Final-Table Takedown -- Adam Geyer

Adam Geyer resides in Austin, Texas, and he graduated in 2007 from Trinity University in San Antonio. He turned professional after winning the PokerStars Sunday Million in 2006. Since then, he has won three Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) events and has amassed the most winnings of any player in that popular online series, more than $1.1 million. He also has made two World Series of Poker final tables, finishing second in the 2007 S.H.O.E. event and eighth in a 2008 $5,000 no-limit hold'em event.

Key Concepts: Hand reading, and trusting your instincts

Villain1 raises from under the gun to 31,500; csimmsux calls from his immediate left with the 6 6; Villain2 calls from the button, as does Villain3 from the small blind.

Craig Tapscott: So many players have trouble with medium pocket pairs.

Adam Geyer: As long as the effective stacks are at least 30 big blinds, one can call here profitably. Obviously, you're hoping to hit a set and stack an overpair, but usually your post-flop decisions will be kind of tough in this spot. But if you're a good enough hand reader, you can definitely call here, and proceed. And I call with 6-6 because there's a decent chance that it's the best hand, as so many people raise from under the gun nowadays.

Flop: 10 7 5 (pot: 151,500)

The action is checked around.

CT: Was your inclination to bet out here?

AG: When Villain1 checks, this makes me think he just whiffed the flop. I thought about betting, but it's a flop that I figured had to connect better with at least one of the three opponents.

Turn: Q (pot: 151,500)

The action is checked around.

AG: I was much closer to betting here, and think that I probably should have, in hindsight, as I probably could have taken it down. Basically, my thinking is the same here, as the original raiser still looks weak, but again, the queen connects with more hands.

River: 3 (pot: 151,500)

Villain1 bets 86,050.

CT: That's an odd bet all of a sudden.

AG: Yes. This really didn't make any sense to me at all. Any big pair, two pair, set, or big draw would have bet sometime before this (although he could check a big flush draw, I suppose). If this were heads up, I probably would just call to catch a bluff, but then maybe someone with a queen could call. I turned it into a bluff, thinking that Villain1 could have played K-Q or A-Q real slow and now be betting, or he could have 8-8 or 9-9. Obviously, those hands beat me, so …

Csimmsux raises to 182,100. Everyone folds back to Villain1, and he folds; csimmsux wins the pot of 237,550.

CT: Please talk about your bet-sizing on the river.

AG: My small raise there has to look very strong. And while it's not too large of a raise, it's a large percentage of his stack.

CT: He easily could lay down some strong hands in this spot.

AG: Honestly, he could've folded a rivered set of threes here, as both the flush and straight came. And this hand was pretty big for me, as my stack had dwindled down over the previous few hands. Winning this hand put me right back up with the leaders again, and got my confidence back up.


Key Concepts: Knowing an opponent's shove range

Villain moves all in from the small blind.

CT: Many top online players always share that live players tend not to call enough light or shove often enough light. Let's use this hand to talk about shove ranges, because that seems to be what it comes down to many times at online final tables.

AG: I agree that more good online players than live players both shove with wider ranges and call with wider ranges, simply because it is mathematically correct to do so. So, while a call looks questionable here, it's not absurd, because I know that my opponent is a competent online player who is shoving kind of wide here.

CT: So, is it a positive EV [expected value] call? Any other reads?

AG: It was a very big decision that I think was slightly positive EV. Basically, he had lost a big hand recently, so I thought he could be shoving kind of light - any ace, king or queen, any pair, suited connectors. And he's not shoving a huge pair or ace here, as he probably would try to trap me. Also, I would still be the chip leader even if I called and lost.

Csimmsux calls from the big blind with the A 8. Villain reveals the 4 4.

Flop: 8 6 2 (pot: 11,039,156)

Turn: K (pot: 11,039,156)

River: 3 (pot: 11,039,156)

Csimmsux wins the pot of 11,039,156.

AG: Approximately 19 big blinds, like he had, is about the most with which anyone usually open-shoves, and even that's kind of rare. Shoves of 10 big blinds from many players is 100 percent of their range, so I would fall out of my seat calling with A-8. That would probably include a shove of 15 big blinds, too. But 19 big blinds … I had to think about it. It was a coin flip, and I run good at those [laughing].


Key Concepts: Protecting your hand

Csimmsux raises from the button to 880,000 with the K 9. Villain calls.

Flop: 9 7 4

Villain checks, and csimmsux bets 1,140,000. Villain raises to 3,400,000; csimmsux reraises to 20,190,938 and is all in.

AG: It's a pretty standard hand, as he'd been getting pretty aggressive, and that flop is so draw-heavy that I really had no choice but to shove to protect my hand.

Villain calls 14,221,562 and is all in, and reveals the 8 6.

CT: When he flipped over this hand, were you surprised?

AG: This is a pretty questionable call, as he's getting only about 3-2 to call all in with an open-ender on a two-flush board. So he's basically dead even if I have just a big flush draw.

CT: Discuss the major mistakes you see opponents make at these big final tables.

AG: Most players are way too tight. They give up their blinds too easily, don't go with hands that they should, and just tighten up too much due to the huge pay jumps. A player has to just play each hand as well as he can and not worry about the results. Also, players don't think for as long as they should in big spots. An example is this final hand of the tournament; if Villain had really thought about the numbers, he would have realized that his call was unprofitable and folded. But he was likely caught up in the heat of the moment and felt like he had to click "call."

CT: What makes a final-table opponent tough to play against?

AG: They're players who are thinking along the same level that I am: Which blinds are soft? Which players are being too aggressive? And so on. Then, knowing how to react to such information correctly shows who the really good players are. Oftentimes, there will be a quality opponent on my left, and we'll know this same information, and when I open, he three-bets it. Because it's a leveling game of he knows that I know that he knows, and so on, that can be frustrating, for sure, and you always hope not to have such a player on your left.