Are High Stakes Players clueless or just lucky?

GrahamGraham
in Online Poker
I watch a lot of the high stakes games at Full Tilt and see some of the strangest plays. Is it just me, or do some of these plays make absolutely no sense at all? What are these guys thinking when they make plays like this:

Full Tilt Poker Game #6355221650: Table Pantheon (6 max) - $200/$400 - Pot Limit Omaha Hi - 0:46:32 ET - 2008/05/10
Seat 1: SteveSung ($176,831)
Seat 2: Brian Hastings ($233,327)
Seat 3: howisitfeellike ($18,396)
Seat 4: OMGClayAiken ($101,881), is sitting out
Seat 5: La Key U ($17,798)
Seat 6: CHUFTY ($36,192)
CHUFTY posts the big blind of $400
SteveSung raises to $1,200
Brian Hastings raises to $4,000
howisitfeellike folds
CHUFTY folds
SteveSung calls $2,800
*** FLOP *** [Kh 7c Jh]
Brian Hastings bets $6,800
SteveSung raises to $28,800
Brian Hastings has 15 seconds left to act
Brian Hastings raises to $94,800
SteveSung has 15 seconds left to act
SteveSung has requested TIME
SteveSung calls $66,000
*** TURN *** [Kh 7c Jh] [5d]
SteveSung bets $78,031, and is all in
Brian Hastings calls $78,031
SteveSung shows [3h 8h Ts 6c]
Brian Hastings shows [5s Js 3c Jc]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 7c Jh 5d] [3d]
SteveSung shows a pair of Threes
Brian Hastings shows three of a kind, Jacks
Brian Hastings wins the pot ($354,060) with three of a kind, Jacks
SteveSung is sitting out
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $354,062 | Rake $2
Board: [Kh 7c Jh 5d 3d]
Seat 1: SteveSung showed [3h 8h Ts 6c] and lost with a pair of Threes
Seat 2: Brian Hastings showed [5s Js 3c Jc] and won ($354,060) with three of a kind, Jacks

This is just one example, but I could probably find tons of these kind of plays at really high limits that just don't make sense at all.

Comments

  • UnknownUnknown
    All Aces wrote about this a bit in his blog not long ago, but I think he was speaking specifically to very short handed PLO games on FT.

    I forget exactly what it was, but it was essentially about having all sorts of money and all sorts of guts to play Omaha at those stakes since every pot plays huge and statistically it's close to even money every time.

    Sometimes I watch those games as well, just so I can show my girlfriend what a REAL disregard for money is.
  • WaterLooserWaterLooser
    Chip passing/money laundering ala Casino Rama? If there is a receipt that shows it coming out of a poker site then it must be clean! It's all organized crime. Now where is my tinfoil hat?
  • GrahamGraham
    dinobot wrote: »
    Sometimes I watch those games as well, just so I can show my girlfriend what a REAL disregard for money is.

    QFT... I think the same thing all the time!
  • compueasecompuease Admin
    Hey, what's wrong with betting your 8 high flush draw and gut shot str8 draw? I do it all the time... Maybe too sophisticated for your meager hold-em brains to digest?





























































































    Yea right...... lol... :) as if you would believe that!
  • UnknownUnknown
    Here's the quote from Devo's Blog.

    "Speaking of Omaha, I've been watching Benyamine, Durrrrr, Brian Townsend, etc. play the $200/$400 PLO game at Full Tilt. Five-figure pots are routine, and some of these players are winning and losing literally millions of dollars in a period of four to six weeks. Insane. The chatbox is full of railtards typing the dumbest shit, but one person wrote: "There doesn't actually seem to be a lot of skill involved here". And you know what? I agree. These shorthanded nosebleed PLO games seem to work like this: see the flop with pretty much any four cards. If you hit, bet pot. If you have a two-way hand, re-pot until all-in, and then pray. Nobody ever gets it in truly good or truly bad because there are always so many freakin' outs after the money goes in. You're pretty much leaving it up to the fates or whatever to decide if you're going to win or lose 100K in the session. No thanks. Maybe I'm over-simplifying things a bit. I probably am. But man, I gotta tell you, it just looks like gamboooooling to me. Entertaining to watch."
  • m_dolensm_dolens
    dinobot wrote: »
    Here's the quote from Devo's Blog.

    "Speaking of Omaha, I've been watching Benyamine, Durrrrr, Brian Townsend, etc. play the $200/$400 PLO game at Full Tilt. Five-figure pots are routine, and some of these players are winning and losing literally millions of dollars in a period of four to six weeks. Insane. The chatbox is full of railtards typing the dumbest shit, but one person wrote: "There doesn't actually seem to be a lot of skill involved here". And you know what? I agree. These shorthanded nosebleed PLO games seem to work like this: see the flop with pretty much any four cards. If you hit, bet pot. If you have a two-way hand, re-pot until all-in, and then pray. Nobody ever gets it in truly good or truly bad because there are always so many freakin' outs after the money goes in. You're pretty much leaving it up to the fates or whatever to decide if you're going to win or lose 100K in the session. No thanks. Maybe I'm over-simplifying things a bit. I probably am. But man, I gotta tell you, it just looks like gamboooooling to me. Entertaining to watch."

    yeah, omaha is pretty gamblish imho most of the time. just the nature of the game.
  • Nooner81Nooner81
    I know of a 5/5nl game in London that turned into a regular Omaha game because the players wanted more action.

    Within a few months the game died completely because several players had lost tens of thousands of dollars in such a short time.

    I have played limit with a few of these guys and all they do is raise, re-raise, and call to the river hoping they have the best hand.

    I have had some great sessions by playing extremely tight and winning a few big pots each session.
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