GPL 3 Stars Week 8: Dangerous Minds, Infinity Pools, Fists of Fury

At stake this week: Some significant points needed to solidify Conference playoff rankings as we enter into the unknown territory of cross-conference play.

In the case of those teams at the bottom of the table it was also an important week to keep the lead pack from getting too far ahead in the standings.

Some had more luck staying in range than others.

Our 3 Stars this week clearly reflect who delivered the points their teams needed to secure their spots in the pecking order.

1) Jason Lavallee – Montreal Nationals

One of the great things about the GPL is that with hole cards exposed and your face/voice on webcam for all to see/hear, there’s no hiding the holes in your game.

New End Boss?

With cards down you can rely on mystery to suggest your game is a bit more advanced than it is but when the cards are on their backs and Griffin and Sam are dissecting your every move, there’s no slack.

As the first weeks of the GPL have played out we’ve seen a few players separate themselves from the pack – at least in these specific formats – with the complexity and depth of their poker understanding.

Few, if any, have done it better than Lavallee. And there are few things more impressive in poker than someone who knows where he is in virtually every hand and, even if a play ends up backfiring, knows exactly why.

The Montreal National wildcard pick has put his name up there with the best in the League – Busquet, Galfond, Timex, Kurganov, Marchese, Bonomo – at outlining and executing almost perfect play.

With a 3-0 sweep of Anthony Zinno this week and now 7 straight game wins in heads-up play, Lavallee’s point scoring is on par with his talent. His dry wit on cam doesn’t hurt, either.

2) Martin Jacobson – Montreal Nationals

When your team earns 19 of 23 points available it’s safe to say you’ve had a pretty good week.

The 2014 WSOP Main Event champ clearly has his 6-max SNG game dialled and pretty effortlessly piled up 10 of those points on his own.

Champ can throw a punch for real.

What we liked most, though, was the normally stoic and silent Swede on cam showed a bit more of his personality in his post-match winner’s interview.

Asked by host Laura Cornelius about the much-discussed “human dummy” in the background Jacobson, a known MMA aficionado, did a little demonstration of his skills for the viewers.

And damn … he can really hit. Hard. 

As we’ve said before it’ll be personality and narrative that will make the GPL thrive and seeing Jacobson cut loose a bit was a nice moment.

3) Fedor Holz – LA Sunset

Randy Lew, Liv Boeree, Igor Kurganov, Mike Leah, Raiden Kan, Olivier Busquet, Joao Bauer … there were a few ways we could go with the 3rd Star this week with lots of solid performances.

You can’t ignore the shirtless German whiz kid with the wispy goatee who played from an infinity pool in Costa Rica, though.

Featuring Holz on cam during the 6-Max matches was a great choice and the fact he was playing from a baller house in Costa Rica made it all the better.

Monte Carlo. Jamaica. Texas. London. Wherever that awesome balcony Bill Perkins was playing from is. Phil Galfond’s house.

Part of the appeal of the poker lifestyle is the flexibility and the travel poker pros get to indulge in and to see it on display is always a treat.

Sure, Holz picked up another 10 points for his team, but giving a glimpse of the spoils of being a poker crusher at such a young age added a bit of magic, too.

Must-Watch Matches of the Week

Busquet-Marchese was a drawn-out tete-a-tete of high-level meta game from two poker geniuses; Lavallee-Zinno was a blitzkrieg illustrating just how much math and ranges crush live feel in this format.

Honorable Mentions

Randy “nanonoko” Lew sweeping ElkY was obviously huge for the Hong Kong Stars but Raiden Kan‘s stealthy 8 points in 6-max was also critical in bumping the Stars up the playoff ladder. Liv Boeree winning her third 6-Max match so far was also impressive and the 1-2 punch with Igor is deadly for London. Sam Trickett‘s steady play adds another layer of depth to their killer first-place lineup. Olivier Busquet‘s joy for the game and commitment to the GPL is refreshing and his heads-up commentary is mind-blowing. The fact he’s going directly from a heads-up match to a $300k buy-in event this weekend speaks volumes. Likewise for Mike Leah, who played through the flu, and Vladimir Troyanovskiy, who also put it on the line for points after crushing the SCOOP. Sorel Mizzi is single-handedly keeping the Berlin bears in the playoff picture is a joy to watch on cam. So is Bill Perkins. Joao Bauer‘s play is quickly becoming essential for Sao Paulo. Roland Boothby‘s turn filling in for Sam Grafton was great, even if he’s super posh and goes to the theater.

Misclicks

We love when GriffGraf go off on some weird tengents but Benger talking about personal debts and calling a famous poker debtor a POS was a bit much. There was also a lot of silence on the webcams this week, which is fine, but it might be time to pre-plan more for the cam in 6-Max and rotate through players. Or maybe an online vote to pick? The lack of women in the league is also starting to show with another dude-heavy dose this week.

Random Stats

Expanded Standings

Player Performance Index

Performance by Country & Gender