Arnold Thimons on Poker After Dark’s ‘Dream Table III’

BY ARNOLD J. THIMONS

Well, I gotta say, I think it was as enjoyable watching PAD this week as it was being there! Once you get to see the cards, it puts a whole new take on things.

Now I’m sure a lot have been critical of my play, but I can only say this: When you have 3 months to prepare for a game against the best players in the world, you better come up with a game plan. And that’s what I did.

I had 3 key things that I told myself:

* Play tight, and try to get down to the final 2 or 3, then I can hopefully switch up my game a little, and anything could happen.

* I insisted that I wasn’t going to play weak aces out of position.

* Show a lot of hands early to portray inexperience and that I was capable of laying down big hands.

Overall, I think it worked the way I wanted it to. Had I gotten a couple better hands 3-handed, and didn’t lose to Tilly as a big favorite, it could’ve ended differently.

I thought a lot of my reads were dead-on, especially the 8’s against Daniel. Also, the pocket aces were in fact the third hand after sitting down. I’m not even sure I had my head on straight yet.

I picked up some things on Jennifer. She talks more when she’s weak. And Johnny Chan is Johnny Chan. I think he had others at the table more intimidated than me.

I will say I can’t think of any hands that didn’t make the show. You play for 8 hours, with a good amount of breaks, so all of the significant action makes air.

At no time during the match did I feel that a player got me off a hand that I truly believed was the best hand. Certainly I could’ve bet a little better, but if you think back: Every hand I had an ace or a bigger hand, there always seemed to be a better one behind me.

I’ll finish by saying this really was a dream come true. Not because I was on TV, or I had a chance to win 120K, but the players themselves made it! They were all incredibly genuine people, and couldn’t have been nicer.

I was being interviewed on a poker radio show the other day, and the host said he had a surprise for me at the end. The surprise was a personal message from both Jennifer and Phil, both saying that I played well and it was enjoyable being at the table with me. I can’t say enough about these 2. What truly wonderful people!

Well, it’s off now, and I’ll have to fine tune my skills for the next one!

(LuckyDog Note: For a review of the Saturday night Director’s Cut episode, please click on “Comments”.)

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LUCKYDOG NOTE: Arnold Thimons hopes to send a wrap-up posting sometime this weekend about his experience playing on Poker After Dark. The show’s recap episode is Saturday night, and I’ll file a report — probably midday Sunday — on what the players had to say about Arnold.

ARNOLD FINISHES 3RD, CHAN TAKES 4TH PAD TITLE


Arnold Thimons

Arnold Thimons is facing five of his favorite pro poker players on this week’s “Dream Table III” on Poker After Dark. Here’s how Episode 5 on Friday night unfolded for Arnold:

LDP BARK: We’ll know within the hour how Arnold fared during his Dream Table match. The final action episode (there’s a recap show Saturday night) will begin with Arnold on the short stack, facing 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan and actress-turned-bracelet winner Jennifer Tilly.

* BIG LAYDOWN – On the first hand with $600-$1,200 blinds, Arnold raises on the button to $2,700 with A-9 off. Chan folds, but Tilly shoves with A-10. Arnold says, “I had a feeling you were gonna do that either way, that you were gonna put me to the test.” Arnold folds.

LDP BARK: A nice raise and, as it turns out, another good laydown by Arnold, although I don’t think I could have folded there. He’s still showing patience, and dodged a likely fatal bullet.

* HUEY-DEWEY-LOUIE – Arnold completes from the small blind with Q-5 off and Chan taps with 6-2 off. Arnold checks the flop, turn and river on a K-7-2-2-K board, which meant Chan’s hand kept getting better and better. Chan tries a $2K bet on the river, but Arnold mucks.

LDP BARK: It’s a good thing Arnold didn’t try to take the pot with a bet on the flop or turn!

* OL’ 7-2 OFF — Arnold hasn’t been able to win with some pretty decent hands in the match, but in the BB with 7-2 off he finally gets a winner. Chan completes from the SB holding Q-3 of spades, then fires $1,700 when the flop comes 7-6-6. Arnold makes the easy all-in move with his remaining chips. The pot of $7,400 goes Arnold’s way when the board finishes K and 8 — although the K gave Chan a flush draw to go with his overcard for added tension.

LDP BARK: With the blinds up to $800-$1,600 now, Arnold will have to play almost any hand and hope to get lucky. Tilly says “It ain’t over til it’s over”, but I think she was eyeballing Arnold’s chips when she said it!

