Poker Strategy -- Adam Levy Talks About Table Image

Adam “Roothlus” Levy has gained a reputation as one of the most consistent online and live tournament players in the industry, and has posted major cashes worth more than $2.1 million in his short career. One of his most recent live cashes came at the $5,000 buy-in Caesars Palace Classic main event in which he eventually finished 12th out of the 162 that started. He talked to Card Player about one of the pivotal hands he played in the event.

Tournament Point:

Blinds: 300-600 with 75 ante

Stack Sizes:

Adam Levy: 60,000
Jimmy Tran: 65,000
Ryan Hughes: 41,800

Review of the Hand:

Preflop Action: Levy raises to 1,800 from under the gun with 8 8. Tran flat calls from middle position, and Hughes calls from the big blind. The pot is now 6,375.

Kristy Arnett: What was your read on these two players preflop, and what did you think of their calling ranges here?

Adam Levy: Jimmy Tran likes to call a fair amount preflop, but I don’t think he’s calling me too wide here. If he called in later position, his range could have been wider, but in this spot, he’s not calling me with like J-8 suited or something. I’ve played with Jimmy a lot in live tournaments, probably more than anyone. It seems like every tournament I play, he’s at my table. Literally the last four or five tournaments he’s been at my table [laughs]. We’ve had a lot of history, and I feel like he thinks I’m on the tighter side and that I don’t bluff much.

Ryan Hughes, he’s been defending a lot out of the big blind. I saw him show up with a lot of different hands, so I think he’s calling pretty wide.

KA: How do you weigh your options on what to do with pocket eights under the gun with a pretty deep stack?

AL: I’m definitely not folding pocket eights here. I have like 100 big blinds, it’s one of the better mid-pairs, and there is a bit of playability postflop. I might fold deuces or threes in this spot because of the way the table was playing. There was a lot of calling raises preflop, but eights is too hard to fold. I think raising is the best play here.

Flop Action: The flop comes J 5 4. Hughes checks, and Levy bets 4,000. Tran calls and Hughes calls. The pot is now 18,375.

AL: The flop is not a great flop for me, but it’s better than average obviously because there is only one over card. I also have the 8. Tran thought about it for a few seconds and called, and when Ryan called, I was thinking I would probably be done with the hand. There are a couple of good turn cards that could come for me, but I was thinking that one of them could have a straight draw or flush draw, and the other could have a jack. It kind of tweaked me when Ryan called. He never has a really strong hand on the flop if he just calls. He’s generally on a draw, and maybe with a weak a jack because with anything stronger, I think he would have just shipped it. For the most part, I put one of them on a draw, and one on a jack.

Turn Action: The turn is the 6. The board now reads J 5 4 6. Hughes checks, and Levy bets 12,000. Tran folds, and Hughes calls. The pot is now 42,375.

KA: How did you reevaluate on the turn and why did you decide to bet again?

AL: Now I most likely have six-outs. This turn gives me a chance to win the pot if I’m behind, but then I also realized that if I bet here, Jimmy Tran has to respect it. So at this point, I think Ryan has a flush draw, and there’s a big possibility Jimmy will lay down a hand slightly better hand than mine, so I bet big, trying to force them both to fold.

I think this bet is a little unorthodox. It’s pretty big, but it represents so much strength. Tran thought about for awhile, and showed a couple people around him his cards before he folded.

Ryan called, and after that, I just was hoping I’d hit my six-outer because that was a big call. I was pretty sure after that, that he didn’t just have a flush draw. This left him with only 24,000, so it would have been an awkward spot for him to shove. It’s funny because on the flop, I was sure he had a flush draw, then on the turn, there was almost no way he had a flush draw unless he had A 7. With the way he just called the flop and turn, I think he has to have at least a jack, or A-7 of spades, so I was planning to check any river unless I hit.

River Action: The river is the 7. The board now reads 5 4 6 7. Hughes bets 15,000 and Levy calls. Hughes shows J 7 for two pair. Levy shows 8 8 for a straight to the eight and wins the pot of 72,375.

AL: The river is a great card for my hand. I thought that there was only one hand he could have to call with a flush draw on the turn which was A 7, so obviously, I know he doesn’t have that. Pretty much, he never has a flush here. Now that I hit my straight, I wasn’t going to fold, and my hand was good.

KA: Looking back, do you think he was betting for value or betting small as a blocker bet?

AL: I think it was a little bit of both because I think he may have put me on an over pair. I could have had a flush draw, and he may have thought about folding if I shoved over his bet, but my hand just looks so much like an over pair. Honestly, the way the hand played out, I probably would have called the Ryan’s river bet if I did have an over.

KA: Did you find out what Jimmy Tran folded?

AL: Jimmy had A-J, which was exactly the type of hand I wanted to get him to fold with my strong 12,000 bet on the turn.

KA: It seems like Tran would have to think that you would think that one of them has a draw, and one of them has at least a jack, so when the 6 comes, and you bet so strong, it looks like you can beat both hands at that point.

AL: Exactly, most of the time, in that spot I do have an over pair, or occasionally a spade draw, but even then, he’s got to fade a spade and probably face a big river bet. It’s a tough spot for him. We’ve played so much together. Every now and then you can leverage your image a little and use it to your advantage.

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