The Lucky Hearts Poker Open $25,000 High Roller event is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the world of poker. It is held annually at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, and attracts some of the best poker players from around the world.

The Lucky Hearts Poker Open series is organized by the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, which is one of the most famous casinos in the United States. The casino features a wide range of amenities, including a spa, a fitness center, and a variety of dining and entertainment options. This makes it an ideal location for a tournament like this, as players can enjoy all the amenities of the casino while competing in the tournament.

Aram Oganyan, a professional poker player from Russia, recently emerged victorious in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open $25,000 High Roller event. This prestigious tournament, which took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, attracted a star-studded field of top poker players from around the world.

Oganyan’s victory in the event was a testament to his skill and experience as a poker player. He had to outlast a field of 64 players, all of whom were highly skilled and experienced in the game. The tournament featured several high-profile players, including several World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winners and other top-ranked poker pros.

The tournament began with a flurry of action, as players jostled for position and tried to build up their chip stacks. Oganyan, however, was able to stay calm and focused, and he was able to consistently make smart decisions and build up his stack. As the tournament progressed, he found himself in a strong position and was able to take advantage of his opponents’ mistakes to build up an even bigger lead.

In the end, Oganyan faced off against a tough opponent in the final round of the tournament, but he was able to outplay him and take home the first-place prize of $900,000. His win in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open $25,000 High Roller event is one of the biggest and most prestigious of his career, and it solidifies his position as one of the top poker players in the world.

The Lucky Hearts Poker Open is a well-known event that attracts players from around the world, and this year’s tournament was no exception. It was a highly competitive and exciting event, and Oganyan’s victory is a testament to his skill and experience as a poker player. He’s definitely a player to watch out for in future tournaments.

In the end, Oganyan’s win in the Lucky Hearts Poker Open $25,000 High Roller event is a huge accomplishment for him and for the poker world. He proved his skills and experience and has demonstrated that he has what it takes to come out on top in a tournament of this caliber. We are looking forward to see him in the upcoming events and wishing him all the best for his future endeavors.

Lucky Hearts Poker Open $25,000 High Roller final table results:

Alex Foxen, a professional poker player from the Canada, recently emerged victorious in the PokerGO Cup $26,000 High Roller event. This exclusive tournament, which took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, attracted a select group of top poker players from around the world.

Foxen’s victory in the event was a testament to his skill and experience as a poker player. He had to outlast a field of 50 players to gain $317,040 and also his first trophy of the year, all of whom were highly skilled and experienced in the game. The tournament featured several high-profile players, including several World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winners and other top-ranked poker pros.

Foxen’s two deep go for this celebration have actually seen him build up $470,040 in revenues as well as 870 POY points just a couple of weeks into the brand-new year. As a result, he has already re-established himself inside the leading 10 in on the POY leaderboard sponsored by Global Poker.

Foxen was also awarded 240 PokerGO Tour points for the win. He now sits in second place in both the PokerGO Cup points race and the overall PGT standings.

This latest deep run marked Foxen’s 55th recorded cash for six figures or more. The 31-year-old poker pro now has more than $27.8 million in lifetime earnings to his name.

This event ran from Jan. 17-18 at the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino. Day 1 was scheduled to conclude when just six players remained. Bracelet winner Brian Kim was knocked out by thee-time bracelet Nick Schulman on the bubble. Six-time bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu secured his second cash of the series by finishing eighth ($50,000). Schulman also made the money for the second time in this series, ultimately placing seventh for $62,500.

Day 2 began with Orpen Kisacikoglu out in front and Foxen in third chip position. Bracelet winner Sam Soverel began the day with the shortest stack, and was ultimately sent home in sixth when his A-9 ran into the pocket queens of Cary Katz.

Not long after that, the ever-talkative Sean Perry was knocked out in fifth place when his pocket tens squared off against the pocket jacks of Aram Oganyan. Neither player improved on an ace-high runout and Perry settled for $100,000. This was Perry’s first live cash since last September. Based on table talk from the final table, he has been focusing on sports betting over playing poker in recent months. This latest score increased his tournament earnings to nearly $6.8 million.

A classic coin flip spelled the end of Katz’s run in this event, with his pocket fives unable to outrun the A-J of Oganyan (4th – $125,000). The payday saw Katz’s career earnings grow to nearly $35.9 million, good for 13th place on the all-time money list.

