blonde poker forum

Hi folks, just a quick message to say a big congrats to Stuart 'Easy Pickings' Rutter for his awesome second place finish at the GBPT at Gala Notts this weekend and a massive thumbs up for penning a tournament report for all the blonde viewers to read.

If you have a spare moment, please take the time to read it. It's a cracking read, and I'm sure you'll agree that Stu is a genuinely talented writer.

See for yourself...

http://www.blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/9724 (http://www.blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/9724)

After a period of momentary confusion, I've just worked out there are two separate British poker tours in the casinos, the Gala one and the Grosvenor one. I read a couple of weeks ago that the Great British Poker Tour was going to be televised on ITV4 and that confused me, because I was sure I'd read on here that it would be on Channel 4. 'They'll be disappointed with it not making a terrestrial channel, after all that talk of Channel 4', I thought.

And when I saw Snoopy's post I thought 'I don't remember reading a live update featuring Stu coming second this weekend - Blonde have covered all the others, why didn't they do this one.'

It takes a little while for my brain to get going in the morning.

FYP

Get back to your bananas, you.

Nice Report & well done ;applause; ;applause; ;applause;

Great report Stu, thank you.

Talk us through the hand against Ash Abdullah. Ash had lost all but 28k the previous hand with 8-8 against your Q-Q. He immediately declared "I'm all-in Blind next hand" & shoved his chips across the line. (He was first to speak, so he had every right).

Behind him. Steve flat-called, so did David, & I've no doubt they expected you to do the same, & then check it down. Instead, you Raised it up, they both Passed reluctantly, & the rest is history. (In fact Ash found 9-9, & your K-J rivered him).

I was delighted to see you make that move, but you may have got some grief if it had gone wrong!

Top report Stu. Excellent bit of writing!

Nice work stu! And happy birthday! x

:birthday: ;letsparty;

why  so  delighted   tk??

You've got it right Tikay, so just to confirm what happened, and then the reasoning/defence!

Ash and I had gone into the last four as the two stacks in trouble after Steve's incredible run. I had around 90,000, and Ash 100,000. We then played a big all-in pot with QQ vs 88, which I won to get back into the game and knock him down to the felt. Ash moved in under the gun, for I think 10,800, with blinds of 3-6k on the very next hand next hand. Steve made a fairly quick call, Dave made it up from the small blind, and the action came round to me looking down at  Kc Jh   in the big blind.

I thought about making a play that is very rarely made, and some would argue is pure stupidty- an isolaton play knocking out two of the hands that might knock Ash out.

I first had to check that I was almost sure that the other two players would pass. Could Steve be trapping with a big hand? Indeed, he might not even be trapping, but have been happy to flat call with a big pair and allow another two players into the pot to increase the chance of us knocking our man out?  I had a few different reasons to feel sure this was not the case. It also seemed very unlikely that Dave in the small blind, whose stack was still far inferior to the big stack Steve, would risk a flat call out of position with a big hand in what was likely to be a four way pot. Indeed, with blinds and antes in the pot, the pot of about 55,000 was not insubstantial for mine or Dave's stacks. For this reason I decided to push half of my stack into the middle, commiting myself for all my chips.

I showed my  Kh Jc   , Ash showed a surprised expression and his  9c 9d   , and we were racing for the 55,000 pot.  The king on the river was lucky for me not only as I raked in the pot, but also because it limited the reaction at the table to a minor rubdown, for the trouble I nearly caused!

It's a move that some people would never contemplate, and for good reasons, but that I have pulled a few times before. The most comical occasion was a £100 event at Walsall, where I pushed a few people out of the pot with 98, which eventually split the pot with the all-in player. That that player was Mickey Wernick, who soon was threatening with a big stack again, meant the banter was more relentless then!

One absolute requirement for this move is that you feel almost 100% sure that no-one will call with a better hand. Some people would reasonably argue that even then there is no point. I give a gift to the all-in player, halving the chance that he will bust on that hand, whilst he is still playing for same sized pot. If three of us see the flop and check it down, we will probably find our guaranteed prize money bumped up another notch.

