Phil Ivey vs. Andy Beal

[OrangeCat]

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Andy put up $20 million vs The Corporation's combined $10 million. That's how it started several years ago, and that's how it continues (in between Andy's multiple retirements from poker). They play hold'em and I think I read a few matches about 7-stud. Blinds are usually 30k-60k, sometimes 50k-100k.

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IIRC, that is right. But while he may have started with 20m Beal has much deeper pockets than that. And even though there were several pros pooling their money it was still not an easy thing to come up several 100k for many of them.

Part of Beals strategy was to raise the stakes so high that it took the pros out of their comfort zone. This time maybe he will not be able to do that. I’d be very interested to know how much money is backing Ivey, not just what he sat down to the table with.

[triton2toro]

1. By raising the stakes, his plan was to make the pros play at a stake where THEY'D be the ones uncomfortable. He kept pushing the stakes so that he'd at least have that edge.
2. As a matter of fact, I think he was being very 'ego-less' by trying to beat them on the short run. With a combination of luck, and balls-out aggressiveness, he can and did win (at one point, having nearly decimated the corporation's bankroll). To me, to think that you can "grind it out" against the best players in the world, who rotate in, fresh and focused is much more egotistical.