I've talked before about the importance of playing your best rather
than succumbing to the pressures of poker myths when you're near the end
of a tournament.
There is no better example of that lesson than this weekend's terrific WPT Championship final table
infrared ink.
So many times, I've heard players say things like, "I didn't come here to move up in the money - I was playing to
win!"
That sounds great, but the best players understand that you can't win a
tournament if you're out of it with no chips in front of you.
Let's look at the final table of the WPT Championship this weekend.
The last two tables were stocked with some of the best players in the world, including Scott Epstein, Andy Black, Robert Mizrachi, Bryan Devonshire, Amir Vahedi, Tom Dwan and Kenny Tran. After Vahedi busted out in seventh for $237k, the TV table was set:
- Cory Carroll (8.26m, 5s)
- Gus Hansen (7.10m, 2s)
- David Chiu (5.77m, 3s)
- John Roveto (2.65m, 1s)
- Jeff King (2.09m, 6s)
- Tommy Le (1.41m, 4s)
Gus was one of the players who put the WPT on the
map,
and he is fearless when he has chips. David's style is a throwback to
the poker I grew up playing. Simply put, he's a grinder who is ready to
play any time at any stakes.
He has to be the hardest-working Full Tilt Pro, as he'll be playing low-stakes games more often than he'll be playing higher-stakes games.
Cory Carroll may not be a name you recognize, but top pros who do their homework know skill when they see it.
He's one of the top online players who have made the transition to live play, as he showed last year when he won $515k in the WSOP Circuit $5k NLHE at Caesars, adding $561k three weeks later as runner-up at the WPT Mirage.
Gus knocked out two players quickly in sick fashion, first calling an all-in with 10
♠ 9
♠ pre-flop (he rivered his ten) to take out Jeff King; then flopping a set of tens on a board of Q
♥ T
♣ 5
♣ to take out Tommy Le.
Remember I said sick, right? Tommy turned over 5
♥ 5
♠
for bottom set. Gus was over $11m in chips when he got involved in a
huge pot on the very next hand with Cory, who was second in chips with
$8.5m. What would you do in each of their situations?
The
blinds were $80k/$160k with a $15k ante, putting $220k in the pot at the start with no small blind this time.
Gus made it $480k from the cut-off with 7
♦ 5
♦, and David folded his button. Cory then made it 1.65m with A
♦ J
♠. So, three quick decisions after the buzz of a set-over-set bust-out hand.
What?!! You dare re-pop me??!!
Gus
shows he's going to run over the table, raising his weak hand in
position, and Cory shows he knows this and re-pops Gus with a strong
hand out of position. A-J is not that great a hand, but four-handed
against Gus has to give you some confidence in Hand #16.
Gus
makes decision three as he decides the middle ground, calling instead of
folding or reraising. He's in position and ready to run with his lucky
streak, so he calls. He has chips, he raised, and he hardly ever folds
there. There is around $3.5m in the pot.
Q
♣ J
♦ 6
♦ comes on the flop, and this big hand gets even bigger.
Let's
look at what happens next. Cory checks his second pair, I'm assuming
ready to check-raise the aggressive Gus. He's left Gus open for the
potential draws in his range (10-9 or the diamonds), but I have to think
he believes Gus will bet into this pot, then muck a big reraise.
Gus takes a couple minutes, gives that pained Gus look, then moves all-in.
Why
does Gus do this rather than making a bet into the checked pot or
checking behind? Because he doesn't think Cory has hit this flop enough
to call for his tournament life.
So what do you do here if you
are Cory? You have $6.9m left if you fold, a little over $17m if you
call and win this pot, and fourth-place money if you call and lose,
whether you're ahead or not. You also have the A
♦, a big card that tells you a lot, primarily that Gus doesn't have it.
Regardless
of all the logic and pot odds, Cory has to decide if this is the best
place to get in his money. He decides finally to call, then watches the
familiar roller-coaster that is a final table turn and river for your
tournament life: Q
♥ on the turn, the little 3
♦ on the river. Flush for Gus, game over for Cory.
What
would I have done there? I can tell you confidently that I have no
idea. I think it's a little dangerous to sit outside of a final table
and claim what you would have done on a huge, tough decision like this
one. Gus came out on top, but both Cory and Gus can be applauded for
this hand.
