Final-Table Takedown: Online Star Mohsin Charania Wins First Major Live Event

Mohsin Charania is a graduate of the University of Illinois. He put law school on hold to pursue poker full time.

Since then he has banked over $4,500,000 in combined online and live tournament career cashes including winning a PokerStars SCOOP event for $386,000. In November of 2011 Charania took down the EPT PokerStars.com Loutraki $2,000 No Limit Turbo Bounty event for $34,170.

Hand No. 1

Key Concepts: Slowplaying, over-analyzing hands, going with your read.

Charania raises to 6,000 holding K K from mid-position. Villain reraises to 14,500 from the small blind.

Craig Tapscott: At what stage of the event does this hand occur?

Mohsin Charania: Right after the money bubble with about 90 players left.

CT: What’s your read on this player?

MC: My read on him was that he wasn’t very good, but he had a lot of chips and was playing super aggressive.

Charania calls.

CT: Why just call?

MC: I decide to flat because this under represents the strength of my hand. If he is three-betting hands like weak aces or mid pairs or suited connectors he might not be able to call a four-bet pre flop and I have position. 

Flop: A 7 6 (pot: 35,600)

Villain bets 17,000. Charania calls.

CT: You really can’t fold to his continuation bet at this point. Correct?

MC: Yes, because the flop is pretty standard. I think being an aggressive player with chips he will continuation bet his whole three-bet range preflop. I am calling with kings here because a lot of times I have the best hand. Also by calling this flop, if a flush or straight card peels off on the turn, I can represent it in case he does happen to have an ace.

Turn: 5 (pot: 69,600)

Villain bets 33,000.

CT: Looks like the spade didn’t slow him down one bit?

MC: I know. But the bet is a little strange. That turn card should slow him down if he has a hand like A-K, A-Q, or A-J, because he should be afraid if I raise the turn. The turn bet either means he three-bet me with a hand like Q J or he is just barreling, which is definitely possible since he is a super-aggressive player with chips. It puts me in a tough spot.

CT: What other hands do you believe he might barrel with?

MC: Well I also think he bets the turn with a hand like Ax Q or Ax J or Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, or 9-9 with a spade; because he is semibluffing. Most good players would slow down because if they get raised on the turn it puts them in a terrible spot. I don’t think he’s very good and I don’t think he is capable of processing that. So therefore he would bet the turn with these types of hands. So I…

Charania raises to 85,000.

MC: I decide to raise the turn here to slow him down on the river and to get information while also semi-bluffing with the nut-flush draw. I’m also getting value from his big pairs with a big spade in his hand, because I think he is fishy enough to call the turn raise. If he has a hand like A-K, A-Q, A-J, A-10 I can jam a lot of rivers and push him off the best hand.

CT: What are you representing?

MC: I’m repping a flush or straight by raising this turn. My logic is pretty wild at this point. It makes a lot of sense in my head, but maybe it’s too advanced and a little bit flawed for a player of his caliber. When he calls the turn my plan is to jam the river, because I think he jams the turn with a flush or a set.

River: J (pot: 239,600)

Villain checks.

CT: Can you shove this river?

MC: Well I have approximately a pot-sized shove left. The jack of diamonds is a terrible card. I can no longer get A-J with the jack of spades to fold. Now I beat a big pair, but not jacks with a spade and I beat hands like Q K. I lose to hands like A-K, A-Q, A-J, A-10, and J-J. I decide since J-J and A-J won’t fold that I beat half his range and lose to half his range. I don’t have a great reason for why I went back on my plan to jam the river. I just felt he had A-J or J-J and I could check down and beat enough hands.

Charania checks. Villain wins the pot of 239,600 holding J J.

CT: Are you happy with how you played this hand?

MC: My logic was possibly flawed or possibly brilliant as it turned out to be correct in the end result, but just ended up being unlucky for me. The river check saved me my stack.

Hand No. 2

Key Concepts: Betting for value, knowing your opponent, using your image.

Villain raises to 240,000. Charania raises to 570,000 from the small blind holding K K.

CT: It looks to me like you only play pocket kings.

MC: It’s true. (laughs)

CT: How did you choose the size of your three-bet?

MC: I three-bet to almost a full three times Sergio’s raise. He had a tendency to flat and open a lot of hands, so I felt my sizing wasn’t going to throw him off and it would allow me to get even more chips into the pot. I played with him all of day four and he knew I was extremely capable, but he wasn’t really the type of player to four-bet bluff. So three-betting small to induce a four-bet wasn’t really a good option.

Castelluccio calls.

CT: Can you pick up any read from his call?

MC: When he flatted my three-bet it doesn’t give me a ton of information. He had just won K-K versus J-J versus A-Q all-in preflop to take the chiplead, so he probably had a lot of confidence to splash around in pots. Before that hand he had been forced to play pretty tight with me on his left and he hadn’t had any chips all final table.

Flop: 3 4 3 (pot: 1,300,000)

Charania bets 420,000.

CT: Why such a small bet?

MC: My small bet accomplishes a few things. It keeps his ace-high hands around and it gives him a chance to raise me with middle pair hands and possibly his flush draws.

CT: What will the small bet look like to him?

MC: The bet looks like I’m bet folding an ace-high type hand or something like Q-J or air that missed the flop.

Castelluccio calls.

MC: When he just calls I felt his hand was somewhere around A-9 – A-J.

CT: How so?

MC: Well I think he would have four-bet A-Q and A-K preflop. He could also have A-5 or A-2 suited for wheel draws and a lot of mid pairs ranging from deuces through nines. All bigger pairs I think he would four-bet preflop as he thinks I’m pretty capable and I was far away the most aggressive player at the final table.

Turn: 9 (pot: 2,140,000)

Charania bets 760,000.

MC: I want to get three streets of value from my hand and the turn doesn’t really change anything unless he has 9-9. He might have raised 9-9 on the flop and certainly might four-bet preflop, yet there is still a chance he could have 9-9. But it’s unlikely. There is still a small chance he could have A-3 or 4-4, but I still have to get value from the overwhelming majority of his range that I beat.

Castelluccio calls.

River: 6 (pot: 3,660,000)

Charania bets 1,350,000.

CT: What if he shoves?

MC: I don’t think he’s the type of player to bluff-shove the river. I have about 1,500,000 million behind. And I 100 percent don’t think he’s the type of player to make a sick river jam, because there are very few players that are that capable.

CT: But you will fold if he shoves?

MC: Yes. With that in mind I’m most likely bet-folding this river.

CT: Why the bet sizing on the river on the small side?

MC: It’s small relative to the size of the pot. I think his hand is somewhere around 55-77-88 or ace-highs and maybe 9 8 or something similar. I bet real small to make sure he calls with this range, because I don’t think he can handle the pressure of a bigger bet.

Castelluccio calls and reveals 7 7. Charania wins the pot of 6,360,000.

MC: I was betting small for value on all three streets because I felt my opponent’s hand was marginal and couldn’t stand a lot of heat. As it turns out he had 7-7, so I don’t think he would have called a big bet on the river. ♠