Final Table Takedown - Chris Bell Steamrolls Final Table With Well-Timed Bluff and Big Call

Chris Bell grew up in St. Pauls, North Carolina, and attended North Carolina State University. He began playing poker professionally in 2003, and has a career total of $2.5 million in tournament cashes. Bell currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is married, and has twin 3-year-old daughters, Katelyn and Maggie. Bell also would like to pay tribute to his beloved son Jackson, who passed away at only 7 weeks of age, but lives on in Bell’s heart.

Event: WSOP Circuit – Harrah’s Northeast Regional Championship
Players in the Event: 136
Buy-in: $10,000
First Prize: $358,295
Finish: First

Hand No. 1

Key Concept: With a hand like Q-10, Bell doesn’t want to get into trouble, but he is always taking a flop when this deep.

Micah Raskin raises to 18,000 from under the gun. Chris Klodnicki calls from the button. Chris Bell calls from the big blind with the Q♠ 10♣.

Craig Tapscott: Do you have any reads on your opponents here?

Chris Bell: I hadn’t played much with Micah, but I knew that Chris’ range here would be pretty wide on the button.

Flop: A♥ J♦ 6♣ (pot: 66,000)

Bell checks. Raskin checks. Klodnicki bets 24,000.

CB: I needed a gutshot king for the nuts. Normally, I hit these hands about 50 percent of the time, which is a lot higher than the average player, but a lot less than Ivey, of course. So, I …

Bell calls. Raskin folds.

CT: (Laughing) What’s your secret to hitting gutshots? Or, if you have Ivey’s secret, that’s something we’d all want to know.

CB: Once you become a chosen one, you have to take an oath never to reveal the secrets of the trade.

CT: OK. That’s too bad. So, what do you think Klodnicki is up to, and what’s the plan?

CB: I felt that with Chris and me being so deep (we both started the hand with more than 700,000 in chips), I could really win a big one if I hit here.

Turn: 8♥ (pot: 114,000)

CT: What happened? You missed. Ivey would have hit it.

CB: Yes. I was shocked that I missed hitting the nuts, but it’s not the worst card in the world.

Bell checks. Klodnicki bets 63,000.

CT: What’s your take on his range now?

CB: I believe that if he had just a jack, he would have checked and taken a free card, to try to hit two pair, thinking I’m calling a bet if I had an ace. And if he had only a jack, he wouldn’t want to put more money in the pot if behind. He had to put me on having flopped something, not just a gutshot. So, I put him on either complete air or an ace, and hopefully not A-J. Now, I’m looking for a king or a 9.

Bell calls.

River: J♥ (pot: 240,000)

CB: Boom, I hit; well, kind of, as it’s a jack (laughing). Now I have to hope that I was right that he would have checked the turn if he had only a jack in that spot.

Bell bets 164,000. Klodnicki tanks, and folds. Bell wins the pot of 240,000 and shows the bluff.

CT: Very sneaky. Ivey would be proud.

CB: After the hand, I did something that I seldom do: I showed him the bluff. I have a lot of respect for Chris, and had talked to several people the night before who know him well. They all said that he plays great as he gets more comfortable with the flow of the table. So, I wanted to give him something else to think about. I also hoped that it might make others do something stupid and bluff off all of their chips, like I almost did.

CT: When you go to a big final table like this one, do you make a concerted effort to set up a table image? And how do you go about using it to your advantage?

CB: No, I don’t. I try to stay aware of all of the different perceptions that players are going to have of the way that I play. For example, some people can think you are playing wide open, and someone else at the same table can think you are playing tight. I always try to stay aware of who is thinking what.

Hand No. 2

Key Concept: Reading an opponent from previous history and close observation Chris Bell raises to 22,000 from the button with the A♦ 6♦. Micah Raskin calls from the small blind.

Flop: J♦ 8♠ 6♠ (pot: 61,000)

Raskin checks. Bell checks.

CT: Why no continuation-bet?

CB: I could have bet here, but I didn’t want to get raised off the hand. Also, I felt like he was ready to make a move, and could have a lot of hands with a jack in them here.

CT: Does your table image from showing the bluff come into play in this spot at all?

CB: Perhaps. I do remember thinking here, “He’s ready to make a move.”

Turn: 4♠ (pot: 61,000)

Raskin bets 25,000.

CT: Was this all part of the plan, to let him take a shot at it?

CB: Well, part of the reason for checking the pair on the flop is that you often get the bluff-bet here. So, I’m still confident that I have the best hand.

Bell calls.

River: A♣ (pot: 111,000)

CT: Nice.

Raskin checks.

CB: Right. Two pair, very nice, I’m thinking. I’ll take this pot now, sir. The only thing I’m thinking about is how much he will call. So, I bet …

Bell bets 76,000. Raskin raises to 154,000.

CT: Uh-oh.

CB: Well, this is cute. Did I really just get min-raised [minimum-raised] by someone with the nuts? The most interesting thing about this hand is that the day before, when we were down to two tables, I watched a hand in which Raskin checked and min-raised on the river with three hearts on the board. The guy folded a set of tens to him. But I’m pretty much always calling here.

CT: What’s your read?

CB: I’ll call because there are several hands he would do this with, thinking he has the best hand when in fact he’s beat; for example, A-4 with the A♠, which is what I thought or hoped he had. But seeing him make the same play the day before and the guy fold a set, I felt like he might think this was his new move and be trying it here with air. So, after a few minutes, I called.

Bell calls. Raskin reveals the K♠ 10♥. Bell wins the pot of 419,000.

CT: Why tank so long before the call with such a solid read?

CB: I pretty much knew I was going to call right away, but if he does have air, I want him to think that it almost worked. That way, maybe he will try it again. Actually, if he had bet more or shoved, I may not have been able to call. After I called, he tapped the table and showed his hand. I’m sure glad that I didn’t fold and get shown the bluff. ♠