Hand 2 Hand Combat -- Xuan Liu Fights Monster In Monte Carlo

Rebecca McAdam: Before you tell me about the hand, can you tell me some points about the table you were at and any back story there may be?

Xuan Liu: It was one of the tougher tables that was not going to break. We were ninehanded and I had direct position on Australian pro Jonahan Karamalikis, also known as “xMONSTERxDONGx”, and Elliot Smith. To my left was “Philbort” [Philipp Gruissem] and Max Lehmanski aka “mikki696” (until a few hands previous when he four-bet jammed in a squeeze spot with a speculative hand into A-A). There was an aggro Swiss guy in seat eight and a middle-aged French gentleman got moved to the table replacing mikki696. In this hand he is the bb [big blind] with 20 big blinds.

I had played with xMONSTERxDONGx earlier that season at EPT London and was impressed by his game. He often plays high rollers and is not afraid to get it in light for heaps. We had been chatting and joking around at the table throughout the day. Basically it was a very aggressive and tough table, I had been very active, and lost a big pot the hand immediately before this one.

RM: Great. What were the blinds at this stage?

XL: 300-600 with a 75 ante. I have A J in the small blind.

xMONSTERxDONGx (villain) makes it 1,200 from the button. Liu three-bets to 2,900, villain four-bets 5,900, Liu five-bets 9,200, and villain six-bets all in for 38,000.

XL: I had been three-betting rather frequently but never oop [out of position]. However, the hand right before I lost a decent-sized pot after calling a large river bet and mucking J-J to K-K after villain checked back a double-suited 8-high flop.
J-J was the top of my range after flatting a single opener from bb, but the way the hand played out it could have been perceived that I hero-called with much worse, and that I might have been tilting from the misplay. I expected MonsterDong to be four-betting me a ton with our stack-sizes, as this bet would likely put me to a decision for my stack if I continued. I also expected him to be flatting with a lot of medium range pocket pairs given that we were still fairly deep and he would be in a good position to win the hand post-flop. With the given dynamics, I thought five-betting to 9,200 would give him both a chance to spazz off with hands I dominate, or fold a range that still has decent equity versus my hand.

He instantly jammed for about 38,000 total. I didn’t like it, but my hand was still too good versus his range. I went into monologue mode and solidified my reads before I called. He covered me by about a hundred chips.

Board: 10 9 3 5 Q

Liu exits tournament, xMONSTERxDONGx doubles up.

RM: Because of the aggressiveness of the table, does your game change much compared to if you were seated elsewhere (at a more varied table/softer table)… Do you have to remind yourself not to get psyched out with players such as these all around you so early on, and just play your game?

XL: The aggressive dynamics of the table definitely changes many of my decisions in this event. Poker is a lot about adjusting to your opponents and always trying to be one step further in terms of levels of thinking. If I were at a softer table I would probably play a lower-variance style to maximize my skill edge, and do more gambling deeper into the event. I’ve played a lot of high buy-in tournaments so I don’t really get psyched out too much anymore. If I had doubled up, having a lot of chips versus that field would have given me a significantly greater edge than if I grinded a below-average stack into day 2, so it was a conscious decision to play a more volatile style.

RM: Did you feel strong then with A-J… stronger than say on a less aggressive table?

XL: Yes, A-J was pretty strong given the wide variety of hands MonsterDong was and should be four-betting me there with.

The previous hand with J-J I flatted pre- and check-called twice post-flop versus a weaker older gentleman, who I would never put that many chips in against but versus MonsterDong, with a shortstack in the big blind, A-J is the nuts! Again, a big part of this is also that I figured he’d be flatting a lot with his medium pocket pairs.

RM: He only had 100 chips or so more than you, does that make a difference to how you perceive his betting? Would his range be as wide in this instance as you’re basically playing for stacks in a betting war?