On the other hand, if it wasn't for the likely bump up in prize money, this move works out as well for me as it did for Ash. I end up with a investment of 10,600, and a reward of a 50-50% chance of a  55,000 pot. It was because this pot would be a significant help for my stack that I made the move. I had also had mixed emotions about Steve's trail of destruction as he had so quickly eliminated the first few players. My strength in the contest was becoming relatively weaker, and I would have not minded too much staying at four players and trying to edge back to parity.

With arguments on either side, alot comes down to the strategy one takes into the final table. Whlist I'm not someone who plays all out for the win, I am far more interested in building chips than bumping up the money.

For exactly the reasons Stuart has outlined in his subsequent response.

So many players take the "let's check it down" route, & I thought it showed bravery & creativity to make the play. If it went wrong, he was in for big time grief from the other two guys, but he was playing his own game.

Also the context of the game made it even more interesting. I don't enjoy "railing", & I had no particular favourite to win the comp, but I was working, so kinda forced to watch, & it was a fascinating Final as it turned out.

I know Stu Rutter usually "plays for the win", (or so I thought) & when I first noted him on the Circuit, (I recall seeing him & playing with him in Walsall & Helsinki 2 years back) I christened him "The Re-Re-Raise with Nothing Man" - he was mega-aggressive. But he'd been stymied early in this Final by the SteamRoller Lowden who was hitting everything & busting everyone. Lowden busted 6 of his 7 opponents in the 8 man Final - 99 v AK found a 9-2-2 flop, & a move with 2-3 v A-T resulted in a T-3-3 flop! It was so unlike Stu to sit there quietly, but he had no option, it was a side of his game I'd not seen before. On the Final Bubble he'd been merciless, Raise after Raise after Raise, so I was well impressed with the way he played the Final, & particularly his squeeze play against Ash, the local Laddo.

I rarely enjoy watching the game, but I really enjoyed that Final - though it only took about 2 hours!

I thought every one of them played well, great stuff.

It was a remarkably quick final, wasn't it, the TV won't have to do much to edit down to highlights! I have never seen one man destroy a table as Steve ultimately did.

As you mention TK, this kind of situation brings about discussion of one of the elements of play which I, in my very unexperienced opinion,  feel people get most wrong in tournament poker. (The other incidentally is that alot of times when a player is last to act and faced with an all-in from a short stack, they pass when the odds are so good that they maybe should call regardless of their cards.)

Their is almost an honour system which says that, with a short stack all-in, the action should be checked down to the end. Indeed, many players in first position often check blind. Whilst this suits most other people at the table, players often make such a selfless decision that they deny themselves a decent increase in their own stack.

 Holding 109, I feel it is right to bet out straight away to eliminate the other players if the flop comes 972, even possibly if it comes Q92. These are hands you may not bet out in normal play as you may be left with a tough decision, but in fact a beauty of this situation is that you can expect an honest answer from the other players. They will definately not bluff you off the pot with some kind of draw, and if they have you beat will probably do not more than call and check the action because of the scare factor in this situation.

Poker Week covered this, including an Interview with Stu, & it first airs on Thursday night on Sky Sports, ditto twice more on Friday, & on Sky Poker all week, every afternoon at 2.30, & every evening at 8.30.

I was watching the final from the bar and a lot of the crowd went mad at the move Stu made but it made perfect sense to me and also to his brother, whilst many who were cheering Ash on couldn't understand why Stu made that move (this was before the river came down). I chatted to Stu during the next break and congratulated him on that move and we mused that there's almost an arguement for making that move with ATC if, as it was, the AI opponent's range is ATC. (ash had 1.5x the BB and was in the BB next hand)

Although this is a different situation I witnessed a similar move pulled by a player in a similar vein. A shortstack was all-in and it folded to the small blind (the 2nd biggest stack at the table) who re-raised to isolate (and indicate his hand was at least decent) the big blind (the big stack at the table) moved in knowing that the small blind could only call with a very powerful hand (queens mimimum?) and that if the SB folded he was essentially freerolling against the AI player due to taking the side pot uncontested. The SB folded the BB had the moster that is 2-3 and took the main and the side pot after his holding out flopped the AI players' J-10.

Nice move Stu and well played.

Nick.