Is intimidated the right word? Can you risk enough money on a hand to make it unprofitable for the other player, becaues you want to make a point? Sure.
That article misses some obvious possible hands Ivey could be putting Booth on. 4-5 for the straight, or something like 8-9 of diamonds for the open ended straight + flush draw.
Ivey obviously can be intimidated. I was watching and playing a lot of poker and saw this hand go down the first time it was played on TV. I was sure Ivey would fold.
It's really hard to make a true analysis of the hand without more information. Is Ivey playing above his bankroll? Has he been losing recently? Does Booth have a backer? Did Booth have a side-bet that acted as a hedge?
This is obviously a truly amazing play on Booth's part. Ivey defines his hand when he plays it so straight-forward.
If Booth has a nut-flush draw, it's basically a coin flip. Booth could have the nuts, which would mean Ivey needs to draw perfect-perfect to a boat.
Really, the only thing Ivey beats here is a pure-bluff. Booth won his 50k, but undoubtedly that bluff, probably the biggest bluff in the history of poker up to that point, to be seen by so many people has paid off much more than that 50k pot.
