WPT Boot Camp

Last December, I was in the Bahamas, playing a WPT Boot Camp Battle for the Season Pass tournament. I played some interesting hands that I thought I would share with you.

The first hand occurred early in the tournament. We started out with 20,000 in chips and were now in the second round of play with the blinds at 50-100. I was in the small blind with A-10 offsuit and made it 300 to go. A loose player in the big blind called, and we saw the flop. No help came, as Q-3-2 rainbow hit the board. I decided to fire anyway, because that flop did not look like it could have helped my opponent. I bet 450, and he called. A king came on the turn, giving me a gutshot-straight possibility, but no pair. Well, even a loose player has to have some kind of hand to call another bet, so I fired 900 into the pot. Again, he called (aaarrrggghhh). What could he have? I was pretty sure that if I had checked the turn, he would have bet with or without a hand, so I tried to take it down first. The river was a 5; now what? I have a well-deserved reputation for conservative play, especially in the first few rounds of a tournament. I very seldom fire a third bullet when I have missed completely and already have been called on the flop and the turn. However, I was doing the betting, and facecards were on board. I also knew that my loose-aggressive opponent probably would have raised me if he had a big hand. And I knew that he knew that I seldom bet the river without a hand. I thought it was time to take a chance and cash in on my tight reputation. I fired 1,800 into the pot, and silently prayed that he would muck his hand. He thought about it for a while, looked at me, and decided that I just couldn't be bluffing in this spot, and reluctantly folded his hand. Phew! What is the lesson to be learned here? I think the thing that you need to be aware of the most in these types of situations is what your table image is, and how your opponent thinks you play and the type of hand he puts you on. I represented strength on every street and acted with a reasonable degree of confidence that was believable. Since I am not known to bluff that much, I got away with it this time because my opponent knew my style of play. I used my table image to deceive him. Of course, if he had called on the end, I would not have looked too smart, bluffing off my money to a loose player who was likely to call me with a medium-strength hand. Well, that is what poker is all about, taking a chance and following your instincts. Even if I had been called and my other opponents had seen me bluffing, I could have used that to my advantage in future situations when I had a real hand.

A little later in the tournament, I played a major pot with Todd Brunson. Considering our starting hands, playing an all-in pot was a bit dicey, to say the least. Here was the situation: The blinds were 200-400 with a 50 ante. The player under the gun brought it in for the minimum raise, making it 800 to go. I never liked a raise that small, because it encourages hands like mine, and the hand with which Todd decided to defend his big blind, to play cheaply. I called with the 8 7 and Todd called with the J 2. The flop came J 8 7. I had flopped the bottom two pair - an always dangerous hand to play and to protect. Bottom two pair is always vulnerable to straight draws, or, in this case, a flush draw with top pair. Todd checked, the original raiser checked, and I bet 2,000. Todd raised it to 10,000, and the original raiser folded, leaving it up to me. I went through all of my options here. I had Todd covered, but with only a few thousand to spare. His bet was roughly half of his stack, so he was telling me that he was committed. I knew that Todd is aggressive, but he is also tricky, and probably would not have made a big raise if he had 10-9 and had flopped a straight. If he had flopped the straight, he most likely would have called and tried to trap me if a non-threatening card came, or simply bet out. Of course, he is also capable of betting a flopped straight here, knowing that I would probably not give him credit for one. I knew that my tournament life was on the line here. If I called and lost, I would be crippled and in terrible shape. If I won, I would be the chip leader at the table. I finally decided that he probably had a jack with a decent kicker, or a flush draw, and was trying to bet me off my hand. It was either a fold or a move-in. There was some chance that he would fold if he was positive that I had a big hand, but more than likely, he would do what I thought he would do, call. He did, and I had to sweat two more cards. Any running pair, diamond, or another jack would spell my doom. Fortunately for me, and unfortunately for him, the last two cards were blanks and my hand held up. He looked at me kind of sheepishly and saw me writing some notes to myself. Then, he said, "You're going to write about this hand in Card Player, aren't you?"

I just looked at him and grinned, and asked, "How do you spell Brunson?"

With that, he laughed, wished the entire table good fortune, including me, and headed for the beautiful beaches.

If you have never been to a WPT Boot Camp, this is the one to attend. There was a day of instruction by some of the finest professional players in the world. Then, the next day, the main event started. This was worth a year of buy-ins to World Poker Tour events, plus travel expenses. There was also a bonus tournament if you got knocked out by midway through the second day. It has been held in December at the Crystal Palace Casino the last two years, and I can hardly wait until the next one; neither can my beautiful daughter, Melanie, who accompanied me. We had some nice father-daughter time, and a great vacation.

If your bottom two pair hold up, and all of your opponents' draws miss, I hope to meet you one day in the winner's circle.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com. He can be found playing under his own name on PokerStars, and is happy to chat when he can.