Interesting hands leading to PCA championship for Ambrose...

[swarm]

These are 4 hands in the last 15 hands that led to Ambrose wining 1.3 million and take PCA championship. Shows how lucky you have to be to win a WPT final table.

Starts out with following stacks down to final 3:

1. David Singer - $4,000,000 (seat 2)
2. Steve Paul-Ambrose - $1,600,000 (seat 1)
3. Brook Lyter - $1,600,000 (seat 3)

Hand 1:

Hand #90 - Steve Paul-Ambrose has the button in seat 1, Paul-Ambrose raises to $200,000, and Singer calls from the small blind. The flop comes As-8d-7d, Singer checks, Paul-Ambrose bets $500,000, Singer raises to $1.5 million, and Paul-Ambrose thinks long and hard before he moves all in for $95,000 more, and Singer obviously calls. Paul-Ambrose shows Kd-2d (flush draw), while Singer has Ad-9h (pair of aces). Paul-Ambrose needs to improve to survive.

The turn card is the Ah, and Singer makes trip aces. Paul-Ambrose needs a diamond to stay alive.

The river card is the 4d, and the crowd goes wild as Paul-Ambrose hits his flush to double up in chips. (His friends and family make up the largest portion of the crowd.)

Stacks for Hand 2; 7 hands later:

1. Steve Paul-Ambrose - $3,840,000 (seat 1)
2. Brook Lyter - $1,960,000 (seat 3)
3. David Singer - $1,300,000 (seat 2)

Hand #97 - David Singer has the button in seat 2, Lyter raises to $220,000, and Paul-Ambrose calls. The flop comes 8d-6c-2h, Lyter checks, Paul-Ambrose bets $400,000, and Lyter calls. The turn card is the Qc, Lyter checks, Paul-Ambrose bets $500,000, and Lyter says "All in" for a total of $1,255,000. Paul-Ambrose carefully considers the situation for several minutes before he calls with Qd-Jc (pair of queens). Lyter shows pocket eights (8c-8s) for a set, and Paul-Ambrose is drawing dead. (The meaningless river card is the 4s.) Brook Lyter wins a huge pot to double up to about $4 million -- and the chip lead.

Stacks for Hand 3; 2 hands later
1. Brook Lyter - $4,000,000 (seat 3)
2. Steve Paul-Ambrose - $1,900,000 (seat 1)
3. David Singer - $1,400,000 (seat 2)

Hand #99 - Steve Paul-Ambrose has the button in seat 1, Paul-Ambrose raises to $225,000, and Singer calls from the big blind. The flop comes Qh-Jh-4d, Singer checks, Paul-Ambrose bets $350,000, and Singer moves all in for a total of $1.11 million. Paul-Ambrose calls with As-Ks (two overcards, gut-shot straight draw), but Singer shows pocket kings (Ks-Kh) for an over pair.

The turn card is the Ac, and Paul-Ambrose makes a higher pair to take the lead. Singer needs to catch a king (for a set) or a ten (for a straight) to stay alive.

The river card is the Qd, and David Singer is eliminated in third place, earning $436,200.

Final Hand; 6 hands later:
Ambrose 3.7 mill
Lyter 3.4 mil

Hand #105 - Steve Paul-Ambrose has the button, he limps, Lyter raises to $380,000, and Paul-Ambrose calls. The flop comes Js-9s-2c, Lyter bets $300,000, and Paul-Ambrose raises to $1.5 million. Lyter asks for a count of Paul-Ambrose's remaining chips while he makes his decision.

He really takes his time, and we're talking ten minutes here.

Lyter eventually moves all in for $3.02 million, and Paul-Ambrose reluctantly calls with Qs-10c (overcard, open-ended straight draw). Lyter shows Kc-Jd (top pair, king kicker), and he's made a great call here to hopefully double up, but he needs his hand to hold up first.

The turn card is the Qh, and Paul-Ambrose makes a higher pair to take the lead! Now Lyter is behind, and he'll need to catch a ten (for a straight), or a jack (for trips) to stay alive.

The river card is the Kh, and Steve Paul-Ambrose makes a king-high straight to win the hand -- and the tournament.

Brook Lyter is eliminated in second place, earning $681,500. Steve Paul-Ambrose wins the 2006 WPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, winning $1,363,100 and a $25,500 entry into the WPT World Championship.

It's good to get lucky.

[restrikt]

Luck is a part of poker. Deal with it...

[N 82 50 24]

"Paul-Ambrose calls with As-Ks (two overcards, gut-shot straight draw), but Singer shows pocket kings (Ks-Kh) for an over pair."

I'm told he had AQ for TPTK. Makes it look a bit better...

