WSOP on ESPN thread (9/25 - Day 5)

[Kevmath]

This week's shows will cover Day 5 of the Main Event, as they go from 112 to 36. It surely will be filled with lots of donktaticular moments and other things that will make you angry.

[KSOT]

I hope Rain Kahn gets bitch slapped by that guy who told him to act normal. I know it won't happen, but I can still hope.

Spoilers in white.

<font color="white">I'm assuming today's shows will feature the first appearance of Mr. Jerry Yang. </font>

[SlapPappy]

I can stand the commentators. They make my ears bleed so much I have to put it on mute.

[FGators]

Kev or anyone else,

Is Kenny Tran at the featured table tonight?

He's the only reason I've been tuning in. His play is supposedly sick good.

[wisehandpoker]

A little spammish, but I thought you guys would want to know that each week, ESPN has me doing a more in depth look at one of the storylines for that week's episodes at espn.com/poker. They get posted each week on monday.

[SuperUberBob]

Wasn't Yang pretty short for a while before all of a sudden exploding and getting up to the chip lead?

He seems to be a really boring guy. I'll be surprised if they don't show him until they get down to 36.

[shmergle]

Give Chad some credit. (quoted approximately)

Lon: When Humberto performs, the fans sure get their money's worth.

Norm: Yeah, it's free.

[Bukem_]

WTF is going on. I'm watching and all I see is Khan and Brenes. PLease ESPN anyone else. I'd rather watch Molina than these two.

[Micro Donk]

was watching the 15 min i missed, and they had scotty taking off his glasses, and chad made a comment about how he looked unrecognizable without them...hes right, i didnt even recognize him...

[Hollywade]

My thoughts on tonight's episode, without reading anyone else's reaction yet:

1) Gus Hansen seemed to play the blind vs. blind hand very badly when he had A2. I'm not exactly sure what the size of the raises were on the flop. I think Gus bet, big blind raised, Gus reraised, big blind reraised (how are we not all in yet?), and Gus shoved. Of course, the big blind called with AK. Somewhere in there, Gus should have folded, realizing this guy isn't going nuts with just a queen or a draw in his hand.

2) Another hand I thought Gus screwed up was the 66 vs. 22. I can't see checking that flop, which I believe was 7-10-7. He took the lead preflop and would have certainly won with a bet on the flop. Had he bet, he could have possibly gotten the other guy to fold a hand like 99 or 88. More importantly, he would have prevented a hand like AQ or AJ from getting there on the turn. Seemed very un-Gus (and un-smart) to check there. Also, when the guy showed the bluff, Gus made some comment about the guy calling 160k more with only 400k behind that before the flop. If that was correct, seems a little donkeyish with 22.

3) Very impressed by Kenny Tran calling down with top pair on a four-heart board. Considerably less impressed by the douchebaggery that followed.

4) How does Philip Hilm, who described himself as a "modern and aggressive player," not bet his three 8s when checked to on the river? Was he expecting one of those river check-raises that Norm Chad is always predicting but that rarely actually happens. Is the other guy really going to raise the flop with a set or an 8 with a better kicker and then not bet when his hand improves on the river? I think not.

5) LOL at McEachern's man-crush on Kirk Morrison. Apparently Kirk has a tenderness or charisma or some other word I can't remember. In Lon's words, "next year's main event will be a better one if Morrison returns." Yes, he seems like a nice guy, but when the field is 7,000, is anyone really going to notice? Who gives a [censored] if a nice guy plays next year? We're still going to be listening to Humberto yell about the "chark" having the best hand.