Final Table Takedown: Nick Petrangelo Closes Out a Spectacular Year with a Seven-Figure Score

Nicholas Petrangelo is a 29-year-old professional poker player from Massachusetts. He was a serious golfer and hockey player for most of his life, now a huge fan of both. He graduated from Skidmore College with a BA in economics. Petrangelo has more than $4.1 million in live career tournament earnings.

Event:  World Poker Tour Alpha-8 High Roller Event    
Players:  45 • Entry: $100,000 • First Prize:  $1,589,219 • Finish: 2nd

Key Concepts: Preflop opening ranges; Continuation betting strategy

Craig Tapscott: This is a huge buy-in event. What kind of plan did you have going into the final table?

Nicholas Petrangelo: I try not to go into poker tournaments with a set strategy, as it could interfere with making the correct adjustments based on how my opponents are approaching situations and my general decision-making process. I believe in entering with a mindset where you take each decision as an isolated event and make the best possible decision you can. I try to focus on not getting ahead of myself, not looking at the prize pool, or thinking about how many players are left, and so on. Having said that, it is more difficult to do that in a scenario where you play down to six players and then go to sleep knowing exactly how many chips each player has, and what the positions will be.

CT: Why is that?

NP: Well it’s difficult to not let rigid strategy ideas creep into your mind, as you know exactly what the scenario is, as opposed to starting on day two with a good portion of the field remaining. On day two you have a full day of poker with likely many different opponents and stack sizes and no changing independent chip model (ICM) dynamics that could dramatically change your approach. In many ways, the structures of the high roller tournaments make the final nine the least interesting portion of the tournament, as the stacks get shallower and the payouts force players to play a strategy that is very much dictated by the stack sizes. When you know the stacks and payouts, there’s no reason not to do a little double-checking before starting play again. That’s the only form of plan making I use in these situations, getting an idea what the correct ranges are, and so on. 

CT: Coming into this event you had made ten final tables, including two titles and a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Can you share a little what the last year had been like for you and how your game has grown?

NP: Leading up to the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure events, I had been struggling to capitalize on some deep runs in big tournaments. I had just ended 2014 with a 15th in the Bellagio Five Diamond where first was $1.5 million. There were numerous similar cases over the course of 2013-2014 where I was accumulating stacks and making deep runs in tournaments only to make incorrect decisions deep and bubble or end up with an insignificant cash. The 2014 Five Diamond placing created a lot of doubt with regard to my end-game strategy. When I got to the PCA in 2015, I won a $5,000 turbo right away, and even though it was a quick-structured tournament that you need to run well to win, the false confidence it gave me carried over to the $25,000 event. I finished sixth for my biggest career score, and more importantly for me, my first cash in a $25,000 buy-in event.

CT: So this was the start of your run in 2015 at the PCA.

NP: Yes. It seemed like every time I got a stack together, things worked out. For me, having these results motivated me and made me more competitive. I think when you’re running well, you gain a sense of confidence that can carry over to your play, you may be more patient, not force things, think more clearly about certain spots, and so on. The opposite is also true, when you run poorly, you can force things, maybe not pull the trigger on a bluff because your bluffs haven’t been working, you may not make hero calls you normally would have because you’ve been running into the nuts, and the like. Good results perpetuate good play and confidence to some extent, and I definitely benefited from running exceptionally well in early 2015. 

Petrangelo raises to 45,000 from the cutoff holding K 7.

CT: What’s the table dynamic in terms of stack size at this point?

NP: Bill Klein is on the button with 300,000, Daniel Negreanu is in the small blind with 800,000 and Ankush Mandavia is in the big blind. It was a position where I could open very aggressively, as the only player that had position on me was Klein and he only had 15 blinds.

Mandavia calls.

Flop:  Q 10 8 (pot: 112,000)

Mandavia checks. Petrangelo checks.

CT: What are your thoughts with this check in position?

NP: I flopped very little equity on a dynamic board. I elected to check back and potentially take the pot on later streets, as most of the hands in Mandavia’s range that miss this board will likely still give up the pot later on.

Turn:  A (pot: 112,000)

Mandavia checks.

CT: A pretty good card for you. What do you make of his check, if anything?