While Kisacikoglu started the final day of this event solidly ahead of the rest of the pack, he gave up much of that lead in the early going. During three-handed play, though, he began to pull away again. He ended up entering heads-up play with a 3:1 chip lead after his A-8 held against the A-7 of Oganyan (3rd – $175,000).

Heads-up was a swingy affair. Foxen battled all the way back to even, and then took a sizable lead of his own. In fact, he had more than a 10:1 chip advantage at one point before Kisacikoglu managed a couple of double ups to remove himself from the danger zone. He eeked into the lead in time for negotiations between the final two about a chop, likely motivated in part by the impending close of registration in the next event on the schedule at the PokerGO Cup. They eventually agreed to redistribute the remaining prize money based on ICM, with Kisacikoglu taking home $345,460 while Foxen earned $317,040. The pair agreed to flip for the title, with Foxen’s Q-J suited holding against the J-6 of Kisacikoglu. The pair then hurried over to the registration window to sign up for event no. 7, the penultimate tournament of the high-stakes festival.

This runner-up finish was the seventh-largest score of Kisacikoglu’s career. It increased his total earnings to nearly $10.7 million.

Here is the final table results of PokerGO Cup $26000 High Roller:

The WSOP Circuit Choctaw Durant Main Event has reached its conclusion. After 5 days of action that saw 1,491 entries create a prize pool of $2,258,865, there was just a player left standing at the end to assist the grand prize of $357,269. Chase Davis of Wichita, KS wins his first WSOP Circuit ring after a wild final table that saw him go from second shortest stack to start the day to champion.

“I came into the day planning to avoid the two massive stacks and attack some of the newer players with the middling stacks close to mine, and that out worked pretty well. I was able to battle these guys and stay out of the way. Then the big stacks had their blunders against other players and I sort of laid low until the last half of the table where I gained some steam,” said Davis after the victory.

This win is by far Davis’s largest of his career as it is more than triple his total career earnings of just over $100,000 prior to this. As things got later in the night, Davis honestly confessed to his tablemates that he cared a lot more concerning the cash than the ring or the title.

To decide a winner, the final table took just over eight hours. At the start of play Chase Davis came in as the second shortest stack, and he was even at risk of elimination during eight-handed play when a ten on the river rescued his tournament run and set the stage for a solid comeback run.

Davis beat Jonathan Dull in the heads-up last with A-K dominating A-4 on the final hand. The runner-up from Fresno, California took home $220,809 for the largest money of his poker career, and his tournament earnings are now right on the cusp of a million dollars.

A few other notables that cashed in the event included Justin Lapka (7th), Tim Kelliher (12th), Cedrric Trevino (13th), Viet Vo (21st), Steve Buckner (38th), Jared Hemingway (39th), Ian Steinman (71st), Ben Keeline (86th), and Brian Battistone (127th).

In addition to the ring and entry into the tournament of champions, Davis’s image will now hang on a banner amongst the other Main Event winners in the Choctaw Durant auditorium for years to come, immortalizing his win.

Final Table Results of WSOP Circuit Choctaw Main Event

The final table for event no. 4 at the PokerGo Cup took place on Tuesday, Jan. 17 in Las Vegas as the final six players battled it out on the second day of play to decide a champion from the total field of 78 entries. The top 12 made the money in this $10,000 no-limit hold’em tournament to take home a portion of the prize pool worth $780,000, but the big money was up for grabs at the final table inside the ARIA PokerGO Studio.

Justin Saliba scored his second six-figure payday of 2023 and grabbed the top prize worth $195,000. This win was also the fourth largest cash in his poker career.

His lifetime earnings now sit at $2,769,831, and he adds this tournament title to the two World Series of Poker Online victories from 2021 and 2022. He also took home a little over $300,000 during the first week of the year at the Borgata.

The former University of Dayton soccer standout played the underdog role for most of the day after entering the table fifth in chips, and held the short stack for a while before the first elimination.

Saliba also had half the chips of his final opponent Anthony Hu at the start of heads-up play, but he was able to rally back for the victory.

The high-stakes newcomer also took home 420 Card Player Player of the Year points, and he now sits in the top ten during the early stages of the POY race. He was awarded 195 PGT points as well to join the top ten on the PokerGO Tour standings.

Notables that cashed on the way to the final table in this event included Nick Petrangelo (10th), Dan Shak (ninth), Brian Kim (eighth), and Jeremy Ausmus (seventh) in yet another star-studded field at this tournament series.

