During the Vietnam leg of the Triton Series in March this year, there was an expensive cash game with blinds of $500/$1,000/$1,500. The lineup includes Jason Koon, Linus Loeliger, Chris Brewer, Aaron Zang, Phil Nagy, Anson Ewe, Patrik Antonius, and a girl simply named Vivian (apparently, her last name is Young).
The session began with a very small pot, in which the owner of the room ACR folded on the river.
– "After this hand, I want to place a straddle. Can we?" – Nagy clarified.
Nobody objected.
“It’s always good to make a straddle after a lost pot for a change of pace,” Brewer encouraged him.
The change in rhythm could have resulted in much bigger problems for Nagy.
Koon opened with a raise of $5,000 and c-bet $7,000. On the turn, Koon overbet $30,000 into a $27,000 pot.
– For the third time in my life, I fold an ace after pairing it.
Vivian joined the game a little late. The players immediately agreed to play stand-up poker: after winning the pot, the players receive a special card, and the one who is the last one left without a card pays a fine of $3k to all opponents. Another condition is that in order to receive a card, the player must show his cards, even if the hand did not reach showdown.
“I’ve never played like that,” said Koon. – It sounds very scary, but fun.
“The first time I played according to these rules, I lost two out of three rounds,” Nagy recalled with a smile.
On the first hand under the new rules, Linus made a light 3-bet, but was immediately punished.
After the 4-bet, everyone else folded.
Phil Nagy was carded second, winning a small hand, and Patrik Antonius took third.
Patrik raised preflop and Anson and Aaron paid up in the blinds. On the flop, Anson check-raised from $8,000 to $25,000, bet $25,000 on the turn, and checked the river.
– What, the stand-up has already started? – Patrik was surprised when they threw him a card. – I didn’t even understand. I played when everyone gets up and sits down after winning a hand.
“We have stand-up for the lazy,” Koon explained.
– And there is also a variation when you need to stand on one leg. Can you imagine a big bluff in such conditions?
Linus won the coveted card by hitting trips on the flop.
Koon limped in UTG and five saw the flop. Linus bet a third of the pot and received three calls. On the turn, Loeliger bet $12,000 into a $14,500 pot, and only Koon paid.
Before this hand, Koon, Loeliger, and Anson Ewe had no cards. But Jason decided that he and Linus were left alone.
“In any case, I’ll lose a lot of money in this hand,” he thought on the river.
– The only question is – $21k or $51k?
As a result, Jason counted out $21k, threw it into the center, and folded the cards at the same time.
“There is one more person without a card,” his neighbors corrected him.
“I didn’t understand anything at all,” Phil Nagy was surprised. “I thought you called and immediately mucked.”
But Jason still had to pay a fine. On the next hand, Anson Ewe squeezed with QJo and took the pot with a continuation bet on the flop.
First episode results:
The second round of stand-up began with an easy victory for Linus preflop.
Aaron Zang won his hand with 6-high.
Vivian double-straddled $4k, Aaron raised to $16,000, Brewer paid. On the flop, Zang check-called and the turn was checked. On the river, Brewer folded.
In a small six-handed pot, everyone checked to the river, Phil Nagy made the best hand and made a small bet.
– Who gets the card in case of a chop? – Antonius clarified.
– Nobody.
Patrik thought a little more and limited himself to calling, Linus also decided to look at a cheap showdown.
“No chopping,” Nagy opened his best hand. – I was hoping that you would try to knock out the chop with a raise.
– I had such a thought, but then I convinced myself that you have nothing, and I will calmly win with the six.
– Even when you are wrong, you are right. It's good to be Patrik.
But sometimes Patrik’s experience fails.
After two limps, Linus raised to $7,000, Patrik called, and Zang called with 65s. The flop was checked, Linus bet $11,000 on the turn, and bid $30,000 on the river.
“You have AQ or KQ, but I want to see,” Patrik couldn’t throw out.
On the next hand, Antonius still received a card.
Chris bet $1,000 and called a generous raise of $14,000. On the flop, he check-raised from $15,000 to $35,000 and immediately folded to an all-in.
– Was it a value bluff? – Nagy clarified with Patrik.
“This is a stand-up comedy,” Koon smiled.
Linus made another 4-bet, but Anson Ewe ended up with kings.
Anson shoved, Linus checked his opponent's stack and called. Anson was reminded that only one board counts towards stand-up, he guessed wrong and chose the first one.
