Hand 2 Hand Combat -- Davidi Kitai

Event: EPT Warsaw 2009
Prize pool: $1,714,327
Blinds: 150-300
Chip Counts: Davidi Kitai – 25,000; Xavier Cena – 45,000

Davidi Kitai: Since the table had been playing tight passively, and the villain [Xavier Cena] was on the big blind, I decided to open for 750 from under the gun +2 with K 2.

Everyone folds except Xavier Cena who calls.

Rebecca McAdam: If someone reraised, would you have folded?

DK: Yes, it is the kind of hand easy to fold on a reraise. I wanted to see flops, to outplay my table after the flop. They played their cards very tightly and had a solid preflop game. I just found my edge outplaying them after the flop. That’s the kind of table I would like to raise many hands preflop on.

RM: What did you think of Cena and his game at this point?

DK: Sitting just across from me, I saw him win most of the pots he played. On top of this, he had won four hands with pocket aces! So I could analyse his reactions when he won. He was leading or reraising automatically with the nuts, and he was extremely relaxed, without showing any “fake” nervosity (reverse tells). He was affable, a French qualifier from a rival site. Not very experienced in live multi-table tournaments, and wouldn’t let anyone run over him. When he got involved in a hand, it was to win it. He had defended his big blind consistently, whenever he had the right odds to do so. And here, I thought I spotted one of his leaks. From all other positions, he selected his hands well, and played them pretty tight and aggressive. I ‘d love to get him to make a mistake.

If I were to hit the flop, I could induce him to bluff, and then win a nice pot. If I were to miss the flop, I would often make a c-bet [continuation bet], but I wasn’t planning to offer much resistance.

RM: The strategy you are using here then is basically check if you hit on the flop, and bet if you don’t. Do you find in general this is a good way of seeing where you are and getting value if you hit? And is it hard to do this with aggressive Internet kids reraising all the time?

DK: Against weak-passive players you can just c-bet any flop. If you’ve been reraised you could easily fold your over-pair and top pair without trouble. Against aggressive players, the best way is to c-bet when you have nothing or when you have a monster/the nuts. If you have, for instance, top pair or any hand with some equity, but you cannot assume a reraise, it will be better to check in order to keep the pot small and to induce a bluff later.

Flop: Q 8 5.
Cena checks, Kitai bets 1,150. Cena calls.

DK: I c-bet 1,150 for information, and hope that he doesn’t want to get too involved here. He insta-calls. I felt that if he had a flush draw, he would have probably reraised me, or at least, taken the time to think about it. His range is pretty wide here. Many straight possibilities, open ended, gut shots etcetera.

Turn: 10.
Both players check.

DK: At this moment, I’m asking myself what am I still doing in this hand? And how come I don’t get to hit any boards? I think about giving it up here, and decide to check behind.

River: J.
Cena bets 3,200. Kitai goes into the tank and eventually calls. Cena mucks and Kitai shows K 2 and takes the pot worth 22,000 with king high.

DK: This card hits my betting line. Me, being the original raiser, and him just defending his big blind. It should actually scare him. I could easily represent A-K, J-J, certainly, easier than him. However, I ‘m afraid that he might have just gotten his straight, since the J completes quite a few straight-combos. He could even had made a second pair. Anyway, I wasn’t prepared to bluff here, so I would have just checked back to him. He decided to bet 3,200, +/- 75 percent of the pot, which represents quite an important bet size. I was thinking about folding, but then decided to think over it and replay the hand again in my mind.

At that moment, I ask myself about the size of the bet. Why make a bet that suits only the nine? By what does he expect me to pay, except for J-J? Is he not afraid that I might have A-K or even the nine? Wouldn’t he make a block bet, in order to make me pay with A-Q for example? Wouldn’t he check raise in order to induce a bluff? His body language betrays him. He doesn’t look as confident as he did on the previous hands, which he had won. I ask him a test question, “Do you have the flush?” “I don’t know!” he replies. Again, he doesn’t seem as relaxed anymore. He thinks that I’m thinking with a made hand. He doesn’t seem to be too comfortable. At this moment I am convinced that I must get out. But could he be bluffing with ace-high? I honestly don’t think this is consistent with him defending his big blind. I can’t see him connecting with this flop.

Could he be bluffing with a mid pocket pair? Yes, this is my only fear. Pocket fives perhaps. I understand that I can only beat three hands. I also realise that very few hands can actually beat me. Finally, I estimate that 95 percent of the time he’s bluffing here, and that 60 percent of the time I have the best hand. Getting 3/1 odds here, it made perfect sense for me to call. I decide to go with my read, and I call. He slams the table, and tells me he has nothing! So I ask him to muck. I was actually scared that he might be holding a small pocket pair, and thus be ashamed to show his hand. He admits to be holding 6-4, and I take the pot.

RM: How much do you think he should have bet on the river to get you off the hand?

DK: If he made like a blocking value bet for half the pot or even less, I would snap-fold my hand. He could represent a nine for a straight. In live tournaments size-betting is a clue, it’s very useful.

RM: Can you name the most important thing that made you want to call — was it his actions, his bet sizes…?

DK: I eliminated from his range all the flush possibilities (because of the snap call on the flop), all the straight possibilities (because of the size of the bet on the river), all the two pair and three-of-a-kind possibilities (because of the showdown value and the bet size on the river), and his attitude confirmed my read.

Ten minutes later, Antony Lellouche calls a three-barrel bluff with pocket fours. The board shows an ace plus four cards over his 4’s — a gigantic pot. This makes my call look so easy!

Belgian Winamax pro Davidi Kitai has more than $1.5 million in lifetime winnings. This includes many big cashes from numerous major final tables both online and live. He also is the proud owner of a highly coveted World Series of Poker bracelet.