Final-Table Takedown -- Jon Little

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.

Jonathan "Fiery Justice" Little, 24, emerged from the pack of online stars in 2007 at the WPT PokerStars Caribbean Adventure with a fifth-place finish, which was good for $317,873. A few months later, he would win his first WPT title, the Mirage Poker Showdown, and $1,094,295. He then closed out the year with a second-place finish ($714,905) at the WPT North American Poker Championship. In November of 2008, he captured his second WPT title and $1,120,310 at the Foxwoods World Poker Finals.

Craig Tapscott: Any history with Matusow?

Jonathan Little: Mike had not reraised me at all during the entire tournament, but I felt like he was going to make a move against me as soon as he had some chips.

Little raises from under the gun to 125,000 with the 9 9. Matusow shoves all in from the button for 990,000.

JL: I raised from under the gun into the most aggressive person at the table, Jonathan Jaffe. This could mean I had a strong hand, but I also could be doing it because it looks really strong. Mike then pushed for the 20 big blinds.

CT: Weigh the options for us.

JL: Well, if I called and lost, I would have 30 big blinds, which is a stack that I'm very happy to play. And if I won, I would have about 80 big blinds, which is another great stack. If I folded, I would have around 50 big blinds, which I'm not really a fan of having, because there's constantly the chance of putting in too much of my stack in bad spots. This is because 50 big blinds doesn't play like a short stack or a big stack, and it usually gives opponents the perfect opportunity to re-push, forcing me to fold in spots that would be much easier to play with either a small or large stack.

CT: You worked your way up the sit-and-go stakes to the highest levels. What skills have you developed that have contributed to your extraordinary results in multitable tournaments?

JL: SNGs [sit-and-gos] taught me a lot about how to play against the short stacks (30 big blinds or less). That being said, I also have a decent online cash-game background, where you usually buy in for 100 big blinds. So, I try to stay somewhere in the area of 0-30 big blinds or 60-100 big blinds, as that is where I am most comfortable. Basically, though, late in a tournament, most of the stacks are short and some people play like they still have 200 big blinds, which will cost them greatly in the long run.

SNGs also taught me a lot about how the payout structure affects you when you gamble. Most of the money is in the top three places in big WPT events. So, it's important, once you're already at the final table, to play to win, which means sometimes taking coin flips in order to move up a pay spot and knock out a tough player.

The outcomes if I call here are that Mike will have 50 big blinds and will be back in it, and I will have a nice stack of 30 big blinds, or I will knock out a very tough player and have a stack of 80 big blinds. In this spot, I think it's well worth the gamble.

Little calls. Matusow flips over the A J.

Flop: K 5 3 (pot: 2,085,000)

Turn: 5 (pot: 2,085,000)

River: 4 (pot: 2,085,000)

Little wins the pot of 2,085,000.



Little limps in from the button with the J 6. Marchese completes the small blind. Jaffe checks his option.

CT: Why the limp from such a position of power on the button, and three-handed?

JL: It's important to see how often you can limp, as the more flops you see in position, the more money you will make. With hands like the J 6, it's pretty bad if you raise and get reraised, as you're basically forced to fold. But if you limp, you can call a raise of four times the big blind and see a flop, in position, with a very disguised hand.

Flop: 10 5 3 (pot: 195,000)

All three players check.

Turn: 8 (pot: 195,000)

Marchese checks. Jaffe bets 90,000. Little calls. Marchese folds.

JL: I could raise here, but getting reraised would be awful, as I would most likely have to fold. I was probably going to bluff at any river, as long as he checked, as his bet here could easily be a total bluff that I couldn't beat at showdown.

River: 10 (pot: 375,000)

Jaffe checks.

JL: I didn't really think Jonathan would call a pot-sized bet here, mainly because he hadn't shown a whole lot of strength in the hand. I decided to make a standardish bet of two-thirds of the pot, hoping to just get paid off, as I didn't think he would check-raise bluff the river if I made a small or large bet.

Little bets 225,000. Jaffe calls. Little flips over the jack-high flush. Jaffe mucks. Little wins the pot of 825,000.




Jaffe raises to 150,000 from the button. Little reraises to 530,000 from the small blind with the A J. Marchese folds. Jaffe calls.

JL: I had just three-bet Jaffe an orbit earlier with A-Q, and he called. I bet the flop, and he called. I then checked and folded the turn. I knew that he could call reraises light, or with hands like A-A; basically, something like most pairs, suited connectors, and A-J+.

Flop: 8 8 6 (pot: 1,135,000)

JL: I continuation-bet a lot when I reraise preflop, as I basically always have either a large pair or big cards.

Little bets 600,000. Jaffe calls.

CT: This has to freeze you.

JL: I figured he had some sort of flush draw, although he also could have a random 8-7 suited or a total float, as he just got away with it in the preceding round.

Turn: 5 (pot: 2,335,000)

JL: I was pretty certain he had a flush draw. When the turn came, he instantly said, "1.1 million," and out of turn, which confused me to death. After I checked, he checked behind, which I was fine with, even though it might not have been the correct ruling had a floorperson been called.

Little checks. Jaffe checks.

River: K (pot: 2,335,000)

Little checks. Jaffe bets 1,300,000. Little calls.

CT: How can you think about calling this with ace high?

JL: The flush draw missed, which was good for me. I know he's capable of bluffing with a random flush draw or any hand he floated me with on the flop. I am constantly looking for tells that might help me in the future. Against Jaffe, I had been searching hard for three days, but as soon as I thought I had him, he would change it up, throwing most of my intel out the window. I also called to let him know not to be stone-cold bluffing me in the future, as the more straightforwardly your opponents play against you, the better.

Jaffe reveals the 7 4 for an 8-high straight. Jaffe wins the pot of 4,935,000.