Leow Turns the Screws
Playing into the chip leader can be a costly exercise, a fact Sang Hwang recently discovered. The very first hand of the final table saw Ivan Leow pick up where he left off last night, right in the thick of the action.
Leow raised to 90,000 from the cutoff and Hwang decided to defend from the big blind, with the flop falling 
. Hwang chose to lead into the aggressor, firing out a bet of 105,000 and Leow cut out the calling chips.
The 
turn saw a 210,000 second barrel from Hwang and another call from Leow. The 
river missed the diamond draw, but brought in a possible straight and Hwang fired for 375,000 - a significant portion of his chips. Leow opted to apply maximum pressure, turning the screw with an all-in shove, to a wry smile from Hwang who now had a difficult decision to make. The problem with playing into Leow is that a lot of the time he makes you have to have it, and he was asking Hwang the question now - did he have it?
Hwang must have at least thought it was possible that Leow could have a straight there, or perhaps two pair and grudgingly slid his cards into the muck, and Leow pulled further in front.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,640,000
700,000
|
700,000 |
|
656,000
-609,000
|
-609,000 |