Gus knocked out his fourth victim a few hands later in John Roveto, and his $22.9m in chips dominated David Chiu's $4.36m.
It's
hard to be too critical of David to this point. In 22 hands, Gus
knocked out the other four players with his aggression married to a nice
chunk of running good, a deadly combination. Most of us would look
across at Gus and his monster stack, think of the $1.7m second-place
money, be happy to find a nice place to shove our stack, and be done
with this event.
Remember what I said about David, though. He's a
grinder who knows how to play patiently, as well as knows the
difference between $1.7m and $3.39m.
Chiu: The ever-patient grinder.
So,
how do you play patiently when you have the pressure of a great,
aggressive player who has a ton of chips? You have to understand where
the blinds are in relation to your stack. The blinds were still at
$80k/$160k with an ante of $15k, so David had enough chips to make any
decision at any time.
Then you decide to play poker.
Bet
sizes and variation are the two characteristics of this heads-up battle
between these two pros. David raised to $510k on the first hand, only to
see Gus move all-in. He folded quickly, then played small pots. Limps,
min-bets from both players, deliberate play from both players.
David
doubled up when he quickly called with 5-5 versus the 2-2 of Gus, but
he remained out-chipped by $7m-$10m for a couple dozen hands through the
$100k/$200k blind level. A few hands after the blinds moved up to
$150k/$300k with a $25k ante, Gus held $20m to David's $7.2m.
It
induces tremendous pressure to have an aggressive player with chips
focused squarely on you, and most of us couldn't handle it. David
continued to stay intense and on top of his game. Two hands that turned
the tournament show what that means.
David limped on his button, and Gus checked to see the flop of 9
♥ 4
♠ 3
♠. Gus bet the $300k minimum, and David min-raised. Gus quickly folded to give the pot to David.
Most
players would have bet much more than David did there, but that would
have put more of his chips at risk and given him a tougher decision if
Gus had put him to the test. This is knowing your opponent, but it is
also keeping pots small.
The next hand, Gus made it $775k on the button, and David re-raised to $1.85m. Gus called, and the flop came J
♠ 6
♠ 3
♠. David bet out $1.6m, not overbetting here, but it was still a significant amount
marked poker.
Gus called; then 6
♣
came on the turn. David deliberately thought and waited for about a
minute, then moved all-in for his final $5.1m, and Gus folded.
After
all those hands, the patience had paid off. David was now up to $12m to
Gus's $15m. Within a few hands, David had the chip lead. Then another
monster hand decided the winner.
Gus raised to $750k on the button, and David called. The flop came A
♣ 10
♣ 8
♠,
and David checked. Gus bet $900k, and David called again. The bet size
by Gus was to induce a call or a check-raise from David, and he got his
call.
5
♠ brought a $1.2m bet from David, and Gus thought for a bit before moving all-in for his $8.6m. David held A
♠ 9
♠,
so he had a ton of outs but only one card to come. He knew Gus could
make this play with his own flush draw or a straight draw, but he could
also flip over a set to reduce his chances of winning.
He finally called and saw Gus turn over one of his outs for the flush, 10
♠ 8
♥.
It was as much as David could have hoped for, but he had to hope that
his 36% chance of winning would come through. You always expect the
spade to beat you here, but A
♥ gave David trip aces and the $3,389,140 top prize.
And
it taught me at least that you are never out of an event if you are
patient and prepared to play every hand at your very best. Gus Hansen
didn't lose this tournament; David Chiu won it.
Did he get lucky?
Sure, just as Gus got lucky to pick up his chips early and stay in the
tourney. But the lesson here is that David never let the pressure get to
him and didn't believe the conventional wisdom of being happy to have
picked up second-place money against one of the most feared players we
face. And there is no reason you can't play the same way, regardless of
where you are in an event.
OK, this was a bit long. But I really think this was a great final table that can help all of us.
I
know it helped me to write this, that's for sure. I'll be heading to
the Bellagio to play in cash games, so you can find me there or at www.Chilipoker.com.
Thanks for visiting me at www.lizlieu.net
and for all of the nice responses here at PokerListings. Being sick
isn't nearly as interesting as the tournament I missed was, so I hope
you don't mind this strategy post.
Cheers!
-- Liz Lieu
Pro Poker Player - Poker Diva
