Heartless

Paul is deep in another tourney. This back to back to back cash has made 2009 incredibly exciting.

What I see is an extremely focused Paul, one not worried about what other people think of his play anymore. Yesterday he began the day with 23k chips. He ended the day with 297k. It was one of the most clear examples of raw aggression I've witnessed.

Here is a hand as best as I can remember it:

An extremely short stacked Hoyt Corkins pushes his stack in from the Hijack (whoever eliminates Hoyt will get $5000 in cash on the spot). The button raises, the small blind calls, and Paul in the big blind thinks for a while and casually slides out a stack of the largest chips. Hoyt is already all-in but the other two have a decision to make. They need the $5k bounty that Hoyt represents. But they are afraid of Paul. They twist for a while and then reluctantly fold. Paul turns over K, 4 offsuit. Unfortunately Hoyt has a higher K but since Hoyt was only eligible for a small pot, Paul is freerolling. Hoyt wins the hand, quadrupling up, while Paul breaks even. The other two players look at Paul in absolute disgust.

Hoyt is a friend but there are no friends at the table. Plain and simply put poker is not for the emotional. The cards have no conscience. No one apologizes for suckouts anymore. This game requires that any advantage be pushed as far as allowed. Last night, shortly before the money bubble burst, Paul had absolute control of his table. With 46 left in the tournament and 45 getting paid, he heartlessly raised every single hand, stealing 9000 chips each time. Because he had everyone outchipped they didn't dare raise.

It's not an exact parallel but I can't get Kanye out of my head.