Post by jdaddy on Nov 29, 2007 13:44:16 GMT -4
# Source: The Offical World Poker Tour Magazine
Ryan Daut Discusses Three Key Hands That Led to His First WPT Title
Keys to Success
Isaac Haxton entered the Season V Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure final table with the largest chip lead in WPT history but it was Ryan Daut who walked away with the title. Ryan has joined us to provide his unique insight into three hands he feels were the tipping points in overcoming such a massive deficit.
The first key hand to my victory occurred early in the final table play when we were still six handed. I raised on the button to 80k with KdKc and Isaac Haxton called from the big blind. I had started the hand with close to 2.5 million, and he had me covered, so we were pretty deep with over 80bb. Since I raised from the button I figured Isaac’s range of playable hands to be wider than usual, but he had been playing pretty tight and standard so I didn’t think he was messing around with any weak hands. At this point in the hand I put him on any pair up to 99, two broadway cards besides AK and AQ which he probably would have re-raised with, and middle connecting cards.
The flop came 9h6d2h and Isaac checked to me. I bet 125k which was a little less than 2/3 the pot, and he check-raised me to 425k. I didn’t think he would do this with total air, but it was definitely possible that he would try to snap off my bet with a wide range of cards. I can’t really convey my physical read of the situation, but I didn’t feel like he had a set here, although it was definitely possible. I thought his range was mainly flush draw, 87 for the straight draw, low pocket pairs that weren’t sets, and one pair hands that he was just trying to take the pot down with; there was also an outside chance that he had a set or was on a total bluff. I decided that I was going to flat call his bet, leaving me 2 million behind with about 1.2 million in the pot, and then shove over the top when he leads on the turn. I really didn’t like the idea re-raising here because he folds all hands except monsters, and the only monsters he could have are sets or a trickily played AA based on the fact that he didn’t re-raise pre-flop
The turn came the 5d and he checked. This check scared me a little bit. We still had about 70bb left behind us, so I didn’t want to put myself in a terrible spot by betting and getting check raised again. I narrowed his likely hands down to 87 and one pair hands, and decided it was better to check behind than to bet for a couple of reasons. First off, if he has 87 for the straight, then I save money by checking behind and just calling a river bet. Secondly, if he only has a one pair hand, I highly doubt that he will call both a turn and river bet, so I am only going to be able to get value on one street.
One can definitely make the argument that I should have bet the turn strong because it’s a draw heavy board and there are a ton of scare cards that could come on the river. However, not all of them are good for him. Sure a lot of cards put four to a straight or three to a flush on board, but not every card can help any hand he has. Remember, I still have position in this hand and I was confident in my ability to make a read based on his action on the river and I didn’t want to play a massive pot with one pair so I checked behind for some pot control.
The river was the Ac and he checked to me again. I didn’t think there was any value in betting because he almost always folds any hands I can beat, so I checked behind and won the pot. I really like how I played this hand, although I do think betting the turn is a viable option. This pot put me up over 3 million and vaulted me into second place which was important because it gave me a lot of chips to work with.
The second key hand happened when it got down to heads up. At this point Isaac and I were pretty close to even in chips (I might have had a slight chip lead). I was on the button with Qc5d and decided to limp. In heads up play, the button acts first and is getting tremendous odds from the pot, over 3:1, so folding is usually not an option unless you have a very weak hand. Q5o is in the top 60% of hands and is definitely playable, but I had been raising a lot on the button, so I decided to just limp and Isaac checked his option.
The flop came 9s7d5c and Isaac led out for 500k. This was about the size of the pot, but I decided to take a card off and see what he did on the turn. I could have folded here, but I was getting 2:1 odds with position, and I could very well have the best hand at this point.
The turn was the Qd, giving me two pair, and this time Isaac checked to me. I decided to play this hand for max value and make two big bets on the next two streets. I bet 1.2m and was quickly called.
The river was the Ah and Isaac checked to me. This may seem like a bad card for two reasons: First, some of the hands in his range just made two pair and second, if it didn’t give him two pair then it looks like a scare card that Isaac might fold to a bet on. However, I think it was a great card. In Isaac's eyes a bet from me here looks like a complete bluff, unless I floated the flop with an Ace or have a really big hand. If I just had a hand like 96 or J7 for one pair then I would check behind on the river. Isaac knows this, so a bet looks very much like a bluff because my range consists of fewer monsters than bluffs since we are heads up. I made a big bet of 2.5 million because I thought Isaac would definitely view this as a bluff and pay me off with a wide range of hands. He called with 87 for 4th pair and mucked.
The final hand I would like to talk about is the last hand of the tournament. The blinds were up to 150k/300k with a 30k ante. Isaac was pretty short on chips at this point with less than 3 million. I was dealt AdTh on the button, and my decision was actually fairly trivial. With less than 10 big blinds, Isaac was very short, and it actually makes sense for me to push any 2 cards into him. Basically whatever his calling range is, I cannot lose because of the dead money in the pot from the antes. The reason being, if he calls with a tight range, say top 25% of hands, I am winning so much money in the 75% that he folds that even though I am only roughly 35% to win when he does call, I still make a lot of money. If he calls with a very wide range of hands, say top 50%, then my equity increases dramatically to almost 43% and again I win.
So when I was dealt AT, which is a good hand heads up, it was an easy decision to shove. He knows that I am shoving with any two cards here and will likely call. I don’t want to get into weird games of raising 3x with my good hands and shoving the bad ones, so I shoved in and he called with Qd8h and I held up to win the title.
