Final-Table Takedown: Ronnie Bardah Captures First World Series of Poker Gold Bracelet

Ronnie Bardah was born in Easton, MA and moved to Brockton, MA when he was four years old. He started playing poker, five card draw, with his father soon thereafter. He eventually started off his professional poker career in 2003. Bardah has been able to realize his poker playing dreams by making a deep run in the 2010 WSOP main event where he secured 24th place, taking home $317,000. Bardah considers himself a cash game player first and foremost. Yet with tournament cashes over $750,000, Ronnie is looking forward to winning another final table and another bracelet at the upcoming WSOP. Bardah recently joined Team Ivey and can be found making training videos at iveypoker.com.

Hand No. 1

Key Concepts: Playing your hands fast sometimes makes your hands look a lot weaker; Maximizing value; When not to slow play; Keeping your cool when losing big pots at huge junctures 

Ho raises to 10,000 from under-the-gun (UTG). Chan raises to 15,000. Gironda raises from the small blind to 20,000.

Ronnie Bardah: I look down at Q Q.

Craig Tapscott: Wow. That’s a lot of action in front of you. What goes through your head holding Q-Q in this spot?

RB: I also said wow to myself. First off I thought that Maria’s hand is pretty much irrelevant, but at the same time she is not getting out of line because she is short stacked. Terrance knows this so he is not isolating her without a substantial hand here because of her stack size. Then we have Vinny. He is very solid and very nitty preflop, so when he four-bets to 20,000 from the small blind, this is the hand I’m most concerned with. But then I think to myself, “Come on Ronnie. We have Q-Q, five-handed, playing for all the marbles, and even with all this action we are never folding. So stop thinking so much you buffoon and five-bet cap it. Let’s go!”

CT: (Laughs) So how long did you tank to figure out that brilliant plan?

RB: About four seconds.

Bardah 5-bets to 25,000 from the big blind.

Ho folds. Chan and Gironda call.

Flop: Q 3 5 (pot: 85,000)

CT: Wow again! I bet you were hoping one of them slow played A-A or K-K at this point, but not very likely considering the action.

RB: Yeah. Before the flop came down I was thinking I hope Vinny doesn’t have K-K or A-A here. Then I flop top set. And now I’m thinking, please Vinny have A-A or K-K.
Gironda checks. Bardah bets 5,000. Chan raises to 10,000. Gironda raises to 15,000.

CT: This action had to make you happy.

RB: Now I know that Vinny has A-A or K-K and we just got there. I decide to just get the money in and 4-bet.

Bardah raises to 20,000.

CT: So you saw no need to slow play or get tricky?

RB: No. Many people would say why not wait for the turn and flat the 3-bet on the flop. But being the capper preflop and at this junction of the tourney I just want to get the money in.

Chan folds. Gironda calls.

CT: What does Gironda think you have at this point?

RB: Vinny is a very good hand reader. At this point he knows that I might have the Q-Q. The only hand that he can beat is K-K so he puts the breaks on and just calls. I was kind of hoping he would five-bet and lead the turn, which would have earned me an extra big bet.

Turn: 9 (pot: 135,000)

Gironda checks. Bardah bets 10,000. Gironda calls.

RB: I’m sitting there thinking, here we go. This pot is the biggest of the tourney so far and a nice one to go into Day 3 with. Then…

River: A (pot: 155,000)

CT: Wow!

RB: River card — Barry “Friggin” Greenstein — Ace on the River. All I could do was sit there and think to myself … really.

Gironda bets 10,000.

RB: He threw the chips in with all the confidence in the world and jolly rhythm in his flick. I wanted to cry with half my stack in the pot. How can I fold for one bet? Any player who was sweating this hand knew that he had A-A for set of aces. Even the cleaning lady and massage therapist knew. The pot was huge… and maybe, just maybe he had A-Q. I finally call after crying my face off for 30 seconds and he tables…

Gironda reveals A A. Gironda wins the pot of 175,000.

RB: I found out later that Chad Brown had folded A-4 suited and that Chan had folded J-J and Maria 7-7. So it was the case ace on the river. Once again I said, “Wow!”

CT: Obviously a pretty bad beat. Can you share your advice on shaking off such a beat and being able to continue to play your “A” game?

RB: When you lose a hand like that you have to remember what you are playing for and just go back to the drawing board. I’ve had times I didn’t handle a beat that well and you learn from that. By gaining more and more experience at the tables I’ve learned to tilt less and less. You have to think about how much time and effort you’ve put into a tournament and not tilt off your stack. I’ve learned to stay focused, stay patient, and to stick to my game plan. Another thing I think about is the amount of money I’ve invested in the tournament. I actually sell some action to friends to help me not tilt. You’re not only playing for yourself now you’re playing for others. When others invest in your game and your results, you don’t want to let them down. It works for me.

Hand No. 2

Key Concepts: Attacking dry boards; Taking control of the pot; Range analysis

CT: Do you know much about Marco Johnson’s game to take into heads-up play as battle information.

RB: For sure. Marco was the last player I wanted to play heads-up. The kid is a monster. He regularly beats some of the biggest mixed games at Bellagio and is just an all around beast.

Johnson raises to 60,000 from the button.

RB: I have 5 3. Most would say to fold this hand out of position and sometimes I do. But sometimes heads-up we have to defend and get a little spicy in the hand. And sometimes we can flop a pair or a draw and get there. If we don’t maybe we can get creative and spicy enough and win the hand somewhere along the way. So I decide to take a flop.

Bardah calls.

Flop: 6 2 10 (pot: 120,000)

RB: I have a gutshot and a nice flop to check-raise.

CT: Really? Why a check-raise?

RB: If we want to win this pot we must check-raise the flop and take the lead away from Marco. Also, another justification leading into this hand was I was running like God and winning almost every pot. So momentum was definitely on my side.

Bardah checks. Johnson bets 30,000. Bardah raises to 60,000. Johnson calls.

Turn: J (pot: 240,000)

CT: How do you feel about this card?

RB: I loved this card. The J brings a third spade and gives me a five-high flush draw. If Marco had flopped a pair and was going into call down mode this card most likely has given me more outs.

Bardah bets 60,000. Johnson calls.

River: 4 (pot: 360,000)

RB: Then “boom” on the river, this time in my favor. This was the ultimate gin card giving me the straight.

Bardah bets 60,000. Johnson calls. Bardah wins the pot of 480,000.

RB: Marco called upset, because he felt the vibe of the hand. Sometimes you can feel that from another player. He didn’t know what he was going to see flipped over but he knew he was most likely beat. So he called. When the 5-3 offsuit was flipped over the crowd roared and Marco’s face didn’t like it. He flashed me a bigger spade and had a pair to go along with it. I just got really lucky. From then on I continued to run like Moses splitting the Red Sea and went on to win my first WSOP bracelet. ♠