Final-Table Takedown -- Roy Winston

Roy Winston is a medical doctor turned poker professional, originally from Brooklyn, New York, and has been cashing in major tournaments for almost three years. In his first tournament, which was a World Poker Tour $10,000 event at the 2006 L.A. Poker Classic, he finished 23rd, for almost $40,000. In the 2007 World Series of Poker main event, he finished in 26th place out of 6,758 players to bank more than $333,000. Then, at the 2007 World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open, he won the $1,575,280 first-place prize after outlasting pros like Mike Matusow and Haralabos Voulgaris at the final table. He is also a high-stakes cash-game player.

Note: Sometimes it's the road to the final table that cements a strong finish or big win by carefully building and maintaining a chip stack, as these first two hands illustrate.



Villain1 raises to 600 from under the gun. Villain2 calls from middle position. Villain3 calls from the cutoff. Winston is in the big blind with the 7 4.

Craig Tapscott: Do you have any reads on the players involved in the hand?

Roy Winston: The original raiser from early position is wild and has been playing a lot of hands.

CT: And your image so far?

RW: I am playing fairly tight and am getting respect at the table. I call to close the action, getting about 5-1 odds. I had been running and playing well, and hoped the gamble in this hand would pay off. My style of play is slow and steady. I try not to put a large amount of chips in play unless I feel I am a strong favorite.

Winston calls.

Flop: A 6 5 (pot: 2,725)

Winston checks. Villain1 bets 1,350.

CT: What's your feeling about this half-pot bet?

RW: I don't think he's looking that strong, and I knew he would bet whether he hit that flop or not.

Villain2 and Villain3 call.

CT: Seems like there are too many callers here to raise.

RW: Well, I briefly considered raising, but calling is the smarter option because I can't handle a reraise for all of my chips.

Winston calls.

Turn: 3 (pot: 8,125)

Winston checks. Villain1 bets 4,000.

CT: I'm sure that versus this hyperaggressive and wild player, you know he can't help himself and won't slow down. What's the plan?

RW: Here, I'm trying Jedi mind control to get them all to shove all of their chips into the pot.

CT: What's your take on the other callers on the flop?

RW: I'm pretty sure that one or more have flopped a set or turned a better flush draw than me. So, I'm already looking for a brick on the river.

Villain2 calls all in for 3,025. Villain3 folds. Winston raises to 5,025 and is all in. Villain1 calls 1,025 and flips over the A K. Villain2 reveals the 5 5.

River: K (pot: 21,200)

Winston rivers a flush and wins the pot of 21,200.

CT: Nice pot. Does your style of play change at all when you amass a big stack early on in an event?

RW: After winning a big pot and taking the chip lead, or close to it, I still play tight, solid poker. To play big-stack poker this early is, in my opinion, a mistake. I almost always play short-stack poker with a big stack.



Winston raises to 7,500 from the button, holding the K J. Villain, in the small blind, calls, and the big blind folds.

RW: One note: Villain in the small blind was the current chip leader. After I raised, he hesitated and looked like he wanted to reraise me, but then decided to just call.

Flop: Q 7 4 (pot: 22,000)

Villain bets 12,000. Winston raises to 34,000.

CT: Did you think about smooth-calling here to trap? What was going through your head after your read that he had wanted to reraise you preflop?

RW: He was an aggressive player, and I knew I was ahead and I wanted to build a pot on the flop. On the other hand, if he folded, so be it; I would win a nice pot right there.

Villain shoves all in. Winston calls. Villain reveals the A A.

Turn: 2 (pot: 216,000)

River: K (pot: 216,000)

Winston wins the pot of 216,000 with a king-high flush.

RW: I received a full double-up here to take the overall chip lead, and I never looked back.



Alspach opens from the button for 48,000. Stain folds. Winston holds the 7 7 and calls from the big blind.

CT: I would assume that this is an easy call.

RW: I tank for a minute before hesitantly calling.

CT: Another Jedi mind trick?

RW: I fully intended to call, but against an aggressive player like Dan, I wanted to feign indecision and weakness. This will pretty much guarantee him of continuing after the flop. Although he has position on me, knowing what he will do before he does it substantially reverses our positions.

Flop: Q J 7 (pot: 108,000)

Winston checks.

RW: I check, knowing Dan will bet. If the hand played out as I hoped, it was my intention to check-raise him all in.
Alspach bets 85,000. Winston moves all in, having Alspach covered.

RW: He almost insta-called. Now I was a little worried and thought perhaps he had a bigger set, instead of the top or middle pair I had put him on. Usually, when it's an insta-call, it is not a good sign.

Alspach flips over the K 10.

Turn: 3 (pot: 1,008,000)

River: 5 (pot: 1,008,000)

Winston wins the pot of 1,008,000.

RW: Interestingly enough, as the hand was being dealt, Dan's wife, poker professional JJ Liu, came over and said to Dan, "You should discuss a deal." Another fortuitous thing about this event was that I was supposed to be in Los Angeles for a meeting, and actually had packed to leave the night before. Then, Noah Schwartz (4uhaters, online) convinced me to play, because I had made a few cashes in a row and he said I'd be crazy to leave. He was right.