Alec Torelli��s ��Hand of the Day��: Insane Hero Call vs. Tony G
Alec Torelli is a poker professional originally from California, but travels the world full time with his wife, Ambra. Torelli has over $1.5 million in live tournament earnings (including two World Series of Poker final tables and two World Poker Tour final tables) as well as over $500,000 in online tournament earnings. Outside of poker he and his wife manage a million-dollar online business which travels the world with them.
In Torelli��s ��Hand of the Day�� series he analyzes hands played by him and submitted to him by others. Today he looks back at a memorable televised hand he played with Tony G.
I��ve put out a lot of videos lately where I��ve made some huge folds and probably seemed like a massive nit. Today��s ��Hand of the Day�� offers something a little different.
I chose to highlight this hand I played over five years ago to showcase a key point about how one should make decisions in poker �� namely, that it doesn��t matter what two cards you��re holding, but what matters is how your hand fares against your opponent��s.
A classic mistake that amateurs make is they get married to their hand. They play only their two cards without regard for what their opponent is holding.
When I folded my set of nines to Chad Holloway or trips to Joe McKeehen on Poker Night in America, it wasn��t because I was scared of the money or afraid to play without the nuts. It was because in those spots I didn��t think I had the best hand.
This hand versus Tony G is a great example of how situations dictate the action, not absolute hand strength. It doesn��t matter how strong or weak your specific two cards are...
If you��re beat, fold. If you have the best of it, hang on.
Check out this hand from our heads-up match, part of the PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam in London from a few years ago, in which I walk you through exactly how and why I made a huge call against him:
I turned out to be right in this case, but as always, the results aren��t as important as the process that leads you there.
Now it��s your turn. Are you guilty of being married to your hand without regard for your opponent��s cards? What��s the best call you ever made? Share your answers in a comment below.
Also, for those reading this in time, I am hosting a free webinar on YouTube today, Friday, September 18 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Click here for a direct link to the webinar, and for more details you can visit my Facebook page.
Want to be featured on future episodes of ��Hand of the Day��? Simply submit your hands to Alec here.
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