In this piece we'll be analysing a hand between Cristian Dragomir and everyone’s favourite blow-up specialist Phil Hellmuth in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. Hellmuth has been on a bit of a tournament downswing when he reraises Dragomir out of the small blind.
With the blinds at 12,000/24,000, Hellmuth’s 255,000 reraise of Dragomir’s 80,000 opener is a substantial one. Hellmuth has a genuine hand with As-Kh but has, as usual, been criticising everyone’s play, making it all the more likely that Dragomir will call in position. Strangely enough Hellmuth, who is well known to play big hands in tournaments, tells Dragomir that he wants him to fold, but the Romanian makes the call with a very dubious Td-4d.
The flop comes down 9c-Tc-7s giving Dragomir top pair and Hellmuth no pair and no draw with his Big Slick, forcing the Poker Brat to shut down. Hellmuth is infamous for playing to protect his stack and tournament life even at the expense of some juicy equity spots, so his check and ensuing rant as Dragomir starts counting chips out all but turns his hand face up. Dragomir lays out a 300,000 bet and Hellmuth instantly folds, showing his hand.
Although calling with the Td-4d isn’t exactly a recommended play, Dragomir knows that, while Phil is unlikely to be pulling this move without a hand, it’s worth a gamble because Hellmuth is extremely likely to check if he doesn’t get a favourable flop. Although Dragomir’s play looks crazy, he’s using his position to abuse the fact that Phil is going to play his hand face up post-flop due to the inflated size of the pot, where further bets are going to put the Poker Brat close to being pot-committed. On top of this, the fact that the players are now deep into the Main Event, which Hellmuth would dearly love to win again, makes Phil’s play that much more predictable. Hellmuth eventually finished 45th for $154,400 while Dragomir made it to 29th for $193,000.
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