Patrik had another chance to show off his live skills.
Vivian opened with a $3,000 raise, Patrik called, and Nagy's made a call. On the flop, Vivian bet $8,000 and both opponents paid. The turn was checked, and Vivian bet $8,000 on the river. Patrik raised to $52,000, and was deep in thought when he heard “All-in.”
– "What a stupid giveaway. Looks like I should have just called. Do you have sixes or . If this is a bluff, hats off, well played."
Patrik thought for more than five minutes and finally threw it away. Vivian showed sixes.
“You’re not like the Asian girls I played with before.” Too strong.
“Today I’m just fine, I hardly would have the courage to bluff like that.”
In the last hand of the issue, Aaron Zang outbid Koon on the river and checked in position.
“Safe poker,” Aaron showed straight.
Jason also lost the second round of stand-up. Nagy's story about his failures in this game turned out to be prophetic.
Episode results:
The third episode started with a 4-bet pot.
Koon 3-bet-called and check-pushed $40,000 to $60,000 on the flop.
– How much do I need to call? – Anson asked with a laugh.
“It seems he doesn’t want to call,” Zhang guessed.
– Yes, but I can’t throw it away either.
“I don’t care about $200k, the main thing is to finally win the card,” said Koon.
He actually won the first board and card, and on the second Anson got a set on the river.
On the next hand, Antonius shoved preflop.
It seemed that the hand would end there, but Anson Ewe did not agree with this.
– Are we playing short deck? – Patrik was surprised when he called.
– We run it twice, but the second board wins the card. Agree? – Anson suggested.
Patrik did not object and won both boards.
Chris Brewer and Anson Ewe remained in the stand-up heads-up.
Ewe raised and took the pot with a continuation bet on the flop.
“Probably shouldn’t have thrown it away,” Nagy smiled at Brewer, “I did it only so that you would pay $21k.”
– Appreciate it, Phil. It turns out that losing a stand-up is extremely disgusting, much worse than losing hands.
“Yes, it’s much more painful than it might seem from the outside,” Koon agreed, “especially when you lose twice in a row.”
Anson Ewe chose a less obvious hand to 3-bet against Linus.
Linus called preflop, paid the continuation bet, and took the pot with a turn bet.
On the next hand, Anson simply shoved preflop.
Vivian adjusted her stack and called. They agreed that the winner on the second board would receive the card. On the first board, Ewe held his ground, but on the second the king came.
“There are four people without a card, but everyone understands that Chris and I will remain in heads-up,” Koon noted.
On the next hand, Brewer had the opportunity to disprove this prediction.
Linus opened and got three calls, everyone checked the flop to Anson Ewe on the button, he bet $8,000 with , Linus raised to $26,000, Brewer called and shoved on the turn.
“Decide for yourself how many times to run it,” Linus shifted the responsibility to his opponent.
– Twice, but we’ll play the card on the first one.
A four paired on the first river, and a blank came on the second.
“I won’t run it twice again,” Linus was upset, “but at least I got lucky with the card.”
Anson Ewe ( ) and Jason Koon ( ) won cards with shoves preflop. Antonius and Brewer remained in the stand-up heads-up.
Anson Ewe raised to $3,000 and received three calls. The rest of the streets were checked.
“I wanted to push, but I miscalculated the stacks,” admitted Brewer. – And I would have won the flip too. Tilt.
Results of the third episode:
“I can finally relax,” Chris admitted, “otherwise I couldn’t even go to the toilet.” Stand-up poker was invented by a real genius. I'd like to meet him. I wonder how this happened? Is he tired of sitting?
But Chris did not remain in a good mood for long.
Chris opened, Linus called, Vivian squeezed $13,000 with jacks, and both players paid. On the flop, Vivan bet $13,000, Brewer raised to $35,000, Linus 3-bet $65,000, and called the all-in.
– Twice? – Chris asked.
“Once,” Linus kept his promise.
Turn , river .
Sometimes Linus also lost hands.
Linus straddled, Zang raised to $7,000, Brewer called with and Loeliger called. On the flop, Linus check-raised from $7,000 to $24,000. On the turn, Zang called $22,000 and the river was checked.
“Nice try,” Zang counterfeited his opponent.
“I had a bunch of outs.”
Heads-up for this round of stand-up left Nagy and Anson Ewe, who again did not complicate his life and simply shoved preflop.
“Complete nonsense,” Nagy looked at his cards, “it would be much easier if there was no one behind me.”
