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 34—120,000-240,000 blinds, 240,000 big blind ante, my stack=3,850,000 chips

Hand #278 of the Final Table:  Heads-up vs David Laka, he had roughly a 3-1 chip lead on me

After beginning the heads-up match at a chip deficit of almost 5-1, I spent 4+ hours slowly grinding back to a slight chip lead…and then I made my biggest mistake of the day. After all that work, I made a bluff at the wrong time, putting me right back where I started with an almost 5-1 chip deficit once more.

I glanced over at the Bracelet to my left, displayed on the table as a reminder to both of us what we were playing for. I remember my inner monologue saying, “it’s slipping away.” In that moment I knew that I was likely going to lose and look back on that hand forever as the one that crushed my chances.

I knew that If I were to have any chance, I could not let my stack dwindle below its current level, as that would enable him to call my all-ins multiple times in a row without being at risk of losing the chip lead. I knew I had to somehow strike a balance between getting more aggressive and not just barreling thoughtlessly.

With roughly 16 BBs in my stack, I looked down at 53cc.  If I raise, and he re-raises, I’m basically forced to fold, because I would have zero fold equity on a shove. If, on the other hand, I raise, and he calls, I’m playing postflop with a hand that is never ahead heads-up.

So I decided to limp, thinking that if he lets me see a flop for free, great; maybe I’ll hammer it. But if he makes a substantial raise (which he’s done with weaker starting hands a few times that I’ve seen), I’m going to move all-in, having plenty of fold equity. Finally, if he does call, especially if he doesn’t have a pair, but even if he does (unless it’s a pair of 5s), I have a hand that has more out-flopping potential than a superior hand like A6o, etc.

After I limped, he made a substantial raise, as predicted, taking it up to 1.25mm (more than 5 BBs).  I waited less than 30 seconds before moving all-in.  He snap-folded, and I was right back to a more playable stack of roughly 5.5mm (more than 20 BBs).

We later saw that he had 72o on this hand—indicative of how he was playing very aggressively, both in terms of the hands he chose to raise with and in terms of the sizes of his bets.  This hand was crucial, as it allowed me to increase my chip stack by 1/3 without having my tournament life at stake and up to the cards to come.  It positioned me to get closer to even chip stacks, which would eventually enable me to win the Bracelet when the ultimate hand came.