The 2nd WCOOP tournament, a 215 dollar buy-in pot-limit 5-card draw event, showed a field of 857 players and a prize pool exceeding 170,000 dollars. The eventual bracelet winner, spielraum.at from Salzburg, Austria, took home a cool 26,265 dollars, a nice chunk of change for a 215 dollar investment. However, because of a 4-way chop, the biggest money winner was third place finisher peseudos. He took home 26,912 dollars.
Some notable players that entered the tournament include Chris Moneymaker, Bill Chen, and Tom McEvoy, who took 63rd place. Online pros that took a shot included Andy McLEOD, ranked 6th in the world in online Multi-Table Tournaments, THE__D__RY, ranked 16th in the world, BeL0waB0Ve, ranked 11th in the world (http://www.pocketfives.com), and Holdem_NL, a.k.a. Durrr, who is known in the poker world as one of the best high stakes cash game players in the world. However, only one of those players finished in the money, and that player was THE__D__RY, who finished 84th.
These master Holdem players may have been novice in their understanding of 5-card draw, but they relied on their ruthless aggression to keep them in the game. Unfortunately, this aggression was the downfall Andy McLEOD, who went out after 4-bet shoving all-in on an inside straight draw, missing against Arnesen, who made a heroic call with only a pair of Aces:
PokerStars Game #12061102531: Tournament #70000002, $200+$15 5 Card Draw Pot Limit – Level VIII (200/400) – 2007/09/14 – 20:35:50 (ET)
Table ‘70000002 164’ 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Andy McLEOD (10407 in chips)
Seat 2: poker348984 (550 in chips)
Seat 3: 2POKER2 (12350 in chips)
Seat 4: TheFitGuy (27794 in chips)
Seat 5: Arnesen (29217 in chips)
Seat 6: T_Mac (3977 in chips)
T_Mac: posts small blind 200
Andy McLEOD: posts big blind 400
*** DEALING HANDS ***
poker348984: folds
2POKER2: folds
TheFitGuy: raises 400 to 800
Arnesen: raises 2000 to 2800
T_Mac: folds
Andy McLEOD: raises 6600 to 9400
TheFitGuy: folds
Arnesen: raises 19800 to 29200
Andy McLEOD: calls 1007 and is all-in
Andy McLEOD: discards 1 card
Arnesen: discards 3 cards
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Andy McLEOD: shows [6h 9c 6d 7d Tc] (a pair of Sixes)
Arnesen: shows [Kd Ts Ah 2d Ac] (a pair of Aces)
Arnesen collected 21814 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 21814 | Rake 0
Seat 1: Andy McLEOD (big blind) showed [6h 9c 6d 7d Tc] and lost with a pair of Sixes
Seat 2: poker348984 folded before the Draw (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: 2POKER2 folded before the Draw (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: TheFitGuy folded before the Draw
Seat 5: Arnesen (button) showed [Kd Ts Ah 2d Ac] and won (21814) with a pair of Aces
Seat 6: T_Mac (small blind) folded before the Draw
Only two Flopturnriver.com forum dwellers entered WCOOP-2, the dynamic twin-duo of Max and Danny Steinberg (Massimo and IowaSkinsFan respectively). Max floated near the top 10 mid-way through the tournament, but eventually finished in 237th place. But the star of the day was Danny, who after a ten hour marathon finished in 10th place for $2,399.60. At one point late in the tournament, Danny’s name was right next to Tom McEvoy’s on the leaderboard and, eventually, he was as high as 2nd in chips. I had the opportunity to talk to Danny afterwards and hear his thoughts.
Max Steinberg: First I’d like to say congratulations on the high finish.
Danny Steinberg: thanks.
MS: How well do you play the game of 5-card draw?
DS: I felt like I was the best player at the table to be honest. The only other player I played against that I feared was BadgerPro, and he had a lot of flaws in his game. I played a lot of HU with my friends and really thought about the game
MS: So you never encountered anyone who you felt was better than you? Did you play with anyone that you recognized?
DS: I’m sure if I was playing against Tom McEvoy I wouldn’t be so sure I was the best player I mean BadgerPro is a well known MTT pro, but everyone else was pretty bad. Well let me rephrase that: I was definitely the best player at every table I was at
MS: What do you think was most player’s problems? Were there clear technical flaws that you saw throughout the players in the tournament?
DS: In 5 card draw the biggest flaw you can have is be obvious in what you draw
MS: Elaborate
DS: A lot of players were caught drawing 2 cards, which can be very easy to read as trips, or something like AJJxx… It’s pretty obvious by their betting patterns which one of those hands they have. Strategy wise its best to draw 1 with trips, two pairs, and draws.
DS: Also, with high blinds you had to be raising a lot of draws or bad hands
MS: About the High blinds, did you think that the blind levels went up too fast?
DS: If anything, it was the complete opposite, the blinds went up WAY to slow, we’re 10 hours in, and we’re not even at the final table? I mean Event #1 lasted over 20 hours, when you’re in the U.S. that means you are up all night, and it really takes a toll on you. It’s hard to play your best when you’ve been sitting in front of your computer for hours on end—I had to skip dinner. However, I do enjoy playing deeper. But not at the expense of physical and mental exhaustion
MS: So do you think these tournaments should be two days long?
DS: Maybe, I mean, even if they have the blinds go up 20 or 25 minutes instead of 30 it’s going to make a huge difference.
MS: Yes valid point.
MS: I understand that you were at the table with the eventual winner, spielraum.at. What did you think of his play?
DS: He was definitely a decent player. He played very tight though, but made a lot of good plays at the right time, especially versus me. There was a time where I was raising a ton of hands and he put me in some tough spots by re-raising me. Throughout the tournament not many were challenging my aggression… he chose some great spots to do it in
MS: Did he end up giving you that crushing blow that eventually knocked you out?
DS: Well it was definitely a cooler but yes. I mean pretty much he raised pre and I have Aces up, he had been raising a decent amount, so of course I re-raise him. He shoves over me, and half my stack is committed so I have to call, especially because he could easily have two pair or a draw or some worse hands because I had been being so aggressive. He had trip 5’s though and I didn’t suck out. We both played it well
MS: Ok, well congratulations again on the top 10 finish. Hopefully you’ll see some final tables at the WCOOP!
DS: Thanks
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