[amulet]

you are missing the point. yes luck is part of poker, and we all need to accept that, or as you put it "deal with it." however, good poker is about making correct decisions. and many of his hands at the final table were not good poker. i congratulate him on his win, but not on his decisions.

[amulet]

From down there I was told it was AK not AQ. I think my information is correct. If so, it was a poor call, but a nice win.

[Combusted]

I remember seeing Gus Hassen calling a all-in bet with 10-8(I think thats what he had, something around there) and sucking out on the magician... Wheres the post bashing him?

[Jugador]

Hansen called that all in during Bad Boys of Poker. A WPT travel channel freeroll where 1st place won a set in the WPT Championship.

[GBP04]

and he was coinflipping...

[Rick Diesel]

[ QUOTE ]
you are missing the point. yes luck is part of poker, and we all need to accept that, or as you put it "deal with it." however, good poker is about making correct decisions. and many of his hands at the final table were not good poker. i congratulate him on his win, but not on his decisions.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, you are definitely right. We should only judge him on the 4 hands listed here. What about the hand where Singer hit runner-runner on him to get the stack he had in Hand 1.
Quit bashing fellow 2+2ers.

[N 82 50 24]

[ QUOTE ]
From down there I was told it was AK not AQ. I think my information is correct. If so, it was a poor call, but a nice win.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure it was a Q high board and he turned an A and rivered a Q to make Qs full of As. Two sites reported this differently. The AK would just be terrible unless he was getting tremendous pot odds. I wish I could just see a hand history that would give me all the relevant info.

[amulet]

i did not know anyone was a 2+2'er. however, i would say what i think regardless of them being active here.

as for david singer's runner runner str8, yes that was luck. however, he had top pair on the flop at 3 handed table, on a heads up hand. that is very very different then the other hands discussed. i am not saying it was a good play, i was not at the table, i am only saying it made a lot more sense then the other posted hands.

as for the only 4 hands comment, that is fair to point out. again, i was not at the table and don't know enough to comment on anyone's overall play. but i want to remind you that i was responding to a group of specific hands that were posted, which is what we do.

i think you need to relax and not be worried if we are talking about a regular 2+2 poster.

i think they all worked hard to make the final table out of over 750 opponents. and they all played well and also got lucky at times.

i think that singer making his 2nd WTP final table in the last few months is impressive, and i think ambrose winning is also impressive.

[nath]

[ QUOTE ]
I remember seeing Gus Hassen calling a all-in bet with 10-8(I think thats what he had, something around there) and sucking out on the magician... Wheres the post bashing him?

[/ QUOTE ]

Why don't you try using the search feature? Wasn't there a thread on that topic just last week?

[stevepa]

First of all, it was definitely AQ. I raised AsQs on the button, Singer smooth called with KK and we got it all-in on the Q-high flop. Also, a few hands before all those hands, Singer and I got all the money in with my K9 vs. his T9 on a 964 flop. If I won that I would have had 6.5 million chips heads up with Brook, but he hit a straight. Not saying I didn't get lucky in the tournament (clearly I did numerous times), just clarifying what led to all of these hands.

Steve

[amulet]

thanks for clarifying. it takes a combination of both skill and luck to win any big tournament. congratulations.

[stevepa]

[ QUOTE ]
thanks for clarifying. it takes a combination of both skill and luck to win any big tournament. congratulations.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks. I hope I don't come off as defensive. I'm actually posting all my interesting hands from the PCA in the MTT forum and if you read them, it's pretty easy to tell I got really lucky at some really important times. I just felt it was a little unfair the way the OP was presented and wanted to clarify a bit.

Steve

[shaniac]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
thanks for clarifying. it takes a combination of both skill and luck to win any big tournament. congratulations.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks. I hope I don't come off as defensive. I'm actually posting all my interesting hands from the PCA in the MTT forum and if you read them, it's pretty easy to tell I got really lucky at some really important times. I just felt it was a little unfair the way the OP was presented and wanted to clarify a bit.

Steve

[/ QUOTE ]

Congrats on the win, and no you don't come off defensive at all.

Moral of the story, once again, is that it's amazing how wrong Cardplayer can get major, basic details.

I know that providing accurate accounts of the hand details is a tough job (though it ought to be considerably LESS tough when the game is shorthanded), but it's lame that the CP updates will probably have you remembered by a bunch of people as "another fish who got lucky to win a WPT event."

[bbysux]

[ QUOTE ]
Quit bashing fellow 2+2ers.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have been lurking here for awhile and love all the info on here but I find this post funny. Are we not allowed to critique fellow players? I don't think anybody called him a bad player. Congrats to stevepa on a helluva run he got lucky on a few hands down the stretch which I think we can all agree on is needed to win a MTT.

