Thursday, June 12, 2014

How the Mighty Have Fallen –– Matt Jarvis & Fabrice Touil Out in NLHE Six Handed, as Unofficial Final Table Starts

With 10 players left, working down to the final seven and the ESPN stage, once proud chip leaders Matt Jarvis and Fabrice Touil were among those felted. Bryn Kenney used his table image to jump past Jarvis into a chip lead position. Fifteen minutes before their momentum shifting hand, Kenney had shown a river bluff against Borrat. Now, he min-raised 38,000 into a 9-9-2 board and was called by Jarvis. He continued for 98,000 on the turn 4 and was called again. When a six peeled out on the river, Kenney made a pot sized bet of 264,000 and Jarvis tanked for about five minutes before calling. Kenney showed K-9 for flopped trips and Jarvis mucked. 


                                                 Jarvis and Kenney: locking horns.

Now in critical push or fold mode, Jarvis staked his remaining chips with pocket fours and Kenney called in the big blind with A-K. The king came out on the turn, sealing the fate of former chip leader Matt Jarvis, who cashed for $41,000. 


                                   Jarvis pushes in his last chips with 4-4 against Kenney's A-K


                                   It's never fun leaving the table.

Now it Fabrice Touil, who had been very active and briefly held a position among the chip leaders, who suffered a major setback. He made a river bluff for 100,000 in chips against Jeremy Kottler. After thinking it out, Kottler called with A-2 on an 8-5-10-10-8 board and scooped the pot with ace kicker. Touil had an active image to say the least and betting so small on a double paired board (in which an ace kicker would likely play) was not the brightest idea. 

Another major hand involved the Italian Mustapha Kanit and veteran Belgian pro Pierre Neuville. Kanit min raised from the cutoff and Neuville called from the small blind. When a 4-5-J board came out with two diamonds, Kanit bet and Neuville made the call. A ten of diamonds on the turn brought a flush possibility and Neuville shipped his remaining 345,000 chips. After lengthy consideration, Kanit called with an unpaired A-K and a nut flush draw. Unfortunately, he failed to connect and Neuville essentially swapped stacks with him, chipping up to 860,000. Arguably, Kanit should have folded if he thought Neuville had a flush, which he was certainly representing.The last to go before our unofficial final table was Fabrice Touil, who moved his last 270,000 into the pot with A-5 and was dominated by Kevin Eyster’s A-J. 


Fabrice Touil sees the bad news that Kevin Eyster has him dominated.

With the final seven set, I would put my money on either Andrew Lichtenberger (1.2 million chips) or Bryn Kenney (1.3 million chips). Both players have displayed creative play, with Lichtenberger wielding his stack effectively to take uncontested pots and avoiding major confrontations. I was particularly impressed by a power move he made on a J-3-8 club flush draw board that he had been consistently raising. When a four of clubs fell on the turn he made a major bet and  Eyster, clearly suspicious, finally elected not to call or try a move. Chip leader Kevin Eyster sits on nearly 2.1 million chips and has also been effective in picking his spots and calling down bluffs. 

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