While I’ve had some decent successes on the felt over the years, nothing compares to winnings a WSOP Bracelet. As the definitely-not-as-good-as-the-real-thing online WSOP season is now in the rear-view-mirror, I’m taking a trip down memory lane, re-living 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 29—40,000-80,000 blinds, 80,000 big blind ante, my stack=1,800,000 chips

Hand #131 of the Final Table:  We were 3-handed, with the chip leader, David Laka, having a massive chip edge over myself and Eric Blair. Blair folded on the button, and in the SB, I looked down at 2 handsome red kings.

A few hands earlier, I had open-shoved AKo, thinking that because I’d been open-shoving more (since my chip stack had gotten on the short side), I may get a light call from Laka.  I realized immediately that this had been a mistake; Laka was being incredibly aggressive in raising to try to induce folds and pick up chips, but he wasn’t calling bets lightly or trying to play big hands.

So when I looked down at my pocket kings here, I limped, to try to induce an aggressive raise (possibly even an all-in) from Laka in the BB. After a minute or so of thought, Laka did in fact put me all-in.  I snap-called of course, and he turned over A7o, giving him 3 outs and a 28% chance to knock me out in 3rd.

I’d experienced a moment like this only once previously–in the 2009 Main Event, ON the bubble, I was all-in with top set but had to fade a number of running-card scenarios, heart jumping out of my chest even as a substantial favorite to win the hand. But when the hand is being shown on tv, they slow everything down and milk it for all the drama they can.

So here we are, as a 2.5-1 favorite to double-up and be in a great spot, but I need to fade 3 outs…after a minute+, they finally deal out the flop: QJ8 rainbow, which is absolutely fine for me.  The turn, after another 30+ second pause, was the 3h, so he didn’t pick up any new draws (for example, if a king had come on the turn,
he’d now have 4 tens as outs instead of 3 aces).  Again we wait…finally, the river is dealt: 2d, and I’m in the clear!  A full double up gets me up to 3.8mm chips, the highest I’ve been in the tournament, with the pressure cranking back up on Blair as the short stack remaining.

Being all-in as a solid favorite is always preferable to the alternative, but fading 3 outs is never fun, especially when a bad break would end the Bracelet dream; thankfully my kings held up, keeping my dream alive.