Final Table Takedown: Alex Masek Captures Another World Series Of Poker Circuit Ring

Alex Masek is a professional poker player residing in Los Angeles, California. Since completing a law degree in 2011, he has been playing poker full time. He currently holds the record for most WSOP Circuit (WSOPC) rings with eight. He won the Los Angeles Commerce Casino hold’em series main event in 2011 for $78,000, finished second to Freddy Deeb in the WSOPC main event in LA in 2012 for $106,000, and captured a fourth-place finish at WPT Legends of Poker in 2013 for $156,000. Masek has more than $910,000 in career live tournament cashes.

Hand No. 1

Key Concepts: Semibluffing; Opponent Bet-Sizing Tells

Craig Tapscott: Set the final table up for us.

Alex Masek: I came into the final table second in chips, with only Phil Stelzer having me covered. On the first hand of the final table, I made a nut-flush against Phil to take the chiplead with almost 40 percent of the chips in play, and was fortunate enough to have a big stack the rest of the way. 

CT: When it got down to heads-up, what was your plan against Stelzer?

AM: I felt pretty comfortable because I had roughly a 5-to-1 chip advantage. Also I felt like Phil had some bet-size tells that I could exploit. When Phil was the preflop aggressor, and his opponent checked to him on the flop, he would generally overbet the pot as a steal, and bet roughly half-pot for value. Since I had a big chip advantage, I planned on going with my read and taking some high variance lines if the opportunities arose, knowing that even if I doubled him up I’d still have a good stack.

Stelzer raises from the button to 50,000. Masek calls with 7 6.

CT: Could you three-bet here, as 7-6 can be tough to play out of position?

AM:  Well Since Phil only had 620,000 to start this hand, and the effective stacks here are 26 big blinds, I think calling with 7-6 is my standard play. There are times when a three-bet can be more profitable than a call. But since I wanted to keep the pot small and rely on my postflop reads, I was happy to call here.

Flop:  J 8 5 (pot:  108,000)

Masek checks. Stelzer bets 100,000.

AM: Since my read here was that Phil wouldn’t bet so big (almost full pot-size) for value on a relatively dry board, I decided that I’d turn my draw into a semibluff and try to win the pot without a showdown.

Masek calls.

CT: Did you think about check-raising, or were you happy to float with your read?

AM: I considered check-raising the flop, but thought that I would likely get more value from my hand if I let him barrel again on the turn before semibluffing all-in. If Phil checked back the turn instead of firing again, that would mean that I’d get a free card on the river to hit my draw, and even if I missed I’d still be able to bluff often if I was still confident in my read.

Masek calls.

Turn: 10 (pot: 308,000)

Masek checks. Stelzer bets 200,000.

AM: Phil’s bet was so big on the turn that I was priced out of making the call with my draw. This was the toughest decision I had in this tournament, because the pot was so big and Phil had committed such a big portion of his stack that it would be unlikely he’d find a fold with any hand that had showdown value. However, I was still pretty confident that Phil had a weak hand given the sizing of his two barrels. I didn’t think he’d play an overpair or a set this strongly, and thought he would take a more creative line with A-J, K-J, Q-J, J-10, J-9, or J-8.

CT: So is shoving really a plus EV (expected value) play at this point in the hand?

AM: Well there was 308,000 in the pot along with his 200,000 bet. Phil had 270,000 left behind. So I’d have to commit 470,000 total to win 508,000. Even if a check-raise all-in on the turn only worked half the time, it would be a plus EV play.

Masek raises all-in. Stelzer folds. Masek wins the pot of 508,000.

CT: Great read.

AM: Thanks. This hand was big for me. Not only because I was able to take 350,000 out of Phil’s 620,000 stack without a showdown, but also because I felt like my reads were on point. I was sure I’d be able to grind him down without many showdowns. It certainly helped to have the chip lead. I would still have been able to recover even if a bluff or semibluff failed, thus giving me the confidence to pull the trigger when a good spot arose

Hand No. 2

Key Concepts: Opponent Bet-Sizing Tells; Maximizing Value

CT: It looks like Stelzer has clawed back into contention at this point. Are you concerned?