* A-9 AGAIN! — After Tilly limps from the button with 8-6 of hearts, Arnold completes from the SB with A-9 off, which invites Chan to tap from the BB. A flop of 2-Q-9 gives Arnold the lead in the hand. He checks, and so do Chan and Tilly. The 7h on the turn brings a lead-out min bet of $1,600 from Arnold. Chan folds, but Tilly, who now has a open-ended straight flush draw, raises to $5,600, enough to put Arnold all-in. After some hesitation, Arnold folds A-9 for the second time tonight and says: “That’s one I want to see when this airs. I think she had the queen, but I don’t know.” Tilly, with a straight poker face, says, “I had you, I’ll put it that way.”

LDP BARK: I thought Arnold was trapping again with his pre-flop limp. Then I thought perhaps he was hoping to check-raise the flop, which was foiled when both checked behind. Then I thought his min bet on the turn was a terrific play, designed to entice either Chan or Tilly to try to take the pot away and allow him to double-up. Tilly obliged with her drawing hand, but Arnold wasn’t ready to bust-out yet and folds (face up). I think Tilly’s “How much do you have there?” question in sizing up her raise convinced Arnold she had at least top pair. Arnold was a 66% favorite with one card to go, but he went with his read on Tilly.

* ONE LAST ACE — On the button with A-J, Arnold has enough chips left to make a min-raise to $3,200. Chan mucks Q-rag, but Tilly only needs $1,600 to play her 7-2 off with a 38% chance to win. She says: “Arnold Tillman, this is your defining moment!” Which prompts a great one-liner from Ali Nejad: “And Arnold THIMONS, it’s yours, too!” With $5,600 in the pot already, it’s an easy call for Tilly but she gives a little speech about not knowing what pot odds means before calling. A killer flop, 8-7-7, puts Tilly waaaay in front (94%) with trips. “I feel really almost kinda bad,” Tilly says for her final fib of the night to Arnold. The turn and river change nothing, and Arnold is headed over to see Leeann.

LDP BARK: It’s only fitting, I guess, that Arnold’s last hand would contain an Ace! The pot pushed Tilly’s chip stack to $54K vs. Chan’s $66K for their heads-up battle for $120K. Chan prevailed to win his 4th PAD in 6 tries. He’s the first 4-time winner on the show.

THE DEFINING MOMENT: As Chan watches, Tilly and Arnold are on their feet to see the 8-7-7 flop that essentially seals Arnold’s exit in 3rd place on PAD’s Dream Table III match. In his exit interview, Arnold describes his experience as “everything I thought it would be, and even more. Every one of them are just genuine nice people.”

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ARNOLD DOUBLES-UP EARLY, THEN HANGS ON


Arnold Thimons

Arnold Thimons is facing five of his favorite pro poker players on this week’s “Dream Table III” on Poker After Dark. Here’s how Episode 4 on Thursday night unfolded for Arnold:

LDP BARK: Four of the original 6 players are left, and Arnold has the shortest stack with the blinds moving higher. Look for him to pick a hand and try to get back in the hunt early in the session tonight.

* NO WAY — Hand No. 1, with blinds at $600-$1,200, features limps by Laak and Chan, then a big raise by Tilly with A-J. Arnold, in the BB, has to release 5-2 and his stack takes an early hit.
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BY LUCKYDOGRUSS

I had to laugh when I typed in that headline just now and my computer reminded me I used the same phrase at this stage of the Dream Table I match featuring amateur Ken Light, who also blogged the experience here at luckydogpoker.com.

Well, it was fitting then, and is again today. So, Arnold: It’s crunch time, man.

In reading online comments about Arnold’s play, I’ve seen some that say he’s been trying to establish a loose image and others saying he’s playing too tight. I suppose, from Arnold’s standpoint, that’s kinda what he wanted to do — toss the pros mixed signals and get them off-base on their reads.

But what do the actual numbers say?

Tracking back, I found that 58 hands have been shown in the first three episodes of Dream Table III. So far, Arnold has seen 13 flops (22.4%) and stayed to the river 6 times (10.3%).

He opened up his game a bit in the second half of Episode 3 Wednesday night, seeing 4 flops in the last 9 hands shown.

In a full ring game (9 or 10 players), those numbers sound about right to me for someone trying to play a solid game. In a short-handed game, they seem to indicate tighter than normal play.

The biggest variable, though, is the competition. Arnold sat down with 5 accomplished pros to start the week and knew that getting out of line with hand selection would bring swift punishment. Meanwhile, the pros (especially Laak and Chan), have taken advantage of his careful play several times by coming over the top of his bets and forcing him to lay hands down.

Now, with the table 4-handed to start tonight’s 4th episode, we’ll see if Arnold “puts the pedal to the metal”, as Negreanu suggested he do. Of course, Daniel made those comments during his EXIT INTERVIEW with Leeann in 5th place while Arnold’s still playing with at least a chance of winning.

Arnold starts Episode 4 with about 15 big blinds, so look for him to get involved in a pot fairly early tonight, trying to build up his last-place chip stack.

