Final Table Takedown - Sean Yu

Sean Yu was born in Seoul, South Korea. He came to the United States at the age of six and currently resides in Los Angeles. He started playing poker while stationed as a US Marine in Camp Pendleton, CA in 1997 and began playing as a professional in 2014, mostly focusing on tournaments.

Yu won the inaugural WPT500 Aria in 2014 and later that year took down the World Series of Poker Circuit Harrah’s main event. Since then he has gone on to win the 2015 LA Open main event in 2015, the WSOPC Planet Hollywood main event in 2016, and the 2017 WSOP Global Championship. He is the top earner on South Korea’s all-time money list. Yu has more than $1.4 million in career tournament cashes.

Event: 2017 Commerce Casino Poker Series $1 Million Guaranteed
Players: 897 • Entry: $1,100 • First Prize: $209,030 • Finish: 1st

Key Concepts: Knowing your opponents and their tendencies; Blocker bets

Craig Tapscott: How has the last twelve months gone for you? It seems like you have added some big wins to your resume. Has your game grown over the past year?
Sean Yu: (laughs) Actually the first six months of this year, I’ve been on a major downswing! Probably the worst in the last few years ever since becoming a tournament professional.

CT: So how did you deal with that?

SY: I really felt the variance in tournament poker over the last year or so. But I never gave up and stayed positive and continually worked to improve my game. I constantly study and review my own play and go over hand histories with my poker buddies. I’ve been mostly working to improve on +EV (Expected Value) spots and minimize my mistakes. After all, poker is all about making great decisions.

Yu raises to 90,000 from UTG holding 9 9. The action folds to Villain in the cutoff. Villain calls. 

CT: What’s your read on the Villain up to this point?

SY: My read on the villain is that she is a very sticky player and likes to bluff.  She calls raises way too often and does not three-bet nearly as much as she probably should.

Flop: 10 8 9 (pot: 275,000)

CT: Easy game. What’s the plan?

SY: It can be. But it’s always nice to flop a set. (Laughs). The plan is to start building a pot and maximize the value of my hand. However, the flop is coordinated and very draw heavy, so I have to take caution.

Yu bets 115,000. Villain calls.

CT: What hand range are you assigning the Villain now?

SY: Here I continuation bet little less than half the pot. And in my mind the Villain’s range is very wide. She could have lots of Broadway combos (A-10, Q-J, K-10, Q-10, A-J, etc), flush draws, and maybe some under pairs and sets, but not likely.

Turn: 3 (pot: 505,000)

CT: A complete blank. Fire away, right?

SY: Yes. This is a good card for me to continue building the pot for value. 

Yu bets 300,000. Villain calls.

CT: This call has to concern you.

SY: Yes and no. I bet the turn a little heavier in this spot to more define the Villain’s range. Once he calls my turn bet, I’m hoping to fold out all of the Villain’s draws calling incorrectly and continuing. Then again, he has been very sticky with me and doesn’t like to fold.

River: Q (pot: 1,105,000)

CT: That card can’t be good, in so many ways.

SY: The worst card in the deck. All one card J-x straights gets there and the flush gets there too.  I’m hating life right about now and about to barf.

CT: Do you feel you have to surrender and check?

SY: Well if I check the river and wave the white flag, I cannot win this pot. The Villain can easily turn their hand into a bluff and bomb the river. I would have to fold. So I bet as a blocker bet and would have to fold if the Villain jams all-in.

CT: Your read on the Villain has to really inform your play here. Would you send in a blocker bet after this run out if the player was very tight or ABC? What I am asking is how read dependent is your play?

SY: If the Villain was very tight or ABC, predictable, I guess the same could apply as doing a river blocker bet.

Yu bets 450,000. Villain folds. Yu wins the pot of 1,105,000.

CT: Explain in more detail a blocker bet in this situation. Because many players would simply check-call or check-fold. In this particular situation, it seems like a dangerous move and possibly a bit spewy. And would it have ever been a check-call instead of the blocker bet? And if so, why?

SY: On a terrible river like this situation, I would be very hesitant to check the river, because then I would be giving up on the pot. You don’t really want to check the river and possibly face a big bet or all-in bet. So, you are essentially betting the river with the intention of folding to more aggression and/or an all-in bet.

Key Concepts: ICM (Independent Chip Model) pressure on the two medium shorter stacks in play; Position

CT: When you came into this final table did you have a game plan? Were you familiar with many of the players?

SY: I came into the final table around fourth in chips. There were three bigger stacks, three medium stacks, and two short stacks. My game plan was to be aggressive and let the table know that I am not afraid to bust. I was active in opening lots of pots preflop and continued being aggressive post flop. Yes, there were a few familiar faces that I knew pretty well at the final table.

Yu raises to 90,000 from the button holding K 5. Villain calls from the big blind.

CT: What’s your read on the player in the big blind?

SY: He’s a local tournament regular, and is a fairly solid player. We have a mutual respect for each other’s games. He has the ability to fold worst hands when he believes he is behind.

Flop: A 10 7 (pot: 235,000)

SY: I completely whiffed the flop. So…

Yu bets 115,000.  

CT: Is this an automatic continuation bet for you?

SY: Almost always. The flop texture is very dry and I have very little equity, so I continuation bet and try to take down the pot here and now.

CT: How did the Villain react?

SY: The Villain then cuts out some chips and…

Villain raises to 250,000

CT: Seems a bit fishy, in regard to your range versus his range.

SY: Absolutely. When the Villain in the big blind check-raises this type of flop texture, he usually has a weak made hand. This flop is not very draw heavy, so he most likely has a weak A-x that he is looking to take down the pot on the flop. But he usually does not have too many A-J plus hands here, because he would have three-bet preflop.  

CT: So you can put the pressure on now, or do you think it best not to continue and simply fold?

SY: Well my hand has literally very little equity versus the Villain’s check-raise range. I can no longer continue with a call. So I elected to…

Yu reraises to 665,000.

SY: I am now repping a stronger range. And if he calls here, he would have to fear even a larger bet on later streets. 

CT: Why did you choose that bet sizing in response to the check-raise?

SY: Here I chose a slightly bigger sizing to discourage the Villain from continuing with his perceived range of top pair. I don’t necessarily want to give him a good price to continue.

Villain folds and shows the A. Yu wins the pot of 600,000.

CT: You’ve had a very successful career in tournaments over the past few years since turning professional. I am sure a big WPT title is coming your way soon. What’s your best advice for all the men and woman who are dying to turn pro and make poker their main source of income?

SY: A career playing tournament poker has allowed me to meet some great friends and has given me the financial freedom to travel to new places. Although I never encourage or recommend anyone turning pro, if you must, my best advice is to have a great passion for the game. Because if you live, eat, and sleep poker, you will succeed. ♠