After thinking a little, he threw it away. Vivian also folded her cards.
“We’re starting the sixth round,” said Jason Koon.
– Do you want to increase the fine to $6k? – Zang didn’t understand.
– No, no, I said it was the sixth round. But we can raise the stakes, I don’t care.
Not all players liked this proposal and the fine was left at the same level of $3k.
This time almost everyone received their cards in quick hands without showing them.
Linus bluffed Brewer on the turn.
Chris called the 3-bet, the flop was checked, and Brewer quickly folded on the turn.
Anson did not change his favorite all-in tactics.
Patrik 3-bet and called the shove on the flop.
“Decide for yourself whether we’ll play a card on the first or second board,” he suggested to his opponent.
– On the first.
“But you know... I don’t want to turn it twice,” Patrik changed his mind.
“No problem,” Ewe agreed.
The turn came a jack. In this round of stand-up, Patrik was the last one left.
Episode results:
This time, the players finally agreed to raise the fine to $6k per person.
Linus was one of the first to win a card.
Four people called his raise preflop. On the flop, everyone checked to Koon, who bet $6,000 and called the check-raise to $22,000. On the turn, Jason quickly folded.
On the next hand, Jason did not make life difficult for himself and shoved preflop.
– I don’t care about the math, the main thing is to win the card, which already cost me $400k.
In the next hand, Chris Brewer limped on the button, followed by Patrik Antonius shoving 55 blinds with nines.
– Absurd. “I understand that my hand is no good,” Chris winced but still called it down.
The pot was chopped, Chris took the card on the first board.
Phil Nagy avoided a penalty by shoving preflop.
Vivian and Aaron Zang remained in heads-up.
After a straddle and a call, Vivian made a big raise.
“Please make a call,” Aaron Zang asked Nagy.
But Phil even exceeded his expectations and pushed.
Vivian threw it away.
In one of the next hands, she and Aaron were left alone on the flop.
Zang raised to $6,000 preflop and took the pot with an overbet on the flop.
Vivian paid the table $42k
– Now let’s play a round of $12k? – Koon purposed.
Nobody objected.
Zang tried to take the first hand with a bluff.
After limping early, Zang raised to $8,000 and Brewer paid. Zang bet $14,000 on the flop, the turn was checked, and Chris paid $33,000 on the river.
“I’m having fun again,” Brewer said.
In one of the next hands, Koon and Brewer were dealt set over set.
Koon limp-called $20,000, paid $14,000 on the flop, led $17,000 on the turn, and shoved the river.
The second card was won by Anson Ewe.
He limp-called preflop and called the continuation bet on the flop. The turn was checked and Zang folded on the river.
Vivian tried to take the pot preflop, but Anson Ewe found himself with kings. His call greatly upset Zang, who, after thinking a little, folded.
Ewe held on both boards.
Linus was the next to avoid a fine.
Brewer raised to $15,000, called a 3-bet to $45,000, and folded to a continuation bet.
Phil Nagy also tried to take the pot with an increased raise of $15,000.
Zang paid and all streets were checked postflop.
Jason Koon won the card with a 3-bet shove with A3s.
After a double straddle and a $10,000 raise from Aaron Zang with A6s, Patrik Antonius moved all in and Vivian called.
– We run it twice, but you decide where we play the card.
Vivian chose the first board but won both.
– What is the minimum buy-in? – Patrik clarified. – Bring some chips.
Patrik and Nagy were left under threat of a record fine. In the next hand, action folded to Antonius on the button and he declared all-in. Phil thought in the BB:
“I didn’t even look at the cards.” If I throw it away, I'll automatically lose $84k. Apparently, here you need to call with any cards. Call!
– Quite a big pot, do we run it four times? – Antonius suggested.
“We’ll limit ourselves to two,” Phil refused. -Are you at least strong?
– Not really. We will play the card on the first one.
On the first board, Patrik collected trips of nines, on the second the queen came, and the pot was chopped.
The source of data for all episodes is the site https://highrollpoker.com/
There you can also find the results of all TV shows and statistics on players.
Linus's page. It was he who had the most successful session. After a slight loss in the first episode, he finished the rest among the leaders in profit and won a total of $450k.
Results of other players:
Anson Yu: +$42k
Aaron Zang: +$29k
Phil Nagy: +$1k
Chris Brewer: -$74k
Vivian: -$108k
Jason Kuhn: -166k
Patrik Antonius: -$177k
