Pat Lyons Entertains the Audience and Captures a World Poker Tour Title

Pat Lyons won the Arizona State Poker Championship for $241,000 two weeks before winning his first World Poker Tour title. He grew up in northern California and learned poker from his father sitting around the kitchen table playing for matches. He attended San Mateo High School where he ran track and played basketball. During college he was a competitive break dancer and once auditioned for an MC Hammer video.

Lyons started playing poker seriously in 2001 and a few years later fell in love with tournament poker. In 2011 he chopped a Bay 101 event for $100,000 with Mimi Luu. Lyons has more than $1 million in career tournament earnings.

Event: 2016 WPT Legends of Poker
Players: 687 • Entry: $4,000 • First Prize: $615,346 • Finish: 1st

Key Concepts: table dynamics; tilt; meta-game

Craig Tapscott: How did you prepare for your first WPT final table?

Pat Lyons: I had seen many final WPT final tables as an audience member and been there to root friends on at the Bay 101. The main thing I was concerned about was getting too hot under the lamps. And I wanted to make sure my back was comfortable with a few cushions, as I have a degenerative disc issue for a few years. But I’m always comfortable in the spotlight as you will find out. I am a bit of a showy guy. (Laughs)

CT: Well it obviously worked out for you.

PL: My plan went smoothly. I went into the day being very aggressive and vying for the chip lead and control of the table. I knew that William had a lot of gamble in him and he would be going after me whenever the opportunity arose.

CT: This was a very entertaining final table. And each of you made a deal early on regarding the winner of each pot.

PL: We decided if you won the pot you had to show one card.

Lyons raises to 205,000 from UTG holding K Q. Vo calls from the big blind.

CT: What’s your read on Vo?

PL: We have known each other for many years as we are both from the Bay Area. I had some run-ins with him leading up to the televised final table. I knew if I got involved in a hand with him he’s going to want to beat me pretty badly.

Vo checks dark.

Flop: K Q 4 (pot: 500,000)

Lyons bets 205,000. Vo calls.

PL: I continuation bet knowing he was going to call. I’m doing my best to lull him into calling me every step of the way.

CT: But you also have a huge hand. What kind of hand range did you put him on?

PL: I think he had A-10 or A-J trying to hit Broadway. A good player told me many years ago a motto I still adhere to till this day. It’s called Texas hold’em. You hold your cards, you don’t fold them. And do your best to hang on until the river. I know William is going to have that same philosophy about the game. We know each other well.

CT: You’ve got quite the meta-game going on here.

PL: Yes. I think he thought if he called the flop and the turn he could make a play on the river if he missed and I showed any weakness. He thinks he knows what I’m thinking, but I definitely knew his plan in this hand. It’s a mental chess game. It’s my favorite part of the game.

Turn: K (pot: 1,010,000)

Vo checks. Lyons bets 505,000.

PL: I increased my bet size knowing he would call this turn.

CT: So how do you determine sizing when up against a player who could be steaming or tilting?

PL: I know he’s committed a bunch of the chips to the pot and doesn’t want to feel like he’s being pushed around by me. He is 100 percent going to call me down if I keep my bet sizing reasonable.

Vo calls.

River: 5 (pot: 2,020,000)

Vo checks. Lyons bets 2,000,000.

CT: What’s going through your mind when you choose to toss out such a large bet on the river?

PL: Trust me. I wanted to go all-in. But I knew I couldn’t as I needed to get him to call. So I was trying to figure out a bet that didn’t make sense. I picked that bet size because I knew if he called he would still have some chips left and not be totally crippled. I was hoping curiosity would kill the cat and he would be inclined to call me.

CT: How did he react?

PL: He tanked for a bit and folded. Then he showed an ace. So I showed the queen.

CT: Do you regret not making the bet smaller?

PL: My goal was to scramble the table. He and I are going back and forth and the other three players are watching. They’re good players. I know they will try to find a way to use the information they’ve gleaned from this hand. But my plan was to mix it up. I was well aware of the information the other three players were getting while William and I were battling. Because I still have to beat them. So I’m going to give off similar information in a future hand and turn that into an advantage.

Vo folds. Lyons wins the pot of 2,020,000.

CT: I am sure this pot tilted him even more.

PL: It did. I have decreased his stack size and put myself into the chip lead.

Key Concepts: meta-game; hand reading; bluffing

CT: Didn’t you leave the table for an extended period of time right before this hand?

PL: (Laughs) I did. I think for about 20 minutes.

CT: What for?

PL: Well I had gone from second in chips to chip leader and had gotten the table pretty discombobulated. William Vo was asking me not to talk to the audience and to be quiet. I knew I was throwing the table off. So instead of sitting at the table talking, I went into the audience and talked with them. Then I went to the bathroom, got some water, and talked to friends. I felt I was in complete control and in the zone. I wasn’t really feeling any pressure because I was controlling the pace. I then sat back down. The tournament director said my talking was bothering William, so I stopped and was very cooperative. But I had achieved what I wanted. But not before telling the crowd if I reached 10 million in chips I was buying everyone a drink, which really got them on my side.

CT: Do you have any bad history with De Silva.

PT: Not really. We just enjoy playing against each other and jousting back and forth.
Lyons raises to 230,000 from the cutoff holding K Q. De Sliva calls from the big blind.

CT: So how do you determine your preflop bet sizing? In the previous hand you raised less with the blinds and antes the same.

PL: I increased my bet size for value. I knew that when I raised that De Silva would give me action. So I was testing him, as we were constantly testing each other. If he raised I would call and if I raised he would call. Very seldom had we reraised each other preflop.

Flop: 10 10 4 (pot: 550,000)

De Silva checks. Lyons checks.

CT: Why no continuation bet?

PL: I had gotten him to call the larger preflop bet, which was the plan. And I wanted to see what happened on the turn and river. At this point he has to have a hand to really compete with me now. I could tell because of how he had begun to approach previous hands with me and I was figuring out his plan to combat my aggression. So I slowed down.

CT: So you knew what hands he was putting you on after this flop and the check.

PL: Yes. He’s probably putting me on A-Q or A-K, or any pair. The hand would have played out differently if I had continuation bet. But I got so much information by playing it this way that it all worked out for me in the long run. And he was never going to bet into me as he was afraid I might raise him.

Turn: 7 (pot: 550,000)

De Silva checks. Lyons checks.

CT: Since he checked again and showed some weakness, do you regret not firing on this turn?

PL: I had anticipated that he would lead out with a bet on the flop and or the turn. Then I would have raised. But my plan backfired on me.

River: 10 (pot: 550,000)

De Silva bets 175,000. Lyons raises to 575,000.

CT: So now you look like you’ve been sitting on a big hand waiting to pounce.

PL: Yes. It makes sense that when I raised the river I had been waiting to bet, that I had something of value to bet with. He tanked for a long time. But I think his curiosity got the better of him and…

De Silva calls and reveals A J. De Silva wins the pot of 1,700,000.

PL: After he called this raise I knew I would get paid off later in the tournament when I really needed to. My bluff didn’t work this time, but I could use it later to my advantage.

CT: But you had to be surprised that he called you with ace high on this board.

PL: I was and I wasn’t. I knew the other players were curious to see my hands and how I played the game and what hands I was choosing to open with. I was able to get De Silva to call me with ace high and I even commented about it to the rest of the players. I told him he would have to call me later with ace high too, how could he not. And if he did, I would probably get those chips back.

CT: Which you did. Congrats on the big win.

PL: Thanks Craig.

CT: I have to ask. Did you buy the audience a drink when all was said and done?

PL: Yes. I bought the entire audience a shot each, twice. It was a blast. ♠