Antanas ‘Tony G’ Guoga had a rough session at Wednesday’s Triton Poker Montenegro Cash Game Invitational, losing two seven-figure pots in a row. The two hands sent the poker legend ‘on his bike’ before he returned to the table with a new stack of $1.5 million.
Upon his return, Guoga demonstrated his patented ‘heart and dedication’ with an audacious bluff in a $2 million pot, which helped him recoup some of his losses from the day.
Big Slick is Not good for Guoga.
The stakes were extremely high, as they always are in Triton cash games. The blinds were $1,000/$2,000, with a $5,000 large blind ante. Tony G’s first $500,000 bullet went up in smoke during a blind-on-blind encounter with the ever-dangerous Elton Tsang.
Tsang won $8,000 after waking up with Q♦10♣ in the small blind. Guoga raised to $32,000 with A♣ K♣ in the big blind, and his opponent called.
Tsang outperformed Guoga’s Big Slick with trip tens, despite a 10/10 flop. Tsang check-raised to $50,000 on a $20,000 stake, which Guoga called. The K♠ came in on the turn, giving Guoga kings, tens, and an ace kicker. Tsang sacked $75,000, and Guoga, as expected, remained.
Tsang went all-in for $289,000. Guoga considered his choices and eventually called, only to learn that the $897,000 pot had been shifted to his opponent.
Tsang Benefits Again from the Ultimate Cooler
Guoga shook off his displeasure and repurchased for an additional $500,000. He put his stack to good use, removing a couple of pots to reduce his deficit. Guoga was unaware, however, that his chips would be returned to Tsang shortly after.
The $4,000 straddle was on just for fun, and action folded to Tsang on the button, who decided to get a bit clever and limp in with A♥A♣. Guoga raised $20,000 after waking up with K♥K♦ in the small blind, despite being $736,000 behind. Tsang then sprang the trap, three-betting for $70,000 before Guoga raised to $245,000. Tsang bet half a million on the first betting round.
Guoga checked his cowboys on the Q♥J♣7♥ flop, prompting Tsang to wager a further $150,000. Guoga jammed in his remaining $492,000 and was quickly called to set up the $1,485,000 pot.
The duo decided to go for max pain and run it once, but there would be no saving grace for Guoga, who was sent for a walk after the 9
Guoga risks everything with Jack-High.
After being released from the table, Guoga returned with $1,500,000 and demonstrated to the world that he had ‘the heart of a lion.’
This time, Guoga used the $4.000 straddle, and the action folded to Tan Xuan in the small blind. He limped in with K♦ 4♦ and called when Guoga raised it to $24,000 with J♠ 8♠.
On the 6 ♠ 5 ♠ 3 ♦ flop, both players received a draw, sparking a heated discussion. Guoga continued for $50,000, then called when Xuan raised the check to $160,000. Despite the 10♥ turn, Xuan maintained his lead with king-high and increased his size to $382,000, leaving $1,300,000 behind. Guoga, who had almost the same stack size, sent in his monster stack, bringing the pot to $2,018,000. Xuan snap-folded, and Guoga took the pot before flashing his J symbol.
The knockdown
Tsang received Tony G’s first buy-in in a blind vs. blind scenario. Tsang raised $8,000 from the tiny blind. Guoga stared down at the large blind and bet $32,000 to go. Both players began the hand with a lot to play for — roughly $445,000 effective — and, maybe as a result, Tsang chose to call the re-raise from outside of position.
The dealer spread the flop, giving Tsang a stranglehold on the hand with trips. Guoga’s $20,000 continuation stake resulted in a little check-raise to $50,000. Guoga made the call without hesitation, and the on-the-turn proved disastrous for the Lithuanian. Tsang bets $75,000 and gets a call from Guago saw the plot bloat even further.
The river did not change anything, and Tsang shipped in the remaining $289,000. Guoga didn’t like it, and he took his time making a decision, but he eventually made a call and was given the awful news.
Ali Nejad on communications put up the situation nicely, stating, “Goodnight, first bullet. “Hello, $900,000 pot.”
The knockout
In typical ‘Tony G’ form, Guoga instantly reloaded another $500,000 bullet and got to work. Over the next hour or two, he managed to increase his stack, briefly surpassing the $1,000,000 milestone.
Guoga’s efforts were for naught, however, as he encountered poker’s most savage cooler in a game when you don’t want that to happen.
With the $4,000 straddle in play, Tsang limped in from the button with a $1,200,000 deficit. Guoga, in the small blind, took a look and instantly raised to $20,000 from his $736,000 stack. Tan Xuan hesitantly folded his seven-high holding from the straddle, and with the action returned to him, Tsang raised to $70,000. Guoga, confident in his hand, requested another raise of up to $245,000.
The Chinese professional chose the slow approach and just flatted the four-bet, with $501,000 in the middle. The flop produced a check from Guoga and a $150,000 bet from Tsang. Rather than seeing the board worsen for his holding, Guoga went all in over the top for the remaining $492,000. Tsang made a rapid call, and the two players agreed to just run the board once.
The turn gave Guoga four more outs on a straight, but it merely boosted Tsang’s hand. Guoga rushed out the door and on his bike before the dealer could get his hands dirty.
Randy Lew summarized the two hands from the commentary booth in simple numbers: “Queen-ten vs. ace-king for $500,000, there $750,000 more, he’s won $1.5M off Tony G in two hands.”
Nejad had a more flowery approach to Guoga’s fate, saying, “Like a bully in the playground, Elton relieved Tony G of all of his lunch money… he took breakfast money, dinner money, desert money, lunch money, all the monies.” If Tony is currently driving, I would not make assumptions that he will obey red lights and stop signs.
