Steve Weinstein -- What's My Line?Weinstein Talks Us Through a Key Hand at the Borgata Winter Poker Open |
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Every Thursday, Card Player sits down with some of the best in the game to discuss pivotal hands from the week’s biggest tournaments on the circuit.
Steve "Thorladen" Weinstein has been a staple of the online community since the days when the biggest game around was $3-$6 no-limit hold'em. The cash game specialist has made a name for himself as not only a feared player but also an all-around likeable guy.
Though Weinstein has had success in online tournaments, he was still waiting to really break through in the live arena. He came close twice, bubbling World Poker Tour televised final tables at both the Borgata and at Foxwoods, but it wasn't until last week at the Borgata Winter Poker Open that he was able to finally get his hands on all of the chips and be the last one standing.
Weinstein generously offered up a hand he played during the event for discussion for this week's edition of "What's My Line?"
The Hand -- Betting a Scary Board For Value
With about 100 players remaining in the field after the money bubble had burst, Weinstein raised in late position with A
J and was called by Jason "jakoon1985" Koon in the big blind. The flop came J-J-9, giving Weinstein trips, and he continued with a bet when Koon checked to him. Koon made the call, and the turn was an 8. Again, Koon decided to check-call a bet from Weinstein. The river was a 7, putting four to a straight on board, and Koon checked again. Weinstein decided make a near pot-sized bet, and Koon made the call with what he later claimed to be K-J.
The Interview
Julio Rodriguez: What kind of hand did you put him on, and do you believe he was telling the truth when he said he had K-J?
Steve Weinstein: Interestingly, I had played with this particular player before. He finished ninth in the Sunday 500 tournament I won a few months back, although I didn't really remember much about the way he played back then.
In all honesty, I don't think he had K-J, I think he had something like a pair of sixes. I think what happened is he didn't believe I could be value-betting on a board like that and that maybe his small pair was good. It's possible he even called me with a hand like ace-high. Stating he had K-J was probably just his way of saving face.
JR: A lot of players would have just checked behind when the river put a straight out there, can you explain why you decided to bet, and what made you eliminate the 10 from his range?
SW: I might have easily checked behind, but one of the advantages to being in the live setting is that I could pick up enough information from his body language to tell me that I was close to 100 percent to have the best hand there. So, to not bet would have been blasphemy. It wasn't necessarily a tell or something specific he did, but after so many years playing poker, I can tell when I'm ahead or behind.
When he called me on the flop, he was staring me down to pick up information. What he actually did was give me information. If he's so concerned with what I have, then he must have a made hand. If he held a 10 and was drawing on the flop, then he wouldn't have been so inclined to stare me down, trying to make a read. It's just one of those things you take to the bank.
JR: Let's say he did have K-J, do you think there is any way he could've gotten away from his hand?
SW: Sure, he could've folded it preflop. It's like I once told David "bakes" Baker, "There's no shame in folding a hand like that to a good player when you are out of position." It's just going to be impossible to play that type of hand profitably against a tough opponent, so you might as well fold. There's no shame in it, yet so many guys I talk to refuse to throw a hand away anymore. I actually take pride in my folding [laughing].
Now, I can't say that I would always fold in his spot, since there are certainly weaker players that I can justify playing out of position against, but if Nick Schulman or Steve "Mr.Smokey1" Billirakis raise me and I look down at K-J, I have no problem dumping it.
JR: A lot of players may sense they are ahead on a board like that but still fail to make a value-bet, fearing that a check-raise can take them off their hand. Did you worry about that at all or had you planned on making the call if he pushed?
SW: It really depends on my opponent. In this particular situation, I was really confident that I was ahead and probably would have called a check-raise on the river. However, in a situation where I'm up against a totally random player who I have no information on, I would usually fold my hand. Weaker players almost always have the nuts, or at least think that they do, when they make that play. You rarely see a check-raise bluff on the river, especially in a tournament a weak as that one was.
JR: What about in a cash game?
SW: That's a totally different situation, and my answer changes almost completely. I hate to give too much away, but you have to be able to call in that spot more often against good players simply because they have the ability to make a play like that work. I call it the "Strassa defense." Jason "strassa2" Strasser was an online cash-game player a few years ago before he moved on to Wall Street, and he was notorious for his very, very thin value-bets. The Strassa defense is just a way to defend against that type of player who will pick you apart with bets in tough spots.
Now, the good players in the cash games I play will routinely check-raise you on the river with total air, knowing that the medium strength hand you were value-betting can shrink up really fast when facing a raise on the end. So, if a player like Scott "mastrblastr" Seiver check-raised me on the river in that particular hand, I'd have to call him down or at least seriously consider it.
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