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Chad made a heck of a read to outplay Howard w/ KQ vs 10-10.

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I give props to Chad Brown. It was a very obvious read, but still a difficult play to make. Lederer's fault for butchering the hand. If he'd just raised it like any sensible non-nit would, he would have seen a flop. There's really no hand he limps preflop in that situation that dominates Brown's KQ, or that can call a push, so Brown's play is obvious, but still gutsy.

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Give Gabe credit for reading weakness in Howard's flop bet and trying to make a move by leading on 4th street.

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After hearing a ton of Gabe commentary on HSP, and seeing him play on live at the bike/hsp/poker after dark, I'm pretty certain he's just a donk. When he's right it might look cool, but the fact remains he wouldn't play an ace like that ever, and Howard figured that out.

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But the fact that Howard saw through it and could smooth call the turn bet knowing he'd have to then "value bet" the river (and expose more chips). Wow. Very well done.

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I think Howard's played pretty horribly, and doesn't deserve accolades. His horrible play with 1010 in the blinds, his overall nitiness. He made a good read on this hand, but still screwed it up by just calling the turn bet instead of raising. The problem being that Howard can't beat a bluff, so he can't call a river bet even if he thinks Kaplan is bluffing. If Kaplan ever fires a third barrel Howard has to give up on the hand. If he thinks Kaplan is weak he needs to raise the turn, while he still has enough chips to bluff. This has the added bonus of denying Kaplan a free card if he has a weak pair/draw.