[shermanash]

[ QUOTE ]

as for david singer's runner runner str8, yes that was luck. however, he had top pair on the flop at 3 handed table, on a heads up hand. that is very very different then the other hands discussed. i am not saying it was a good play, i was not at the table, i am only saying it made a lot more sense then the other posted hands.


[/ QUOTE ]

what about ambrose's AQ? top pair top kicker on the flop on a heads up hand 3 handed... hmm isn't that nearly the exact same situation?

[stevepa]

[ QUOTE ]
These are 4 hands in the last 15 hands that led to Ambrose wining 1.3 million and take PCA championship. Shows how lucky you have to be to win a WPT final table.

Starts out with following stacks down to final 3:

1. David Singer - $4,000,000 (seat 2)
2. Steve Paul-Ambrose - $1,600,000 (seat 1)
3. Brook Lyter - $1,600,000 (seat 3)


[/ QUOTE ]

I think some of these hands are pretty interesting, so I'll give my comments on all of them.

[ QUOTE ]

Hand 1:

Hand #90 - Steve Paul-Ambrose has the button in seat 1, Paul-Ambrose raises to $200,000, and Singer calls from the small blind. The flop comes As-8d-7d, Singer checks, Paul-Ambrose bets $500,000, Singer raises to $1.5 million, and Paul-Ambrose thinks long and hard before he moves all in for $95,000 more, and Singer obviously calls. Paul-Ambrose shows Kd-2d (flush draw), while Singer has Ad-9h (pair of aces). Paul-Ambrose needs to improve to survive.

The turn card is the Ah, and Singer makes trip aces. Paul-Ambrose needs a diamond to stay alive.

The river card is the 4d, and the crowd goes wild as Paul-Ambrose hits his flush to double up in chips. (His friends and family make up the largest portion of the crowd.)



[/ QUOTE ]

This hand I screwed up a bit. When I bet 500k on the flop, I didn't realize quite how many chips I had left. I thought I had more like 900k and was showing I was committed. That's why I took so long when he raised. I was basically berating myself for the size of my flop bet. Had I realized I had 1.4M behind, I would've bet more like 225k or so and 3-bet all-in if he raised. If he pushed or clearly committed himself to calling a push, I can probably fold. Also possible is checking behind the flop, but I prefer betting here. I was tired, I screwed up.

[ QUOTE ]

Stacks for Hand 2; 7 hands later:

1. Steve Paul-Ambrose - $3,840,000 (seat 1)
2. Brook Lyter - $1,960,000 (seat 3)
3. David Singer - $1,300,000 (seat 2)

Hand #97 - David Singer has the button in seat 2, Lyter raises to $220,000, and Paul-Ambrose calls. The flop comes 8d-6c-2h, Lyter checks, Paul-Ambrose bets $400,000, and Lyter calls. The turn card is the Qc, Lyter checks, Paul-Ambrose bets $500,000, and Lyter says "All in" for a total of $1,255,000. Paul-Ambrose carefully considers the situation for several minutes before he calls with Qd-Jc (pair of queens). Lyter shows pocket eights (8c-8s) for a set, and Paul-Ambrose is drawing dead. (The meaningless river card is the 4s.) Brook Lyter wins a huge pot to double up to about $4 million -- and the chip lead.


[/ QUOTE ]

This hand looks awful but it only played out like that because of an earlier hand Brook and I played. He had raised preflop and I'd led into him after missing the flop. He acted very similarly to the way he did in this hand (acted very weak) and then called with KQ, no draw. We checked it down and chopped that pot. So his check-call on this flop wasn't all that scary, especially with what I thought was a bit of a tell. Also, he's seen that I'll bet flops occasionally with very little so he may do this on the flop with as little as 77 or AK. I still think checking behind on the turn is a little better than betting but not by a whole lot. Also, I think I had to call his turn push, getting almost 5-1, even though I'm virtually always behind.


[ QUOTE ]
Stacks for Hand 3; 2 hands later
1. Brook Lyter - $4,000,000 (seat 3)
2. Steve Paul-Ambrose - $1,900,000 (seat 1)
3. David Singer - $1,400,000 (seat 2)

Hand #99 - Steve Paul-Ambrose has the button in seat 1, Paul-Ambrose raises to $225,000, and Singer calls from the big blind. The flop comes Qh-Jh-4d, Singer checks, Paul-Ambrose bets $350,000, and Singer moves all in for a total of $1.11 million. Paul-Ambrose calls with As-Ks (two overcards, gut-shot straight draw), but Singer shows pocket kings (Ks-Kh) for an over pair.

