Mini-meltdown in level 3, and other stuff, WSOP Stud/8

http://twodimes.net/poker/?g=7s8&b=&d=Jc+7d+3h+9s&h=As+ac+5s%0D%0AQc+qh+kd

In level 3 I lost three pots at showdown in about five minutes which to that point had done exactly once. It started with a short-stacked Russian dude who opened a queen up in front of me when I had As5s/Ac, and of course I made it two bets and we got it all in. He ran out two pair and I didn't improve, and it tilted me up a little.

It's funny how people just give away their chips in these when they get low. There was a guy last night next to be who took it to the extreme. He folded everything until he was down to an ante-chip and maybe one more chip (once it was just the ante). He did this no less than four times before finally busting and probably lasted another level. Ann finally put him out of his misery (she is a whole other story).

There is still lots of bad play in this, despite pros who insist on tapping the glass when people play poorly against them (I - perish the thought - was even a target of a couple of such comments). There is much more calling raises against aces than any book would advise, and people wouldn't fold when they bricked off until late in the day when not doing so was costly relative to the average stack.

Great Moments in 74

From WSOP HU:

Hand #6: A limped pot saw the  fall on the flop. Radoja check-raised Hellmuth's bet of 25,000, pushing a stack of green T25000 tournament chips forward, and forcing the "Poker Brat" to release. Hellmuth flashed the while tossing his hand away, telling Radoja "that's all i'm betting with there, just the ace-jack." Radoja responded with a poker player's preferred retort, flipping over his  bluff and dragging the pot.