Arnold Thimons, an amateur player from Greensburg, Pa., who outlasted some 4,000 opponents to win his seat on Poker After Dark, also has outlasted the two top pros shown here — Mike Matusow and Daniel Negreanu. His toughest opponent remaining, Johnny Chan, is at the other end of the table and begins tonight’s Episode 4 with nearly a 3-1 chip advantage on Arnold. At stake is a winner-take-all prize of $120,000.

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ARNOLD STEPS UP HIS GAME, BUT HE NEEDS SOME CHIPS


Arnold Thimons

Arnold Thimons is facing five of his favorite pro poker players on this week’s “Dream Table III” on Poker After Dark. Here’s how Episode 3 on Wednesday night unfolded for Arnold:

LDP BARK: Arnold didn’t win a single pot during the sequence of hands shown in Episode 2, so maybe the pendulum will swing his way tonight. At the top of last night’s show, Negreanu asked Arnold if he was having fun. Arnold, who was laughing at Laak’s theatrics in a hand, said, “I’m enjoying it.” He’ll enjoy it a lot more if he can rake in some pots tonight!

* A-A AGAIN! — From the BB ($800), Arnold sees Laak raise to $2,300 and Negreanu call. He looks down at pocket aces, then goes into a little stall. “Man, everyone goes after my blinds,” he says. After a minute or so, he shoves. Laak and Negreanu dump quickly, and Arnold obliges Laak’s inquiry by showing his cards. Arnold collects $18,700.

LDP BARK: Arnold slow-played pocket aces in Episode 1, but this time there was a raise and a call in front of him. With his short stack, he decided to take the pot right away. Good move!
(more…)

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TOUGH NIGHT FOR ARNOLD DENTS HIS CHIP STACK


Arnold Thimons

Arnold Thimons is facing five of his favorite pro poker players on this week’s “Dream Table III” on Poker After Dark. Here’s how Episode 2 on Tuesday night unfolded for Arnold:

LDP BARK: The frivolity is running high early, and so are the raises. Laak just darted for the couch to hide after moving all-in over the top of Chan’s big raise. Both held Big Slick, but Chan finally laid down. Arnold has sat out the first two hands, which took about 10 minutes to play. Hopefully he is hanging onto his composure and isn’t too distracted by the hysterics.

* RAGS TO NUTS — Arnold mucked 4-2 off under the gun, no problem. Then he watches as Negreanu and Laak take a flop of A-3-5. He seems to take it in stride, knowing it’s just one of the frustrating things about hold’em.
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ARNOLD’S MOVES SO FAR — ‘VERY INTENTIONAL’

LUCKYDOG NOTE: Here is the first mid-show “Arnold’s Antics” report by Arnold Thimons, the amateur player from Pennsylvania battling five pros on this week’s Poker After Dark on NBC. Episode 2 airs late tonight and, once again, I’ll be “looking” over Arnold’s shoulder as he tries to win $120K!!!

BY ARNOLD J. THIMONS


Arnold Thimons

Well, Russ, I love your observations. I think you’re dead on with my play!

The exposing cards early (which everyone says not to do) with a variety of crap hands and good laydowns, was intentional. I’m trying to give them an impression that I’m capable of anything, without losing many chips.

I was nervous at first, but that pretty much left after the aces hand. You may have noticed I folded a lot of weak aces, only to see there was a much stronger hand behind me every time.

Again, very intentional!

I told myself before we started I wasn’t playing any weak aces out of position, and I was glad to see that it was the right move almost always.

As the episodes continue, I think you’ll start to see some results from my previous setups, and much more chatter!!

Look forward to reading your critiques, and watching it with everyone.

Thanks!

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ARNOLD MIXES UP HIS PLAY, HOLDS HIS OWN IN EPISODE 1


Arnold Thimons

Arnold Thimons is facing five of his favorite pro poker players on this week’s “Dream Table III” on Poker After Dark. Here’s how Episode 1 on Monday night unfolded for Arnold:

* TIGHT-TIGHT: On the show’s second hand, Arnold calls $200 with A-10 of hearts, but Laak raises to $1,200 on the button. Everyone folds back around to Arnold, including Chan (who mucked A-Q offsuit from the $200 big blind ). Out of position vs. Laak, Arnold decides not to get involved and folds with a chuckle.

LDP BARK: I don’t mind his fold. A pre-flop raise instead of a call probably drives out Laak with A-9, but Chan likely comes after him, dominating with A-Q. I liked the Tilly retort when her boyfriend Phil wanted to bet he had the best hand: “I don’t bet money with people I have sex with,” she said, loosening up an already chatty bunch.
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Arnold Thimons IV had a choice spot when this promo photo was taken prior to Dream Table III action on Poker After Dark — standing between Jennifer Tilly and show hostess Leeann Tweeden! Oh yeah, the other players he’ll face all this week on the show are, from left, Johnny Chan, Mike Matusow, Phil Laak and Daniel Negreanu. Stay focused, Arnold! (Photo by Stephanie Moore)

DREAM TABLE III FIRES UP TONIGHT ON POKER AFTER DARK

The wait is almost over for amateur poker player Arnold Thimons of Greensburg, Pa. Tonight, he’ll see the “poker game of his life” hit the TV screen on NBC’s Poker After Dark.

