3-bets and/or restealing from very straightforward players, as well as building huge pots with weak aces and also disregarding changing chip values and payout jumps.

seriously the 33 vs a9 hand could not have been more standard

except the call with A9 is awful.

That's the line I get from the local guy after I blow off $1,000 on some failed bluff at his home game.

"You have just the right amount of aggression! Sorry it didn't work, but you made a great play!"

Just because i make stupid bets playing poker doesn't mean i'm also too stupid to recognize when you're trying to train me to lose more money to you.

Bumb. Cheong was playing the biggest donkament in the world like a daily $160 Fo. No fear trust ur guts. Lol at min5bet qq and fold to a shove, turning qq into a bluff 3 handed bvb against a lag, wat? I'm 5bet snapping with even tt ak here

Most stupid thing I've read on this site.

He came across very cool and played really well ok.

But could anyone explain me what Senti and Cheong are talking after they get it in with AK vs TT here (at 09:00) because I don't understand it somehow...

To me it's like Cheong says: "I'm glad you have AK there - I'm like yess, I crush your range..."... hmmm..

I'm not that good englishwise, it would help if someone would put in text what they are talking there..

Pretty sure he said "How do you have AK there?"