The Main Event of the World Series of Poker kicks off this week, with four "day ones" from Monday to Thursday. Around now, the players abandon all discussions about bet sizes, hand ranges and how to play A9, debating instead the strategy of the playing day. Which will be softest? Which is the smart choice?
With such a vast field, I think it's a pointless question. Every day will have some great players and some weak players, so it comes down only to the table draw, which cannot be controlled.
"I guess what you hope," chuckled a friendly cab driver, "is not to get one of the famous TV pros on your table."
Not at all, I explained. The online whizzkids are usually the most fearsome. He asked how I would know if a stranger was a good player, and I told him about the following hand from my table in the $2,500 no limit holdem.
With blinds at 75-150, a Swedish woman raised to 400. A "stranger" flat called. Guillaume Darcourt, winner of the WPT Bucharest, re-raised to 1,200. (I liked Darcourt. He talks charmingly and plays aggressively. Note to poker players worldwide: that is the correct way round.)
The Swede folded. The stranger reraised to 4,500. Darcourt called. The flop came 5 7 9. The stranger moved all in for 15,000. Darcourt gloomily folded.
Now: either the stranger had limped deceptively with a huge hand, or he had smashed down on an attempted squeeze by the Frenchman. Either way, he had taken control against an aggressive player, forced the decision across to him, and committed whole-heartedly to the play. That is how you know it is an opponent you do not want. I asked his name – McClean Karr (PureProfitFo online) – and checked his statistics later. Unsurprisingly, they were excellent.
