While Thomas Taylor is most used to playing mixed games like HORSE for much higher stakes than today’s $400, the chance to play one of his favorite games in what amounts to his hometown casino must have been a bit of a treat. Coming away with the win at the end of the night just sweetened the deal.
It was a relatively small affair with just 32 entries. Compared to the NLHE turnouts this series typically gets, that was pretty small, but consider this was only the second running of the HORSE in Calgary, and given that mixed-games aren’t as well known or familiar here as the two-card and four-card community games, it was a reasonable turnout. And, perhaps in an indication of the growing popularity, noted NLHE specialist Weston Pring decided to jump into this one and managed to make his way to the final table in what was his first-ever time playing stud variants.
Taylor was always going to be the favorite in this one from the moment he entered, though. With deep runs in high stakes HORSE and 8-Game, as well as most of the individual disciplines involved, Taylor is a specialist in these sorts of rotational games and can hold his own with the best in the world, as evidenced by a 3rd place in the $10k Stud8 Championship at last year’s WSOP summer party.
That was just his latest success at big-stakes mixed poker, so variance aside, there was little question who the player to beat was. And in the end, no one could.
The Quiet Game
Taylor isn’t known for being flamboyant or loud at the tables. He’s one of the quietest crushers you’ll ever play against, and that quietness is the front for a laser-sharp focus on the game.
That mirrors his style at the table, with calculated moves at critical times while largely staying out of the fray through the more volatile periods of a tournament. In this game, he was relatively short through most of the day, with just the 3rd place stack when play was six-handed.
He picked his spots and hung around until they got fully down to the business end of the game, and that’s when he went into overdrive. Once play was three ways in the money, he built up a chip lead that was only equaled after runner-up Marin Butler sent Jordan Pennock to the rail in 3rd.
Despite the difference in experience, Butler wasn’t easy to finish off. He actually had Taylor on the ropes at one point after a huge call in hold’em with second pair on an ace-high straighty board. Taylor was running a bluff with a busted heart draw and Butler grabbed a big lead.
Taylor clawed his way back with relentless aggression, forcing folds from Butler in a couple of spots for decent-sized pots. Then Taylor found a huge scoop in Omaha 8 or Better when he found a king-high straight on a board with no low to leave Butler with less than 100k
Butler fought back valiantly, surviving through the rest of the O8 round as well as the following round of razz. He was on his heels the whole time, however, and was all in halfway down the streets a few times before running out to the best low. Conversely, he also had to bring in and fold several razz hands, meaning he mostly treaded water through the 7-card lowball game.
It was Stud that finally handed Taylor the victory. Butler was still on his heels and forced all in partway through the streets if he wanted to play, and in the final hand, Taylor found a better pair of queens than Butler’s sevens.
There’s little doubt that Taylor has made more money over 11 hours of poker than he’d ever have hoped to in today’s game. That said, picking up a win in one of his favorite games in the comfort of home had to be pretty sweet.
