| The Stuff of Legend |
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| From the Editor - From the Editor | |||
| Written by John Wenzel | |||
 I had the great fortune to be ringside for the historic “November Nine” final table in the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio. Sometimes I was in press row, which was out toward the audience, and sometimes I was tableside, and let me tell you, the atmosphere was electric. But besides the glamorous surroundings, the tremendous enthusiasm of the crowd and the class of the players, there was one thing that really impressed me about this event – a crazy/brilliant play by Ivan Demidov. It’s very early and Dennis Phillips has just lost the chip lead to Ylon Schwartz after he unsuccessfully bluffed at a flop, was raised and had to lay down. A few minutes later, when this hand rears its ugly head, Dennis has 23m with 150-300k blinds and a 30k ante, and Ivan has him slightly covered. Dennis limps in early position with A-K offsuit, Ivan raises to 1m, and Dennis check-raises 2.5m more. Now, at this point, if you are Ivan, maybe you want to cut your losses. You’ve just been check-raised by the other big stack, it’s early in the day, you have plenty of chips, there are lots of short stacks ripe for the plucking, but NO. He doesn’t fold, doesn’t call. He four-bets it, reraising 4.7m more! The pot is suddenly 17m, about what they have in their stacks. Dennis calls. The flop comes 8-10-J with one club. Dennis says “Raise,” but of course, he is first to act. Ivan spent a lot of time just staring at the felt in this event, but this wasn’t one of those times. Dennis bets 4.5m, putting the pressure on – but did he? Maybe Ivan is thinking that if Phillips had aces or kings, he would have gone all-in preflop, or else checked to trap after the flop. Perhaps this bet was actually a sign of weakness. Or maybe Ivan just had a very, very good read on Dennis Phillips. He certainly can’t like his hand right now – just a gutshot and two overcards that might not even be good – because you see, Demidov has done all this with just the ace-queen of clubs. But this is no-limit poker. For all the books and math calculations that are out there now, it is still about the player, and there is only one way Ivan wins. “I’m all-in,” he says quietly. Suddenly, the pressure is on Dennis, a perfect illustration of why you want to be the bettor. You don’t want to be stuck making these kinds of decisions. You don’t want to be the one thinking. Dennis has the best hand, but when he looks down at his cards, he sees nothing – just a gutshot and two overcards – and his entire tournament (and his legacy) is at risk. Any pocket pair beats him. If he is facing aces or kings, he is dead, and with Ivan four-betting preflop, don’t you have to put him on that kind of hand? The Russian has represented a monster hand and has carried it through the entire way, never backing off. In reality, he is way behind and drawing to three measly outs, but poker isn’t about reality, it’s about perception. If you are Dennis, what hand can you call with here? If you have ace-king, what can you beat, other than ace-queen? In hindsight, if Dennis had shoved all-in preflop or post-flop, Ivan folds, but he seemed so strong, and Dennis had waited four months and had 300 fans in the audience wearing the same shirt as he. It was too big of a risk. But not for Ivan. If Dennis had a high pocket pair, pocket jacks or Big Slick and called, “Demidov” might forever have been a synonym for “donkey,” and he might have been remembered only for one of the worst plays in WSOP history after he turns over nothing but a three-out prayer. That didn’t happen. Ivan knew his man. He did not put him on a high pocket pair, despite his bets. He did not think he hit the flop. So he represents his big pair and puts every one of his chips at risk, barely covering Dennis. Ivan closes his eyes for the only time in the event. Finally, Dennis says “I fold” and pushes his cards toward the dealer, his stack decimated, but alive. You can feel the room deflate. Ivan shows some rare emotion and can’t resist whispering to his pals about it. He’s the new chip leader, but it’s a long way home. Plays like this create legends, and I’m glad I was there to see it, and feel it. For the record, those of us in the Penn & Teller Theater didn’t get to see the hole cards at the time, but no one put Demidov on ace-queen. John “Johnny Quads” Wenzel Editor-in-Chief
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 17 May 2009 17:41 |
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