Hand 2 Hand Combat -- Tobias Reinkemeier

Event European Poker Tour Barcelona main event 2009
Prize Pool €3,382,000
Entrants 478

There is always a moment or two during any poker event which helps mark the tournament in the poker community’s memory; whether it is the comeback of an underdog, a notable’s bad beat, an exceptional call, or a first-time victory. These are the things which separate one event from another, turning tournaments into fantastical tales. This season’s PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona was marked by a minute or two of poker action that was to be spoken about, hotly debated, and commented on profusely in the months after. The action in question was a hand between German Tobias Reinkemeier and Brit Roland de Wolfe where the best hand did not win. It was a moment that truly showed poker is not just about the cards you hold, but also about rules, skill, psychology, and indeed, emotion. Card Player spoke to the source, Tobias Reinkemeier himself, to find out his thoughts about the hand.

Rebecca McAdam: Can you talk me through the hand from the beginning?

Tobias Reinkemeier: I started the day as second chip leader and Roland was playing to my left, I doubled him up pretty early with nines against his A-K, and then we both had around the same I think. I just decided to complete in the small blind when it was folded to me with Q 6, he checked, and the flop came A-10-7 with two clubs. I check-raised his 10,000 bet to 30,000 which might be questionable because he’s probably not going to give me much credit, but I was planning on firing multiple barrels as well.

I had the queen-high flush draw, and the turn was a nine, giving me a straight draw as well. I fired 50,000 and he called pretty quickly so I was basically not putting him on a strong hand because if he had two pair or something like that he would at least consider raising, he might call but not as quickly as he did. I was basically putting him on an ace or some kind of draw at this point.

RM: Why do you think he was calling you so fast, do you think he thought you were bluffing?

TR: Probably, he floated me on the flop with K-8 off-suit, so maybe my play on the flop is questionable as he’s not going to give me much credit when I check-raise there, because when I have completed an ace, which is possible, then I am most likely not going to check-raise it, I’ll either check-call or lead out. But he called and I bet the turn, and I was putting him on an ace or some kind of draw, or combo-draw, not a really strong hand like two pair or better. The river blanked completely with a 4 and I decided not to bet because I thought he wasn’t going to give me much credit if I bet again, and if he has an ace he is likely to call me on the river — the pot was already quite huge.

I actually might have the best hand a decent amount of the time with queen-high there because when he has some kind of other flush draw or some flush/straight draw combination he might even have the worst hand. So I checked pretty fast and he instantly grabbed his chips and bet. This didn’t make any sense anymore because my read before, on the turn, was that he was on some kind of ace, but he wouldn’t bet this on the river because the pot was already so huge and also he’s not the type of person who value bets that thinly in my opinion, so it didn’t make much sense. I thought it was most likely that he had some kind of busted draw.

RM: You thought your queen was good?

TR: Not exactly but I had seen him open-mucking before as well. There are many people in live tournaments who are just too embarrassed or don’t want to give up information, so when they bluff they just open-muck it, it’s quite standard. So I thought my queen-high might be good, and even if it’s not good, I thought he was bluffing there a decent amount of the time. He only bet like 80,000 and I was getting 3 to 1 on the river on the call. I instantly grabbed some chips and counted them out to call, I looked at him and said, “I don’t think I can fold this hand.”

After some thought I made the call and he knocked on the table and said, “Good call”. He then just showed the king and I was expecting that if he bluffed with king-high that he would just open-muck it, but once he showed it, I basically told him to show both or fold, and this is what got criticised by people — that it was some kind of angle shoot — but I don’t agree with that because why should I muck my hand once he shows the king, I mean the rule is you have to table both your cards or muck them.

It was his turn, if he shows both cards, I muck, and he gets the pot. I mean he was showing the king, in my opinion, to pretend like he had the busted flush draw because it was the king of clubs, and also to make me show my hand because in Barcelona the rule is that when he open-mucks, I can just muck and take the pot, and don’t have to show. So he basically showed me that he didn’t think king-high could ever be good there. I mean how could he, I was instantly grabbing the chips and it was quite a big pot.

RM: Did you try to talk him into mucking?

TR: I didn’t over-declare my hand at any point, I just told him to show both, and he decided to muck his hand, and then I won the pot. Like I said, if he only shows the king, and then I muck, then he doesn’t have to show anymore, and when I call the river bet I want to at least see his hand. If I just muck my hand then I don’t get to see his hand so that’s why I don’t think it’s an angle shoot. It has been discussed on many forums, and I have even written to Barry Greenstein and he said it’s quite normal, and if the other decides to muck, then it’s his mistake, that’s what he told me.

RM: Has there been much bad feeling towards you since?

TR: Some, definitely, but I think some people just look at the YouTube video and don’t think about it any further. It’s also ridiculous to compare poker to other sports, like an article [published online], which was also pretty one-sided, but that’s another story. Most people I’ve met were giving me positive replies. In my opinion my behaviour right after he mucked, the fist pump, was out of line and I apologised for it multiple times. It was just the tension of the moment, it wasn’t meant on purpose against Roland or anything like that. I actually spoke to him five or six times since then and I don’t think there is anything between us.

RM: The hand became very popular, do you think when people see you at their table, they’re thinking about it?

TR: Yeah, maybe. I’m not sure – there were actually two people in this tournament EPT London who open-mucked their hand to me on the river as well but they were different situations. I just have to be careful with this bluff-call on the river because everybody knows I might be calling with something worse and hoping they would muck.

RM: Will it stop you from doing it again?

TR: No, until I’ve heard good arguments for not doing it again, I don’t see a reason. Obviously the more gentleman-like style would have been when he mucks his hand, I should just muck my hand and take the pot and it’s all good, but as I told you, due to all the emotions…

RM: You just got carried away?

TR: Exactly.

Tobias Reinkemeier finished 30th in the event for €23,000. Roland de Wolfe finished 15th for €30,000.