Daniel Negreanu – Poker Articles

World Poker Tour Caribbean Adventure — Part III

Poker article written by Daniel Negreanu and published in Card Player Magazine

With just 45 players remaining, my stack of $108,300 was good for fourth overall. As long as I didn't do anything too stupid, I felt like I just might crack the ice and make a WPT final table. With five tables left, there were several familiar faces: Hoyt Corkins, Andy Bloch, Chris Ferguson, Paul Wolfe, Howard Lederer, Gus Hansen, Surinder Sunar, and Billy and Kristi Gazes, just to name a few.

Now, I can't say that I've played with Paul Wolfe too much, but I have played with him enough to know that he is a dangerous player. I've been at two final tables with him in the past, and I have a pretty good idea of what he is capable of doing.

By the time the following hand came up, we were playing $600-$1,200 blinds with a $200 ante. Paul was in early position and raised it to $3,600. To be completely honest, I wasn't sure if Paul held a very strong hand or not. I looked down at the 5spades 2spades and thought the price was right. I called because I was right next to the button and believed I could win the pot in one of two ways: (1) I could make some type of a hand and possibly win a big pot, or (2) I might be able to represent a big hand and get Paul to lay down his hand somewhere along the way.

The small blind also called, which I wasn't too crazy about, and we took the flop threehanded: Qspades Jdiamonds 7spades. I'd already decided that if both players checked to me, I was going to bet, hoping to pick it up right here. The small blind checked and Paul quickly fired out $10,000. Based on my read of his body language, he had at least a queen. He seemed confident, but not "top set" confident. I thought he may have a hand like A-Q or K-Q, giving him top pair.

Nonetheless, with $13,800 already in the pot, I called $10,000, getting about 2.4-to-1 on my investment if I caught, not including the potential implied odds. The small blind folded, and thoughts were racing through my mind as to how I would proceed depending on what card hit the turn. Would I bluff at an ace? What if the jack paired?

The turn brought the 9spades, and Paul checked. It was clear to me that that card scared him. I believed he had a hand, but couldn't beat a straight or a flush. I pounced on the pot, betting $20,000. Paul hesitated for just a second, and then quickly called my bet.

Now, I had a whole new set of fears. I was still pretty certain that my flush was the best hand, but I was also sure that Paul wasn't drawing dead. He probably had a big spade in his hand, or possibly even a set. If the board paired on the river or another spade hit, I was already contemplating whether or not I would shut down.

The river brought the 4diamonds. It was a great card for me. It couldn't have helped Paul, so unless he was trapping me with a bigger flush, I had him. Now, it was time to sell it. Paul checked, and I was faced with the decision as to how much Paul would call.

I took a quick glance over at his stack and counted roughly $44,000. Since I had already bet $20,000 on the turn, I felt like I had to make the river bet bigger than that. If I bet $25,000, that would leave Paul with $18,000 and a fighting chance to make a comeback if he called and lost.

I wanted to make a bet that he thought he had to call. I finally decided on $25,000, and Paul went into the tank. It was a huge decision for him at this stage of the tournament. If he called and lost, he'd have just $18,000 left. If he called and won, he'd have a monster stack of more than $140,000. If he took the safe route and folded, he'd be in decent shape with $44,000.

Paul folded two black kings faceup. Of course, after he had gone through that much agony, there was no way I was going to let him know that he had made a fantastic laydown. I thought I'd be much better off leaving him wondering.

You can stop wondering now, Paul — well done.

I ended day three again in fourth chip position with $151,700. Day four started out beautifully for me. Twenty-seven players started on day four, and with just 12 remaining, I was the clear chip leader with well over $500,000. To my left were three short-stacked players, none of whom had more than $60,000, with one exception — Gus Hansen with $127,000.

The following hand created a lot of controversy, but both Gus and I believe I played the hand correctly. With the blinds at $3,000-$6,000 and a $1,000 ante, I was two off the button with the Ahearts 4hearts. A standard raise here would be in the neighborhood of $18,000 to $24,000. Now, if I made a raise like this and got reraised, I would be forced to call against any of the remaining players, except possibly Gus.

By moving all in here, though, I would likely force Gus to fold a hand like 7-7 or 8-8, as well as hands like A-Q, A-J, or A-10. Basically, Gus could hurt me only if he happened to wake up with a monster hand.

As it turned out, I moved all in and Gus did have a hand, Q-Q. Still, I was only about a 2-1 underdog to win the pot and eliminate a very dangerous opponent. On the other hand, if I lost this pot, I would make a monster out of the one guy I didn't want to see with lots of chips.

The flop came 6-6-4, giving me five outs. The river was an ace! I made aces and sixes with a queen kicker. Huh? That's right; I forgot to mention that the turn card was a queen, so I was drawing dead and got there. What a waste!

Not too long after that we were down to the final nine. My once mighty lead was now lost, and I started seeing a string of 6-2 and 8-2 hands that kept me out of action. In the meantime, both Hoyt Corkins and Gus Hansen were making big moves, and I knew I'd have to deal with them sooner or later.

Going into the final table, I was second in chips behind Corkins and ahead of Hansen. Hoyt started the final table with $609,000, I started with $408,000, and Gus came to the final six with $314,000. It was the makings of a rather interesting show.

In my next column, you'll find out how it all unfolded.

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With over one hundred poker articles spanning the last five years and a new poker article written every two weeks and published in Card Player magazine, Daniel Negreanu brings the world of poker to the tables of countless poker enthusiasts and poker players alike.

As a regular Card Player columnist, Daniel's poker articles have helped many readers learn the game of poker from the early days of an upcoming professional poker player to the realization of a true poker champion last year as Daniel became the 2004 Card Player Player of the Year, as well as, one of the most successful tournament players in history with 36+ worldwide wins and bragging rights as the WPT All-Time Top Money Winner.

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