Final-Table Takedown -- Ivan Demidov

In this series, Card Player offers an in-depth analysis of the key hands that catapulted a player to a top finish, online or live. We will also reveal key concepts and strategies from the world's best tournament players, as we venture inside their sometimes devious and always razor-sharp poker minds.

Russian Ivan Demidov had a breakout year in 2008. To start it off, he finished 11th in the $1,000 WSOP event No. 44 for $39,854, then he finished third in the World Series of Poker Europe main event for $595,305, and was the runner-up in the WSOP main event for $5,809,595.

Craig Tapscott: Any read on Phillips?

Ivan Demidov: Dennis had been playing very weak-tight and had lost a medium-sized pot just before this hand to lose the chip lead. It's also very important in this hand to note that there were two very short stacks left at the table. Would he want to be first out?

Phillips limps from under the gun. Demidov raises to 1,025,000 from the button, holding the A Q. Phillips reraises to 3,525,000.

CT: Did this reraise scream A-A?

ID: Well, I knew quite a lot about Dennis and his under-the-gun limps. He limps with varied strong hands, not only A-A or K-K. So I took in all the information I knew: I saw him overplay J-J in a similar spot at the EPT high-rollers event; he had 350 friends in the audience whom he had brought to Vegas; he wasn't going to play anything but A-A or K-K to my four-bet here. And considering I knew he'd play 10-10+, A-K, maybe A-Q, and maybe some bluffs this way, I felt it was a good spot to bluff with a four-bet.

Demidov reraises to 8,225,000.

ID: At this point, I was confident he's not pushing anything but A-A or maybe K-K, so even given the pot odds, I would fold to a push.

Phillips calls.

ID: I was very surprised. But I knew it was not A-A, as he would've pushed, and also probably not K-K.

Flop: J 10 8 (pot: 17,260,000)

Phillips bets 4,500,000.

CT: Did you still have a good read when he bet out into you?

ID: He was nervous. I felt he wasn't very strong. At this point, I put him on Q-Q at best. I thought I had a lot of fold equity if I pushed, considering I had a double belly-buster, runner-runner flush draw, and an ace. Easy decision.

Demidov moves all in. Phillips folds. (The ESPN telecast revealed that Phillips held the A K.) Demidov wins the pot of 21,760,000.



Suharto raises to 1,100,000 from the cutoff.

CT: You make a lot of decisions from information gathered on each player. What's the story here?

ID: Suharto is considered a tight player, but he had been using his tight image at the final table to steal a lot more than he used to. Everyone knew it, and he understood that. So far, everyone had folded to him, but it was definitely a good time to make a move on him. Before even looking at my cards, I had decided it was a good time to three-bet him. And then I looked down at the K K and reraised to …

Demidov reraises to 3,300,000 from the small blind. Suharto calls.

Flop: K 9 7 (pot: 7,350,000)

Demidov bets 3,125,000.

CT: I assume you have to continuation-bet or it would look suspicious.

ID: Well, I have the nuts and have to figure out how to get the most out of it. If I check, he'll bet for sure, but I thought I could get more from him by making a weak c-bet. This will let him bluff at the pot, and this flop is a pretty good one to bluff at in a three-bet pot. It would be hard for me to call his reraise unless I have a king or A-A. He is definitely hoping to fold out most of my three-bet preflop range.

CT: What's going through your head after his preflop call?

ID: I knew two things for sure: (1) He's not trapping me with A-A, K-K, or Q-Q. (2) He'll try to take the pot away from me on the flop. I knew this because he plays online a lot, and definitely understands that calling a 3,300,000 raise with about 12,000,000 behind is a big no-no, especially if he does it just to hit the flop. When he called preflop, I knew he was going to try to make a move on me at certain flops. So the plan was to bet out with a weak lead.
Suharto raises to 8,125,000.

ID: My plan worked. It was obvious he's not betting the turn if I flat [flat-call], and I didn't want to lose to runner-runner clubs if he checked a club on the turn.

Demidov shoves all in. Suharto folds. (The ESPN telecast revealed that Suharto held the A Q.) Demidov wins the pot of 18,600,000.



Demidov limps in from the small blind when the action is folded to him while holding the K 7.

CT: Why limp here?

ID: Once again, there was a lot of history between us. We've tried to stay out of each other's way, as we respected each other's game. There's no reason to try to bluff big against each other, considering that we were both chip leaders and were capable of calling each other light with a read. So I decided to just limp and not raise here preflop. He was a good, aggressive player with position on me; I didn't want to get involved in a huge pot out of position.

Eastgate checks his option.

Flop: 7 6 3 (pot: 1,500,000)

ID: I know he's probably going to bet a lot here if I check. As I've said, we don't want to play big pots against each other, but we bluffed small all the time. I checked.

Eastgate bets 850,000. Demidov calls.

CT: Did you give a check-raise any thought?

ID: Again, I was out of position, and my check-raise would've folded most of the hands I beat, and anything that beat me would've called.

Turn: K (pot: 3,200,000)

Demidov checks. Eastgate checks.

ID: Easy check this time. A straight or a set still beats me, but he's almost drawing dead with any other type of hand. So I checked, hoping to induce another bet from him, but he checked; pretty standard up to this point.

River: 3 (pot: 3,200,000)

Demidov bets 1,625,000.

CT: Standard value-bet here.

ID: Yes, but …

Eastgate raises to 5,500,000.

ID: There was a history between us. He tried to bluff me before with 20 players left and I called (the line: I check-called the flop; check, check on the turn; and I bet-called the river). I know he remembers that hand, and that he knows I'm capable of calling here light if I feel he's weak. But considering the table situation, I was pretty sure he wasn't bluffing. I just don't think he would play a missed straight draw, or a plain king, or anything that I beat this way. It looked like a slow-played straight or a 3 to me. Easy fold.

Demidov folds. Eastgate wins the pot. (The ESPN telecast revealed that Eastgate held the 3 2.)