Arnold drew Seat 3 and will be sitting between Jennifer Tilly and Mike Matusow (the words “beauty and the beast” come to mind). Talk about table distractions!

In Seat 1 will be 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan, who was Arnold’s first pick to appear on the show with him after winning his seat in online qualifiers at Full Tilt. “He’s a dangerous player,” Arnold said, “but I just wanted the honor of playing with him.”

Rounding out the Dream Table will be poker stars Phil Laak (Jennifer’s significant other) and Daniel Negreanu.

This week’s nightly episodes should be interesting! Chan and Tilly aren’t known for their table chatter, although I suppose they could talk about how she was born Jennifer Chan in L.A. Meanwhile, plenty of yuks and antics are likely at the other end of the table because Matusow the Mouth, Laak the Loquacious, and Negreanu the Narrator always have something to say.

Arnold has been waiting five months to see the match televised and finally be able to talk about it! And that’s exactly what he’ll do — exclusively here at luckydogpoker.com

His first “Arnold’s Antics” report was posted Friday (scroll down to see) and he will file updates during the week as his work schedule permits. He’ll send a final report this weekend after the six episodes have aired. Your comments/questions are welcome!

In addition, each night during the show I’ll report (in near real time) on the hands Arnold plays and my observations of the telecast. (Check listings for show times.)

“I won’t be too hard on you,” I jokingly told him Friday, catching up with him by cell as he and some friends were watching “March Madness” basketball (Pitt fans, no doubt!). “That’s OK!” he said. “Critique away! You’re a good player and I’d like to know what you think.”

Hmmm, thanks, I guess I have my moments at the felt, Arnold. But it’s YOU playing against the big pros on TV, not me! So no doubt you’ve got game too, partner!

Best of luck! We’ll all be watching!

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LUCKYDOG NOTE: Dan Ross of Fairfield, Calif., one of the nice folks I met while covering the World Poker Challenge in Reno earlier this month, was among the stalwart spectators who watched the 12-HOUR final table of the WPT Shooting Star tournament in San Jose, Calif., long into the wee hours of Saturday morning.

He took notes during the marathon final table and was kind enough to share them with me for posting…

By DAN ROSS

SAN JOSE, Calif. — When the dust finally settled at the WPT’s Shooting Star event early Saturday morning:

* More hands (319) had been dealt than at any World Poker Tour final table in history…

* The players were looking quite weary after more than 12 hours from start to finish…

* Spectators were wondering why and how they lasted from 4 p.m. until just after 4 a.m. to watch Steve Brecher take out Kathy Liebert for the win here at the Bay 101 Casino…

Brecher, from Reno, kept other players a bit off-balance with his stone-like appearance after any bet. By the time it was heads-up, he held a nearly 4-to-1 chip advantage over Liebert as both players went for their first WPT title.

Very early in the evening, Chau Vu and Thao Le — the two short stacks when the 6-player final table began — went out, but it took about four more hours before Tony Behari was gone and the field was down to Brecher, Leibert and Chris Moore.

Liebert, from Las Vegas, was down to 600,000 in chips with four players left, but she doubled up when Moore called her all-in with Liebert showing pocket aces and Moore pocket 10’s.

All four players were chip leader at some point, but Behari starting running low quicker than the others as the four-hour mark approached. Liebert cut dramatically into his chips, leading towards his eventual bustout, but later she never recovered from a face-off with Brecher.

Liebert, with A-K suited, managed to get Brecher all-in with A-Q offsuit. With a King and a Jack on the flop, the loud pro-Leibert crowd celebrated until one lone voice started chanting, “No 10, no 10, no 10,” only to see Brecher hit his straight on the turn and become the chip leader, something he never relinquished.

It was after 1 a.m. when Moore went out, his all-in A-K offsuit lost to a flush that Brecher’s K-3 of diamonds hit on the river.

Brecher and Liebert started their heads-up battle at about 3 a.m., 11 hours after the tourney began. Brecher managed a few times to fold preflop from the small blind when Liebert had pocket aces, showing how he was able to stay out of harm’s way throughout most of the final table.

The end came when Liebert’s Q-10 suited went against Brecher’s A-9 offsuit. A final board of 2-6-6-2-4 closed out the night, giving Brecher the $1.025 million first prize, with Liebert taking home $550,000.

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