Final Table Takedown: Adrian Attenborough Breaks Down Hand Ranges and ICM Decisions

Adrian Attenborough is a Brisbane-born 24-year-old professional poker player and a self-proclaimed typical Aussie that loves to travel. He started playing poker by watching his older brother and his friends and that became the catalyst for great things. Adrian goes by the online handle “Knightsgeee” where he has already amassed well over $2 million in online winnings.

Relatively new to the live poker scene, he recently claimed his largest prize to date making a deal in the Bellagio Cup for $361,660. Adrian also won an event in Macau this past February for $193,172 and another notable live cash includes a first-place in the 2017 Marconi Cup Carnival Super High Roller. Adrian does a lot of coaching with Australian-based players as well as some internationals. As part of his duties as a Natural8 Team Pro, Adrian will represent Natural8 for the foreseeable future. To date, Adrian has an impressive $1.2 million in live cashes over a short period of just three years on the live circuit. Adrian can be found on Twitter at @Knightsgeee.

Event: WPT Bellagio Cup XIII
Players: 271
Entry: $10,000
First Prize: $475,940
Finish: Third

Key Concepts: Bet Sizing, Range Polarization

Craig Tapscott: Did you do anything special to prepare for this final table?

Adrian Attenborough: I believe you are constantly preparing for these spots. I’ve played a lot of poker, mainly online. I’m always playing and studying and constantly getting myself ready for any tournament I play. This was a five-day tournament, so it was really about just making sure I was eating and sleeping well. These are long days, so you really don’t want to get burned out by the time you hit the final day.

Schillhabel completes the small blind. Attenborough calls holding Q 9.

Flop: 10 7 3 (pot: 50,000)

Schillhabel bets 30,000.

CT: What do you believe Schillhabel’s range is after limping in?

AA: Schillhabel is a very good tournament player. I know he has a very well thought out and balanced limping range, that also takes into account independent chip model (ICM). Schillhabel would have a range of about 70 percent of hands with some of those being combos like 2-2 to 5-5, some A-x. His betting range will contain a low continuation bet percentage with a condensed range. But with ranges still being so wide, I know that my hand has a couple of options. So, I chose to raise…

Attenborough raises to 80,000.

CT: You whiffed this flop. What’s the plan with a raise in this spot?

AA: I have to have a raising range on a board like this as I still have some strong 10-x hands and two pairs. I like to raise this hand at an extremely low frequency just to give me some board coverage for turns and rivers and to balance my range with bluffs.

We also can’t just have stronger draws in our range, because we need bluffs in our range also when turns and rivers come that complete these draws.

CT: Please explain.

AA: Board coverage is important when constructing a raising range, so I don’t mind raising this hand. Because when the queen comes it’s very good for me and I also have some nice backdoor straight draws. Constructing a raising range that plays well on a vast majority of board runouts is key to having a balanced raising range. I’d rather have a low frequency raising range with a lot of hands, rather than just raise my straight draws. If I just raise 9-8, 5-4, and gutshots, then my range lacks distribution on turns and rivers. Having a range that hits deceptive top pairs, but also can have bluff equity as changing turn and river cards are factors we need to consider when we are constructing flop raising ranges.

Schillhabel calls.

Turn: A (pot: 210,000)

Schillhabel checks.

CT: Is this a good or bad card for your perceived hand?

AA: The ace favors Schillhabell, because our bluffs don’t improve equity and we don’t have A-10, as we would jam over his preflop small blind call. But I still need a betting range on the turn, even though this turn card isn’t great overall; though we both don’t have a lot of A-x, except Stefan with hands like A-10, A-7 and even pocket aces. I would bet at a low frequency here. And I’d like to choose a bluff spot with higher equity, so I chose to check. I didn’t turn any improved equity at all. But I do have hands like 9-8, 5-4, gutshots, and even some diamonds I raised on the flop to choose as my bluff combos.

Attenborough checks.

