The big Fossilman hand of yesterday

[capone0]

Thing out Raymer is, in order to win he's done the following things the last 2 years:

He's played extremely aggressive, he isn't LAGGISH but he isn't TAG either. If he played super TAG, he probally wouldn't have won either of the last 2 years. Because of this he gets a lot of action and into a lot of big pots which is essential to win a tourney like this. Now on this hand Kantor probally puts Raymer on 1 of 2 hands in order for him to play like this. A medium pocker pair, or 2 high cards. On the flop if the betting is right in others posts, Raymer underbets the flop. Now, with Raymer's reputation, he get's this call. Now on the turn, Kantor, sees he has 2 overs which are possible outs and a flush draw and he tried to buy the pot. He puts up too much of his stack on the semi-bluff and gets f'in pot committed, and has to call. Kantor makes many bad plays, he get's lucky.

But you must remember Raymer wants this action. He wants action 4 to 1 favorite, if he wins this hand, he's a pretty big stack. He get's his money in, and the card gods say, not this time. Raymer played it perfectly, Kantor won the hand. I don't think Raymer would have played the hand differently. He could have bet the flop harder, which is probally his one mistake, but he did bet the flop lightly against runner runner, which isn't a bad thing, but not a good thing in hindsight. Raymer just didn't get lucky yesterday for most of his chips, but I doubt he would have played the hand much differently other than betting the flop harder against the "donkey," who is now chip leader.