Ryan Daut Discusses Three Key Hands That Led to His First WPT Title
Keys to Success
Isaac Haxton entered the Season V Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure final table with the largest chip lead in WPT history but it was Ryan Daut who walked away with the title. Ryan has joined us to provide his unique insight into three hands he feels were the tipping points in overcoming such a massive deficit.
The first key hand to my victory occurred early in the final table play when we were still six handed. I raised on the button to 80k with KdKc and Isaac Haxton called from the big blind. I had started the hand with close to 2.5 million, and he had me covered, so we were pretty deep with over 80bb. Since I raised from the button I figured Isaac’s range of playable hands to be wider than usual, but he had been playing pretty tight and standard so I didn’t think he was messing around with any weak hands. At this point in the hand I put him on any pair up to 99, two broadway cards besides AK and AQ which he probably would have re-raised with, and middle connecting cards.
The flop came 9h6d2h and Isaac checked to me. I bet 125k which was a little less than 2/3 the pot, and he check-raised me to 425k. I didn’t think he would do this with total air, but it was definitely possible that he would try to snap off my bet with a wide range of cards. I can’t really convey my physical read of the situation, but I didn’t feel like he had a set here, although it was definitely possible. I thought his range was mainly flush draw, 87 for the straight draw, low pocket pairs that weren’t sets, and one pair hands that he was just trying to take the pot down with; there was also an outside chance that he had a set or was on a total bluff. I decided that I was going to flat call his bet, leaving me 2 million behind with about 1.2 million in the pot, and then shove over the top when he leads on the turn. I really didn’t like the idea re-raising here because he folds all hands except monsters, and the only monsters he could have are sets or a trickily played AA based on the fact that he didn’t re-raise pre-flop
The turn came the 5d and he checked. This check scared me a little bit. We still had about 70bb left behind us, so I didn’t want to put myself in a terrible spot by betting and getting check raised again. I narrowed his likely hands down to 87 and one pair hands, and decided it was better to check behind than to bet for a couple of reasons. First off, if he has 87 for the straight, then I save money by checking behind and just calling a river bet. Secondly, if he only has a one pair hand, I highly doubt that he will call both a turn and river bet, so I am only going to be able to get value on one street.
One can definitely make the argument that I should have bet the turn strong because it’s a draw heavy board and there are a ton of scare cards that could come on the river. However, not all of them are good for him. Sure a lot of cards put four to a straight or three to a flush on board, but not every card can help any hand he has. Remember, I still have position in this hand and I was confident in my ability to make a read based on his action on the river and I didn’t want to play a massive pot with one pair so I checked behind for some pot control.
The river was the Ac and he checked to me again. I didn’t think there was any value in betting because he almost always folds any hands I can beat, so I checked behind and won the pot. I really like how I played this hand, although I do think betting the turn is a viable option. This pot put me up over 3 million and vaulted me into second place which was important because it gave me a lot of chips to work with.
The second key hand happened when it got down to heads up. At this point Isaac and I were pretty close to even in chips (I might have had a slight chip lead). I was on the button with Qc5d and decided to limp. In heads up play, the button acts first and is getting tremendous odds from the pot, over 3:1, so folding is usually not an option unless you have a very weak hand. Q5o is in the top 60% of hands and is definitely playable, but I had been raising a lot on the button, so I decided to just limp and Isaac checked his option.
The flop came 9s7d5c and Isaac led out for 500k. This was about the size of the pot, but I decided to take a card off and see what he did on the turn. I could have folded here, but I was getting 2:1 odds with position, and I could very well have the best hand at this point.
The turn was the Qd, giving me two pair, and this time Isaac checked to me. I decided to play this hand for max value and make two big bets on the next two streets. I bet 1.2m and was quickly called.
The river was the Ah and Isaac checked to me. This may seem like a bad card for two reasons: First, some of the hands in his range just made two pair and second, if it didn’t give him two pair then it looks like a scare card that Isaac might fold to a bet on. However, I think it was a great card. In Isaac's eyes a bet from me here looks like a complete bluff, unless I floated the flop with an Ace or have a really big hand. If I just had a hand like 96 or J7 for one pair then I would check behind on the river. Isaac knows this, so a bet looks very much like a bluff because my range consists of fewer monsters than bluffs since we are heads up. I made a big bet of 2.5 million because I thought Isaac would definitely view this as a bluff and pay me off with a wide range of hands. He called with 87 for 4th pair and mucked.
The final hand I would like to talk about is the last hand of the tournament. The blinds were up to 150k/300k with a 30k ante. Isaac was pretty short on chips at this point with less than 3 million. I was dealt AdTh on the button, and my decision was actually fairly trivial. With less than 10 big blinds, Isaac was very short, and it actually makes sense for me to push any 2 cards into him. Basically whatever his calling range is, I cannot lose because of the dead money in the pot from the antes. The reason being, if he calls with a tight range, say top 25% of hands, I am winning so much money in the 75% that he folds that even though I am only roughly 35% to win when he does call, I still make a lot of money. If he calls with a very wide range of hands, say top 50%, then my equity increases dramatically to almost 43% and again I win.
So when I was dealt AT, which is a good hand heads up, it was an easy decision to shove. He knows that I am shoving with any two cards here and will likely call. I don’t want to get into weird games of raising 3x with my good hands and shoving the bad ones, so I shoved in and he called with Qd8h and I held up to win the title.
