While I’ve had my share of successes on the felt over the years, nothing compares to winning a World Series of Poker Bracelet. Now that the definitely-not-as-good-as-the-real-thing online WSOP season is in the rear-view mirror, I’m taking a trip down memory lane and reliving my favorite 10 hands from when I won the 2018 $5,000 No-Limit Hold’Em WSOP Bracelet.
World Series of Poker Las Vegas, NV June 11, 2018
Event #20: $5,000 Big Blind Ante Day 4 (Final Table)
Level 33-100,000-200,000 blinds, 200,000 big blind ante, my stack=4,500,000 chips
Hand #237 of the Final Table: We were heads-up, with the chip leader, David Laka, having roughly a 2-1 chip advantage over me.
He limped his SB, and with 56dd, I raised it up to 600,000 chips total. The flop came T86 rainbow (all different suits—no flush draws on the board). I led out with a bet of 425,000, and he made the call. The turn was a 7, giving me a straight draw to go with my bottom-pair, although there was now a one-card straight possibility on the board, which would beat me even if I were to hit a 4 for my straight on the river. He led out with a bet of 825,000 chips, leaving me to wonder what is he likely to have? and what could I realistically present to take down this pot?
Given his pre-flop limp, I didn’t put him on a pocket-pair that could have hit a set. He could have potentially had two-pair. I didn’t think he did, because I would never lead with two-pair there (if you lead and get raised, with a one-card straight on the board, you’re in a terrible spot). I would have checked and tried to use it as a bluff-catcher on the river. I thought he likely had a hand like JT/J8/J7—a pair and a gutshot—hands that had some value on the flop and picked up more equity on the turn. He could also have had air. In which case he might have figured he would lead out to represent a 9 for the straight, knowing that I was playing tight, and he then would likely fold any non-9 in that spot.
Given my image, and how strong of a move it would be, I knew that he would be the one who essentially had to fold any non-9 if I were to move all-in over the top of his bet (although if I truly thought he had a set or 2-pair, I wouldn’t have tried to force him to make a big lay-down). With the stacks getting shallower and considering the position I’d be in if I were to fold, I took a true gamble and moved all of my chips into the middle, betting that he wasn’t holding a 9.
Within about 10 seconds, he pushed his cards into the muck, and I exhaled a VERY deep breath as I regained the chip-lead ever-so-slightly. It was my least-calculated “big move” of the tournament, and unsurprisingly, it was the one where I was most wrong. What I was right about was that he would fold any hand that didn’t have a 9; what I was wrong about was what he was holding.
After the tournament was over, I saw on the delayed broadcast that he had folded 87o for 2-pair. Had he called, I would have had 6 outs to win the hand (4 4s for a straight and 2 6s for trips) and another 4 to chop (4 9s to put a straight on the board), but I would have been a significant underdog to remain alive in the tournament.
Thankfully, he made the big fold, preserving my tournament life and keeping my Bracelet dreams alive.