Poker Tournament Trail -- Harrison GimbelThe PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Champion Talks about his Big Win |
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Harrison Gimbel (pictured left) is just 19 years old, and he is now a millionaire. Gimbel topped a record field of 1,529 players at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event to take home the top prize worth $2.2 million. He is the youngest PCA champion in history, and he now sets his sights on Europe to play in poker tournaments until he can enter the fray in Las Vegas when he turn 21.
Gimbel played a solid game at the PCA final table, mixing in bluffs and value-betting for maximum efficiency. He defeated some tough competitors, including Card Player CEO Barry Shulman and professional Tyler Reiman in the heads-up final.
Card Player caught up with Gimbel after the PCA main event and he talked about his strategy during the course of the tournament.
Ryan Lucchesi: What reads were you getting off of Tyler Reiman to know you could bluff him in certain spots during heads-up play?
Harrison Gimbel: There were three hearts on the board, and there were also four straight cards, so he needed an 8 or I believe a 3 for a straight. I check-shoved on him mostly because he really can’t call that wide, he has a narrow range on me. Most straights he could fold right there, because I could have a flush.
I also had the A
in my hand, which was a pretty big blocker, because I knew he couldn’t have the ace-high flush. I just jammed on him, and luckily he folded and showed the 8-7 for a straight. I didn’t really put him on an 8. I just figured he didn’t have a flush, and if he didn’t have a flush, I was jamming.
RL: There were two big chopped pots during the heads-up final that slowed the momentum down. How frustrating is it for you as a player to spend all that time setting up a great play in a big hand only to see it come to nothing?
HG: The first hand I had 5 2 in the big blind, Tyler raised it from the button, and I flatted [flat-called]. The flop was A-8-2. The turn was another 2, which gave me three of a kind. I bet out, Ty raised, I reraised, and Ty just flatted. The river was also a blank, and Ty had me covered at that point, so I just jammed for 13 million, which was definitely an overbet at the pot, I believe. I believe he was calling me with most aces, because if he checked an ace on the flop, then he was really under wraps. I jammed the river, and he called, and he had 3-2, so it was a chopped pot.
The second chopped pot I raised with J-7 preflop, Ty flatted. The flop was 7-2-2, I checked, he bet, I called. The turn was another 2, so I had a full house. I checked, he bet, I asked him how many chips he had left. He had bet 1.8 million on the turn, and he had 6 million behind, so I just flatted, because he could always have pocket eights. Then the river was a 3, and I can’t fold at that point. I just checked, hoping he could bluff something, and he jammed, and I called. We both had a 7 for the chopped pot.
RL: There are a ton of guys under 21 years old that come into the PCA dreaming that they will win the tournament. What expectations did you have coming into this event?
HG: I really, really thought I was going to win. I hate to be so cocky, but I really just envisioned it. This is what I thought would happen.
RL: Was the hand where you busted Justin Bonomo a big turning point for you in this event?
HG: Playing against a great player like Justin Bonomo and actually being able to bust him gave me a lot of confidence. He’s one of the best tournament players out there right now, and he’s really good. Luckily, I was able to flop the nut flush, and he bet all three streets, so I just called.
RL: How frustrating is it for you to score this huge win but not be 21 yet? Will you play events in Europe to bridge that gap for the next two years?
HG: It’s really frustrating not to be able to play everything. This is what I do — I play poker. I really want to play in the Las Vegas tournaments, but I have to wait two years.
RL: You really value-bet a lot on the river during this tournament. Was that part of your end-game today, or did you work that strategy into your entire tournament run?
HG: I was doing that the whole time. I think getting value-bets that are big on the river is important. If you bet 3 million on the river and they’re going to call, then they are probably going to call 3.5 million. You want to get as much value out of a specific hand as you can, because playing live poker, you’re not going to get that many hands so you want to maximize your winnings when you do have a hand. I was able to accomplish that here, and because I bet so big, people called me down pretty light, because they thought I was bluffing. Obviously sometimes I was bluffing because you have to balance your range, but I showed up with the nuts a lot, too.
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