Final Table Takedown -- Jeremiah Vinsant

Jeremiah “Believer82” Vinsant has cashed for more than $2.2 million online, and is in the hunt for the 2009 Card Player Online Player of the Year award. In live play, his biggest cash has been $528,309 for a second-place finish in the 2007 Asia Pacific Poker Tour Sydney $5,500 no-limit hold’em main event.

Event 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker $1,000 no-limit hold’em event No. 33
Players in the Event 1,240
First Prize $207,142
Finish Third

Hand No. 1
Stacks Jeremiah “Believer82” Vinsant – 321,224 Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron – 647,542
Blinds 2,000-4,000
Antes 500
Players at the Table 8

Key Concepts: Deep-stack play; continuation-betting

Craig Tapscott: Sometimes it’s the big hand midway through an event that catapults you to the final table. Let’s talk about that huge hand against Isaac Baron.

Jeremiah “Believer82” Vinsant: This was a real big hand in the middle stages of the tourney at a pretty tough table. I was deep-stacked with about 80 big blinds, which is a ton at this stage.

Believer82 raises to 9,800 with the 7 7. WestmenloAA reraises to 27,200 from the cutoff.

CT: Isaac has a huge stack for this stage of the event. I’m sure that you’ve played with him many times. Can you come close to pinpointing his hand range?

JV: I cannot really put him on a hand. We both have so many chips that he can be three-betting me here with a very wide range.

CT: But it’s a pretty easy call due to the stack sizes.

JV: Yes. With both of us being so deep-stacked, I’m willing to call a reraise here with just about any hand.

Flop: Q 5 4 (pot: 64,400)
Believer82 checks.

CT: Is leading out here ever a good choice?

JV: I chose not to lead here because he oftentimes is going to put a lot of pressure on me with a raise, knowing I have to have a very good hand to continue. And even though I know this may be the case, I have so many chips that it’s not worth the risk at this point.

WestmenloAA checks.

CT: Can you put yourself in Isaac’s head for a second?

JV: Well, after I flat [flat-call], he most likely puts me on a middle pair or some kind of suited connectors on that flop. He checks for pot control. With that flop, there’s no reason to bet and get raised off the hand.

CT: Share your thoughts on continuation-betting with how aggressive the games are these days. Which scenarios do you c-bet, and which do you not?

JV: I c-bet a lot, about 90 percent of the time. With certain boards, you’re better off checking. Here’s an example: If you raise with A-K and the flop comes 10-9-8, that’s not the best c-bet board, while a Q-4-2 board would be. I try to c-bet most hands so that people never know if I have it or not.

Turn: 3 (pot: 64,400)

CT: It’s time to take a stab at the pot when that blank rolls off, correct?

JV: Yes.

Believer82 bets 32,400. WestmenloAA calls.

CT: When a good player like Baron calls here, it has to make you a bit wary of what he’s holding.

JA: Well, once he flats, I’m putting him on 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, 6-6, 2-2, or maybe the A J or A K. Also, I don’t think he would have played a set this way, so I ruled that out.

River: 6 (pot: 129,200)

CT: What’s best, leading out or checking?

JV: The way that I played the hand, he probably puts me on a set or nothing at all, maybe a queen, or possibly he thinks I played A-A or K-K in a tricky way. So, what if I check? Then, he’s thinking I checked because the board is scary and I don’t want to get raised.

I could lead out on this river, hoping to get raised. It might be the best play to lead, hoping that he shoves to put me in a really bad spot if I have one of those hands. He would think it would be hard to call in relation to how many chips I have left. So, I decided to …

Believer82 checks.

JV: I’m hoping that he makes a bet now, and he does.

WestmenloAA moves all in.

JV: He does this because he possibly puts me on a set, and I find out why soon enough, as he has the straight. He’s thinking I might level myself into calling.

Believer82 calls 261,124. WestmenloAA reveals the 2 2 for a 6-high straight. Believer82 wins the pot of 651,448 with a 7-high straight.

Hand No. 2
Stacks Believer82 – 1,157,751 Villain – 894,479
Blinds 25,000-50,000
Antes 6,250
Players Remaining 7

Key Concepts: Prior history with an opponent; targeting weak players

CT: It’s important to let the readers know that you had a history with the villain prior to this hand.

JV: I actually had started the tourney with the villain at my first table. He was a pretty erratic player, the one you wanted to get it in with, and the main target at the table. He was pretty spewy, and really didn’t understand the game too well.

The villain raises to 150,000 from under the gun.

JA: This guy has a pretty wide hand range here: any pair, A-K to Q-J, or even J-10.

Believer82 reraises to 440,000 from the button with the 10 10.

CT: That reraise tells me that you’re pretty much not folding no matter what the villain does.

JA: True.

The villain calls.

CT: Could he be trapping with a monster?

JA: He could be playing K-K or A-A as a tricky flat-call, but flatting makes no sense here. And with his stack, that should never be done with any hand; you have to reraise all in preflop or fold. So, once he flats, I can take A-Q, A-K, J-J, and Q-Q out of his range. I just think he would shove with those hands.

Flop: J J 3 (pot: 998,750)
The villain moves all in for 448,229.

JA: I’m positive that I have the best hand. I’m sure that he flatted me preflop with some medium pocket pair.

Believer82 calls. The villain reveals the 4 4.

Turn: 2 (pot: 1,895,208)
River: K (pot: 1,895,208)
Believer82 wins the pot of 1,895,208.

CT: In what ways do you target weak opponents throughout a tournament?

JV: Various ways. Some players are weak-tight and scared money, and you can bully them on bubbles and such; other players are way too aggressive and play too many hands, so you can open your range of hands that you play a bit, and they will make a lot of mistakes. Learning how and when to recognize all of this comes from thousands of hours of play and working hard to get better. All of us make mistakes from time to time, no matter how good we are at the game. The fewer mistakes you make, the better you become, and recognizing when you make mistakes is a crucial step in improving your game.