XL: I had about 50k the hand right before and had not even had a chance to recount my stack when this hand occurred, so neither of us knew exactly how many chips I had until after the hand had begun and I three-bet. This makes his four-bet so perfect because I’d be more prone to make errors if I had not yet adjusted to my new stack size and if I was three-betting wider than I should. Since with this new stack, his four-bet-sizing puts me to a decision since I could never profitably flat there with anything and would have to raise or fold. So it just comes down to me knowing he knows this and him knowing I know this, etc..

To the naked eye it looks like a betting war but we both had a ton of information on each other from playing all day and it was just a spot where both of us chose to play optimally, even though it was high variance. So even though he showed up with 8-8 he could have a lot of A-X hands I dominate, as well as other random combinations, since it was more likely that he would flat with a medium strength value hand.

RM: When someone’s so aggressive all the time it must be hard to determine whether you think they have something or not… is he very consistent in his aggression?

XL: Well we had both been very active and I was lucky enough to have position on him and Elliot Smith, so I won a lot of positional pots throughout the day without showdown. The first time I had three-bet him, in like the first level, he also joked about wanting to four-bet but not wanting to feel dumb if I clicked it back in his face, so there was a fun dynamic happening. He’s a very good player who sees just as many angles as I do, and his aggression had never been unwarranted. However, I am familiar with just how wide he can be, and thought this was a very perfect spot for him to be getting a lot of chips in.

RM: Had you decided you were going to go all the way with it before the flop… and what about when you saw him coming along with you?

XL: Well right off the bat A-J is a very good hand versus his 100 percent button open, and as I mentioned, I did expect him to be four-betting a ton. Although I did not immediately decide I was never folding, our bet-sizings and timing tells solidified that I should be OK with getting it in at this stage in the tournament. I didn’t like that I had to call the last bet, but after discussing it with him he even said that the five-bet was good to give him a chance to spazz off with worse, since he is never four-bet/calling that deep with a non-value hand, but would be six-bet jamming wide enough to make the play more profitable for me the way it played out.

RM: Do you want to give me a glimpse into your monologue? What reads did you solidify?

XL: [Laughs] Sure! A lot of the things I said were to gauge a reaction from him since we were sitting side by side. I had said “really?” in a joking tone right after he jammed. I told him I had a value hand and that I think I left myself with enough room to fold if I had to. He asked me if i had a pocket pair and didn’t seem less comfortable with the situation… I made sure the math was all correct one last time before I put my stack in.

RM: What did you pick up on during this then to make you decide to call?

XL: Well even without live tells it wasn’t a spot where five-bet folding was profitable. However it was a big prestigious tournament and I just had to make sure there wasn’t something I had overlooked. If he reeked of confidence and looked like he wanted a call really badly I could hero fold.

RM: Would you use speech play a lot in your game? If so, do you think it’s a useful tool? Has it been good to you in the past?

XL: I used to play a lot of live cash in L.A. and got owned by a lot of angle-shooting in the games so I’ve learned a lot. I generally don’t say very much since I think any information you give out could be used against you, but we had been chatting all day and were friendly enough in this interesting spot that I had to see if I could just get a little more info to solidify my read. If I had been wrong and was crushed, it would have made for a fun, friendly exit anyway.

RM: Ok, great. If you could go back would you do anything differently? Did you learn anything from the hand?

XL: I don’t think I would do anything differently. There’s an argument for five-bet jamming to reduce the variance but in terms of maximizing equity with our respective ranges it was better the way our bet-sizings played the hand out. I would have tried to hit a pair next time of course!

I think I’ve improved exponentially as a player in the past year and this hand is something that confirms that. Whereas I may have previously folded to a four-bet and tried to wait for a “better spot” before, I now really think each hand out thoroughly and make the best decision regardless of the outcome. ♠

Xuan Liu meant business when in early 2011 she decided to concentrate more on live tournaments. The Canadian hit the live international tournament circuit with gusto and really made some waves with nice results on European felt including third place at the European Poker Tour San Remo for $534,564. She then kicked off 2012 with a fourth place at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event, jump-starting the year with a $600,000 payday. At time of writing Liu has just under $1.2 million in lifetime winnings and is one exciting poker player to keep an eye on.