When I Was A Donk: With Brandon Shack-Harris

Brandon Shack-Harris

Brandon Shack-Harris exploded onto the live tournament scene back at the 2014 World Series of Poker when he racked up six cashes, four final tables and a bracelet win en route to finishing second in the WSOP Player of the Year race to George Danzer. The Chicago-native won the $1,000 pot-limit Omaha event for $205,634, finished second in the $10,000 razz for $182,155, and then third in the $1,500 limit hold’em event for another $78,335. He topped it all off with a runner-up showing in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship event for $937,975.

After another final table in 2015, Shack-Harris made three more in 2016, including a runner-up showing in the $1,500 stud eight-or-better event for $96,750. Most importantly, he won his second bracelet and $894,300 when he took down the $10,000 pot-limit Omaha event. Shack-Harris now has more than $2.8 million in live tournament earnings.

Here, Shack-Harris talks about the hand that may have cost him one of the most prestigious titles in poker.

“I think you could say I’m a perpetual donk. (laughing) But the last really big mistake I remember came in the 2014 $50,000 Poker Players Championship at the World Series of Poker. I had a pretty sizable lead, and there was a pot-limit Omaha hand against [John] Hennigan. We were three-handed, and Jesse [Martin] was down to like a nub of a stack. At the time, I had enough chips to where I felt like I could double up John and still be able to grind. It felt like it was an okay spot to gamble.”

“The hand played out where I opened a double-suited rundown hand. Hennigan potted out of position, and I honestly figured his range was going to be way wider than just aces. Given how short Jesse was, I thought there was a chance he could be doing it with a double-suited, ace-high rundown type of hand.”

“I called, and the flop came down ace high, giving me a flush draw. He just potted, committing himself to the hand. I had the flush draw, I had backdoor redraws, and I didn’t think he had trips. In the end, I figured even if I doubled John up, I would have enough chips to grind them back. But if I won the hand, my biggest threat at the table would be gone, and I would pretty much be guaranteed the win because Jesse was on fumes.”

“So I ended up putting him all-in, and he called, of course, with top two, aces and nines. I turned a wrap to go with my flush draw, but he faded it and doubled up. That gave him the chip lead and he ran everybody over. I ended up finishing second. The biggest lesson I learned was that you can’t get ahead of yourself. You might feel the end of a tournament coming, but you can’t force it. Let the game come to you and be patient.” ♠