NP: Yes. I pick up the nut flush draw and a gutshot and had the option to take another free card or start betting. I believe Mandavia would play a strategy where he mixes in a lot of strong check-calls on the turn here, so his check doesn’t mean much in terms of his hand strength. He plays balanced enough where I wouldn’t be surprised to see him mix in checks with some straights and sets. That being said, he is going to have a ton of one-pair hands that will be difficult to call two bets with. I choose to bet planning to follow through on most rivers.

Petrangelo bets 65,000. Mandavia calls.

CT: When he calls, what’s the hand range you’ve got him on?

NP: Mandavia’s check-call range will be predominantly his A-x, some Q-x, and potentially some 10-x with a straight draw, such as J-10, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him mix in some checks with J-9, K-J to induce value bets or bluffs from me and set me up for a river check-raise. He’s at a slight disadvantage, because I believe preflop he almost never has A-K, probably not A-Q very often, and A-A, Q-Q, and 10-10 are possible, but considerably unlikely given the stack depths and how often I would open the spot. Even 8-8 would be a consideration to shove for him preflop. Having said that, he still has plenty of strong hands, such as A-8, A-10, and as I mentioned, potentially tricky straights, but those are less likely. Not only because I block K-J, but because I believe he would start leading a hand like J-9 considerably more often than check-calling. So when he calls, I think he has predominantly A-x and Q-x, some A-10, A-8, Q-10, Q-8, 8-10, and some stronger combos mixed in as well.

River: 8 (pot: 242,000)

Mandavia checks.

CT: Can you fire again with no qualms?

NP: I’m going to choose a large sizing to put pressure on his one pair hands. Mandavia knows I can have plenty of strong hands I take this line with, such as A-8, A-Q, A-10, K-J, Q-Q, so I think it creates a difficult spot for him even if he has a hand like A-x.
Petrangelo bets 218,000. Mandavia folds. Petrangelo wins the pot of 242,000.

Key Concepts: Preflop play; Squeezing; Hand ranges

Holz raises from the button to 115,000. Negreanu calls from the small blind.

NP: I have A 6 in the big blind. I can definitely call here for this price and play post-flop, but A-6 offsuit plays pretty poorly multi-way. I would be out of position vs. Holz, who had a massive stack and could put a lot of ICM pressure on me, as I was in second in chips at the time.

CT: Explain briefly for those players not that familiar with ICM why that comes into play in this spot?

NP: At the time, I believe I was in second place, having both Sean Winter and Negreanu covered, and Holz had a significant chip lead, which he was playing very well. Even though he and I had not had many post-flop encounters, I know he’s capable of putting maximum pressure on post-flop. And when I’m in second place and he has a huge chiplead, with some very large pay jumps four-handed, that is an ideal scenario for him to force me to play big pots with a capped range. If Negreanu flats the small blind there and I don’t reraise at a 40 big blind stack, I’m going to be significantly handcuffed on several boards. Holz knows he can eliminate many strong holdings from my range based on a flat preflop, and can leverage that and force me to make really difficult decisions with big pay jumps on the line.

CT: And what was your read on Holz’s raises from the button?

NP: Holz was opening the button with a very wide range, and Negreanu flats the small blind probably more often than anyone, so I chose to squeeze to…

Petrangelo raises to 385,000.

NP: I am squeezing with a hand that has some good blocker value and doesn’t play that well post-flop, given the situation.

Holz folds. Negreanu folds. Petrangelo wins the pot of 305,000.

CT: Can you please share some thoughts on the best way players can grow and improve their preflop game?

NP: Preflop strategy is no different than other aspects of poker, in that it comes down to your reads and assumptions about your opponents. I think it’s definitely smart to have a set idea of what hands you’re opening from each position, and then adjust that range based on your table and your position. It’s also important to not be too rigid in one direction or the other when considering what hands to open, three or four-bet, etc. In terms of the end game preflop stuff, like knowing shoving ranges and ICM considerations, using a program like Hold’em Resources has been an invaluable tool for a lot of players, but that too is only as good as the assumptions the program makes and the ranges you plug in. One of the biggest obstacles I have run into myself, and see others face, is using these programs with poorly tailored or sometimes flat out incorrect assumptions, and then taking the output as useful information.

CT: Good stuff, Nick. Thanks. Good luck this year.

NP: Thanks, Craig. ♠