Final Table Takedown: Jake Cody

Jake Cody is a British player from Rochdale, England. He won the 2010 PokerStars European Poker Tour Deauville main event for $1,199,000. The former psychology student is acknowledged as one of the biggest rising stars on the live poker circuit.

Cody is known as “Neverbluff67” online, where he has already won more than $650,000 on the virtual felts in tournaments. In the fall of 2010, he won the World Poker Tour London Poker Classic main event for $425,000. With his victory in the 2011 WSOP Heads-Up Championship, Cody became the third player to win poker’s Triple Crown.

Hand No. 1

Craig Tapscott: Before we get into the dynamics between you and Timoshenko, can you detail the kinds of things that make up a great heads-up player?

Jake Cody: I think the attributes that make a great heads-up player are hand reading ability, adjusting to your opponent’s playing style, and most important, being mentally tough and not tilting. Heads-up play can be extremely frustrating at times, more so than any other form of poker. I think it’s so vital not to tilt and to keep making optimal decisions to the best of your ability, even when it might not be going in your favor.

CT: Timoshenko is a very talented and dangerous player. What sort of game plan did you come into the match with?

JC: I honestly didn’t go in with too much of a plan. I wanted to be unpredictable and to play a lot by feel against him, and maybe take some unorthodox lines that he might not expect me to take.

Jake Cody limps on the button holding K 10. Timoshenko checks.

Flop: 10 8 2 (pot: 40,000)

Timoshenko checks. Cody bets 25,000 and Timoshenko calls.

Turn: J (pot: 90,000)

Timoshenko checks and Cody bets 65,000.

CT: I doubt the overcard scares you that much.

JC: Not really. I bet again for value, around 60 percent of the pot. I think that it’s still highly likely that I have the best hand. Plus, against a good, thinking player, I’m hoping he will perceive that turn as a card I will barrel a lot with random hands with some equity. I might bet with hands like a gutshot or maybe even complete air. I’m hoping he will get stubborn with a hand like 8-7, a worse 10, and maybe even a deuce.

Timoshenko calls.

River: 5 (pot: 220,000)

Timoshenko checks. Cody bets 145,000.

CT: What are you attempting with this river bet?

JC: First off, I’m betting again for value. I’m trying to represent a busted straight draw. I’m also trying to make it look like I want to get him to fold something like 10-7. I was hoping to get a curious call early on in the match, and even if he folds, it’s great to have won this hand with no showdown to keep him guessing.

Timoshenko raises to 435,000.

CT: You thought that the coast was clear for the river value-bet. When he check-raised, where did you think you were in the hand?

JC: Well, in this spot it becomes quite a leveling war, because I have a tendency to value-bet very wide, and Timoshenko is an exceptional player. It’s totally feasible that he is turning some bad one-pair hand into a bluff, such as 8-6 offsuit or something like that, to try to get me to fold out tens or jacks that I’m value-betting.

CT: Could he actually have a big hand in this spot, according to how the action has played out up to this point?

JC: He could be check-raising some two-pair hands for value, such as J-8, 10-8, and so on, and, of course, 9-7 and Q-9, both of which would make a straight. So, it’s a pretty sick spot for me. At the time, I was really torn on what to do. I think it’s the hand I tanked the longest on during the match.

CT: Give us a peek inside your head. What’s going on?

JC: Well, I considered folding and just giving him credit. Then I changed my mind and wanted to call. Then I considered turning my hand into a bluff and moving all in, which would likely fold out his two-pair combos, but not his straights.

CT: What did you decide to do?

JC: After taking a lot of time, I decided to just take the nitty option and give him credit.

Cody folds. Timoshenko wins the pot of 365,000.

JC: I still don’t know what he had. It’s one of the hands that I can’t wait to see when it comes on TV.

CT: Why was this hand crucial in the final match for the title?

JC: I think this hand was a really important one. If I called and won or lost, the match would have swung massively in his or my favor, psychologically and chip count-wise. In the end, I’m hoping I made a good fold.

Hand No. 2

CT: You’ve had a little time to get a feel for Timoshenko’s game now. What adjustments did you believe you had to incorporate to gain the upper hand?

JC: I didn’t want to play too many pots out of position against him without the initiative. So, I had tightened up the range of hands I was defending with, and I was three-betting a lot wider.

CT: Explain why you were three betting wider now?

JC: Well, I was comfortable playing a lot of three-bet pots, as I expected him to try to outplay me post flop a lot. Also, I expected him to float a lot and raise flops as a bluff, even more so in three-bet pots. I think he might have thought I wouldn’t have much experience in those situations.

Timoshenko raises from the button to 48,000. Cody reraises to 145,000 holding Q 9.

JC: I decided to three-bet here because Q-9 flops decently well, and there will be spots in which I can barrel gutshots, etc. Also, if I just call preflop, I’m likely check folding a lot of the time, and it’s much harder to win the pot.

Timoshenko calls.

CT: From your experience with Timoshenko so far, what sort of range of hands are you putting him on?

JC: I think his range here is mostly made up of hands like K-Q, K-J Q-J, medium to small pairs, some suited aces, and maybe something like 8-7 or J-9 suited.

Flop: 10 5 3 (pot: 290,000)

Cody checks.

CT: Why not follow through with a continuation-bet after you’ve shown strength preflop?

JC: I decided to check here because I didn’t think Timoshenko would ever think I was check-folding. I also believe that he would think I would continuation bet all of my air. I think it makes it easier to win the pot on the turn or river by checking, and I will still be able to represent strong hands.

Timoshenko checks.

Turn: 7 (pot: 290,000)

Cody bets 177,000 and Timoshenko calls.

JC: I thought Yevgeniy was never that strong here, and that he rarely has a hand that can call a river jam. My plan was to jam a large percentage of river cards.

River: 2 (pot: 644,000)

Cody moves all in.

CT: That’s a gutsy play.

JC: I didn’t think he would expect me to take this line as a bluff on this board. I thought he would fold out pretty much everything besides sets, and I thought he would also fold a lot of tens, too. Timoshenko folds. Cody wins the pot of 644,000.

JC: This was definitely a turning point in the match, because if he calls, he’s up to 3,200,000 with two bullets behind. [This was a triple-chance event.] So, he would effectively have a 2-1 chip lead. And if he folds, we are close to even again, and I have the momentum on my side and a lot of confidence.

CT: A lot of inexperienced players might not have the guts to pull the trigger in that spot. What sort of things do they need to be thinking about to be able to make that type of move?

JC: Especially live, I think it definitely takes experience to be able to bluff in spots like this without shaking like a leaf. When I first started playing live, I definitely gave away a lot. My heart used to beat really fast when I was involved in a hand. I think it just comes with experience. I’d say the best advice is to just remove all emotion when you play. Try and make the best play whether you have flopped the nuts and are trying to get value or are all in on the river with 7 high. Don’t think of it as a terrible thing if it goes wrong. Be happy you made a play that you thought was correct at the time and move on to the next hand or tournament. Once you stop thinking about what will happen if it goes wrong, it becomes 100 percent easier to make decisions and be comfortable, whatever the situation.