The turn card is the Ac, and Paul-Ambrose makes a higher pair to take the lead. Singer needs to catch a king (for a set) or a ten (for a straight) to stay alive.

The river card is the Qd, and David Singer is eliminated in third place, earning $436,200.


[/ QUOTE ]

Cardplayer screwed up here, I had AQ (you can tell they screwed up because they have 2 Ks in play. I had AsQs, he had KsKx). I think this hand basically plays itself.


[ QUOTE ]
Final Hand; 6 hands later:
Ambrose 3.7 mill
Lyter 3.4 mil

Hand #105 - Steve Paul-Ambrose has the button, he limps, Lyter raises to $380,000, and Paul-Ambrose calls. The flop comes Js-9s-2c, Lyter bets $300,000, and Paul-Ambrose raises to $1.5 million. Lyter asks for a count of Paul-Ambrose's remaining chips while he makes his decision.

He really takes his time, and we're talking ten minutes here.

Lyter eventually moves all in for $3.02 million, and Paul-Ambrose reluctantly calls with Qs-10c (overcard, open-ended straight draw). Lyter shows Kc-Jd (top pair, king kicker), and he's made a great call here to hopefully double up, but he needs his hand to hold up first.

The turn card is the Qh, and Paul-Ambrose makes a higher pair to take the lead! Now Lyter is behind, and he'll need to catch a ten (for a straight), or a jack (for trips) to stay alive.

The river card is the Kh, and Steve Paul-Ambrose makes a king-high straight to win the hand -- and the tournament.

Brook Lyter is eliminated in second place, earning $681,500. Steve Paul-Ambrose wins the 2006 WPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, winning $1,363,100 and a $25,500 entry into the WPT World Championship.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think this hand is also fairly interesting. I'd been running over him to this point in the heads up. I think I'd won every pot except the first where he limped and we checked it to the river. His flop bet was a little strange, only betting what he raised preflop. He'd showed a willingness to make a lot of folds, so I think a raise is probably good. Given how much he considered folding KJ there, a raise is almost certainly good. Once he pushes, it's a clear call, and I was only a 60-40 underdog. Alternatively, I could've just called his flop bet, but given how often he'd folded to raises, I think the raise is a little better.

Steve

[lapoker17]

just from reading this thread i can tell you are a great kid - congratulations.

[El Diablo]

stevepa,

You mention calling or raising in the last hand, but not pushing. Why?

Also, in the first hand, you said if you had bet 225 and he committed himself, you would probably fold. But after putting 500 in, he pushed and you called. Was that as simple as "you bet too much and felt pot-committed" or was there anything more to that?

[amulet]

somewhat. both the AQ and more so his K2s to hit a flush after getting all the money in as a big dog were very lucky. but that is what it takes to win big tournaments. i am sure they all got lucky at times.

[amulet]

as i said earlier luck is big a part of it - along with a lot of skill.

i am interested in your thinking on the K2s where you hit the flush on the river. if you get a chance could you take us through that hand and your thinking.

[Jbrochu]

[ QUOTE ]
I remember seeing Gus Hassen calling a all-in bet with 10-8(I think thats what he had, something around there) and sucking out on the magician... Wheres the post bashing him?

[/ QUOTE ]

That was in a free-roll for the WPT Championship which he already had a seat for. Somebody's theory was that he used the free-roll as an opportunity to "advertise."

Anyway, the winner has to catch some lucky breaks to take down one of these events. Congrats to Ambrose, well done.

[amulet]

interested in this hand, because it was such an important hand, and i am sure the reports we heard were incorrect.

[Jaksiel]

[ QUOTE ]
as i said earlier luck is big a part of it - along with a lot of skill.

i am interested in your thinking on the K2s where you hit the flush on the river. if you get a chance could you take us through that hand and your thinking.

[/ QUOTE ]

Uh, he explained it a few posts up. Did you miss that?

[stevepa]

[ QUOTE ]
stevepa,

You mention calling or raising in the last hand, but not pushing. Why?

[/ QUOTE ]

I felt like pushing would look more like a flush draw than simply raising. I'm not 100% sure this is how he interpreted it, but that was my feeling at the time. So instead I raised an amount which showed that I would play for all his chips without actually pushing all in.

[ QUOTE ]


Also, in the first hand, you said if you had bet 225 and he committed himself, you would probably fold. But after putting 500 in, he pushed and you called. Was that as simple as "you bet too much and felt pot-committed" or was there anything more to that?

[/ QUOTE ]

This hand I just didn't think I had as many chips as I did. Betting 225 would've left me enough chips to fold to a big raise but after he raised my 500k bet, I was getting well over 2-1 and felt I had to call.

Steve