AM: By this point, Phil had recovered from the first hand described here, and had roughly one-third of the chips in play for the first time during heads-up play. I didn’t think I was making any major mistakes, so I stuck to my plan of raising every button and trying to play big pots in position, since Phil didn’t like folding his big blind but very rarely raised preflop.

Masek raises from the button to 50,000 holding 6 4.

CT: So you are sticking to the plan no matter what two cards you hold.

AM: Pretty much. Holding 6-4 offsuit isn’t the best hand heads-up, but I was in position and we were playing 34 big blind effective stacks. I was sticking to my plan of raising every button to keep my range balanced and to get maximum value when I made strong hands. Since Phil tended to play pretty passively when out of position preflop, I wasn’t too concerned about getting three-bet here.

Stelzer calls.

Flop: J 7 4 (pot: 108,000) 

Stelzer checks.

CT: Not a bad flop for your hand.

AM: I liked this flop because I paired my 4s and likely had the best hand. I considered betting the flop, but thought checking back would be optimal. Phil was capable of check-raising the flop with a pair or a flush or straight draw. If he did that it would have put me in a tough spot on a flop in which I should usually have the best hand. I also considered that Phil might bluff the turn if a dry card peeled, since he’d likely assume that I would have bet the flop if I connected with the board.

Masek checks.

Turn: J (pot:  108,000)

Stelzer bets 130,000.

CT: He fired out just as you thought he might. What’s your read since you are keenly aware of his betting patterns from past hands?

AM: Phil’s overbet told me a lot about his range since I was convinced he’d never lead out for this sizing with trip jacks or a full house. I thought he’d reraise preflop with any pair A-A through 8-8, so I believed his value range to consist of some 7s, some 4s, and some pocket pairs, 2-2 through 6-6. I also thought that Phil could be bluffing here pretty often, as well as betting out his flush or straight draws.

Masek raises to 280,000.

AM: This was a spot where I thought I often had the best hand and wanted to maximize value from his drawing hands while also charging him extra to see a river card if he was on a pure bluff. My read regarding Phil’s playing style was that he wasn’t the type to bet and three-bet all-in with a draw on the turn. He also wasn’t the type to fire an all-in barrel on the river as a bluff. I thus thought it was optimal to raise the turn to maximize value from his draws and to avoid giving him a cheap river card in a spot where I’d be unlikely to get more value from having him bluff the river. I also thought that raising the turn may have been the cheapest way for me to get to showdown if Phil actually had a strong hand. Any river bet from him would likely be larger than the 150,000 raise I made on the turn. If he called my turn bet and led out on the river, I could be pretty confident that I was beat.

Stelzer calls.

River: 3 (pot: 668,000) 

Stelzer checks. Masek checks. Stelzer shows K 10. Masek wins the pot of 668,000.

AM: Phil showed up with what I was hoping he’d have when I raised the turn: a draw with limited showdown value. Although I don’t think that Phil would have barreled again on the river very often even if I would have just called his turn bet; it was important to get the extra 150,000 in value on turn. This ended up being the second to last hand of the tournament, as Phil’s stack dropped below 500,000 and the blinds increased to 15,000-30,000 on the next hand.

CT: Obviously you have been very successful over the last two years. To what can you attribute the growth in your game that has led to the results you have been posting?

AM: I think the main factor is that I’ve been able to fully dedicate myself to poker since finishing school in 2011. I’ve played poker continuously to some extent for the past 11 years, but hadn’t treated it as a job until three summers ago. I understand how fortunate I am to be able to play poker for a living and that’s helped motivate me to put in the hours and travel necessary to succeed as a live tournament grinder. ♠