River: 5 (pot: 210,000)

Schillhabel bets 72,000.

AA: Stefan thinks for a while and bets a little over 30 percent of the pot. This is a very interesting size and something that confused me at the time. We know Stefan has a small flop c-betting strategy that contains strong value hands and some hands that contain good equity like 9-8, 5-4, J-8, etc. Stefan likely isn’t going for thin value on the river. I block his Q-10 which could value bet this size, but he just has a lot of offsuit bluffs which make up a lot of combos. So, with how polarized everyone is on the river and my queen high likely to be beating all of Stefan’s bluffs, I get a good price to make the call here.

Attenborough calls. Schillhabel reveals J 8. Attenborough wins the pot of 282,000.

Key Concepts: Bet sizing; Pot odds

Karamalikis raises to 200,000 from the cutoff. Leonard calls from the button. Attenborough raises to 900,000 from the big blind holding A K. Karamalikis calls. Leonard calls.

CT: What’s your thoughts about their ranges after both players simply call?

AA: Karamalikis and Leonard are currently second and third in chips with five players remaining, so I assume their ranges will be tighter than usual. I believe Karamalikis calls something like 10-10 plus and A-K, and Leonard with 9-9 plus, A-Q suited, and A-K. I’ve assigned him a little wider range just because he’s on the button and is getting a good price to make the call. So, ranges are extremely tight here just because of ICM and there currently being two more shorter stacks than both of them.

Flop: A 3 2 (pot: 2,790,000)

Attenborough bets 600,000. Karamalikis folds. Leonard moves all-in.

CT: What’s going through your mind after Leonard shoves?

AA: Well this is an interesting spot just because of ICM, the pot odds I am getting to make the call, and with how tight Leonard’s range is being the most important factor.

CT: What’s he shoving with then?

AA: I have to assume he has zero bluffs. So, this leaves A K and A Q, both with top pair and a flush draw. It’s a tough decision here because there could possibly be a different range here also that contains 3-3 and 2-2. Leonard is a good high-stakes regular, so I assume he doesn’t have 3-3 or 2-2, which would add six extra value combos to this value flop range. And that would make this a fold for me. I was getting such a good price and was pretty comfortable with my range assessment, so I ended up calling. He turned over A K.

Turn: 7 (pot: 8,600,000)

River: 9 (pot: 8,600,000)

Leonard reveals the A K and wins the pot of 8,600,000.

AA: The board ran out and gave Patrick the flush. It’s an interesting spot because it took me from chipleader to third in chips at a very top heavy final table. And if he does somehow have the low pocket pairs in his range, my call certainly becomes a fold.

CT: Some players are touting you as one of the best up and coming tournament players in the game. I can see why by just the way you broke down these two hands.

AA: I think there are a lot of very good high-level players in the poker community and it’s really fun being able to compete with some of the best in the world. I’m privileged that my job is to travel the world with my friends, earn money, and play a game that I love.

CT: You come across as a very competitive person and a player that truly loves the game.

AA: I am. I think playing poker fulltime is enjoying the journey of trying to grow in every aspect of life. When you are competing with the best and everyone is trying to win and be better than you, you really have to have a balanced life. Poker is a lifestyle. We are putting our own money on the line day in day out, so I believe you just have to find a way to enjoy the process of being a poker player. You constantly need to study a lot off the tables to make sure your game is constantly improving. I’m a very competitive person, so becoming stagnant and watching others getting even better than me is something I just can’t tolerate.

CT: Any advice for up and coming players?

AA: I believe you really need to surround yourself with people you aspire to be and people who are also trying to get where you are. A big reason I am where I am with poker is because players I looked up to have gone out of their way to help me grow. Poker is a community and all of us play because we love the game. At the end of the day poker takes hours of grueling play and study off the table, so if someone is willing to work hard we should be there for them. Poker supplies all of us with a lifestyle that has a lot of freedom, so I hope that as many people as possible can experience this kind of life. ♠