Poker legend Erik Seidel was the first player to fall at the final table in sixth place when his A-6 lost to the K-J of Saliba when a jack hit the flop. Seidel added $46,800 to his bank account and now has just over $43.3 million in career earnings.

The red-hot Andrew Moreno was the next short stack to be at risk, but his J-7 ran into the pocket aces of Adrian Mateos, and Moreno was eliminated in fifth place. This was Moreno’s second fifth-place showing of the series, having also done so in event no. 2. He has now cashed for a combined $128,800 this week.

Hu continued to build on his chip lead when he eliminated Calvin Lee. A jack on the flop on the flop was the culprit once again, giving Hu’s J-8 enough fire power to top Lee’s K-9.

Saliba then scored his second knockout at the final table when his K-J had the K-10 of Mateos dominated. Mateos was out in third place for $93,600, bringing his lifetime total to $30.7 million. The Spaniard has made three final tables so far at the PokerGO Cup, having finished fifth in both event no. 1 and no. 3, cashing for a total of $237,600.

Saliba fought his way back from the early chip disadvantage against Hu, reversing their roles by the time the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Hu got all in preflop with ASpade Suit7Heart Suit, and he looked to be in a good position to score a double against the AClub Suit4Diamond Suit of Saliba. The board had other plans though, as it ran out 9Spade Suit5Diamond Suit2Club SuitQClub Suit3Diamond Suit to give Saliba a straight.

Hu took home $140,400 thanks to his deep run in the tournament. He also finished seventh in event no. 1 for $54,000.

Final Table Results

The PokerGO Cup continues Tuesday with the final table of event no. 5, $15,700 no-limit hold’em.

The third $10,500 buy-in no-limit high roller of the 2023 PokerGO Cup festival is officially in the books. A total of 90 entries were made by the time registration close, creating a final prize pool of $900,000 that was paid out among the top 13 finishers. After two days of high-stakes tournament action, Ed Sebesta emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $216,000.

This was the second-largest tournament score yet for the Texas resident, trailing only the $311,915 he earned as the winner of a $10,000 high roller at the 2022 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open. He now has more than $1.1 million in career earnings.

In addition to the title and money, Sebesta also earned 540 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. He also earned 216 PokerGO Tour points, enough to move him into a tie with Sean Winter for the lead in both the PokerGO Cup points race and the PokerGO Tour standings.

While 13 players made the money in this event, only the top six moved on to day 2 action and the live-streamed final table. Among those that cashed but fell short of the final day were two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Nick Petrangelo (12th), bracelet winner Andrew Lichtenberger (11th), bracelet winner and poker vlogger Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau (9th), and 2022 POY race runner-up Farid Jattin (8th).

The final day began with Philip Shing in the lead and Sebesta in second chip position. Three-time bracelet winner Kristen Foxen started as the short stack, and it took just one hand for her to get all-in. On the first deal of the day, she shoved with pocket jacks from the small blind and Cary Katz called with pocket eights in the big blind. The board brought four diamonds, and with the only diamond in his hand, Katz won the pot and eliminated Foxen in sixth place ($54,000).

Both Foxen and four-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos were at their second final table of the series. Mateos’ run soon ended when his pocket tens failed to hold up against the A-8 of Shing. An ace-high flop gave Shing the lead and he held from there to send Mateos packing in fifth place ($72,000). The Spanish tournament superstar now has nearly $30.7 million in career earnings.

Katz was the next to fall. He got all-in with a king-high flush draw facing top pair of queens for Sebesta. The turn and river brought no help for Katz and he was knocked out in fourth place ($90,000). He now has more than $35.7 million in lifetime cashes.

While he started the day in the lead, Shing had doubled up Sebesta during four-handed action to fall out of the top spot. He was essentially tied for second when the next big hand arose. With blinds of 75,000-125,000, Shing shoved for 2,500,000 with pocket fives from the button. Sebesta called from the small blind with pocket jacks and three-time bracelet winner Nick Schulman got out of the way in the big blind. The larger pocket pair remained best by the river and Shing was eliminated in third place ($108,000). This was his fifth career six-figure score, increasing his lifetime earnings to more than $1.1 million.

Heads-up play began with 9,000,000 for Sebesta and 2,250,000 for Schulman. The disparity had shrunk a bit after about 20 minutes of play, but Sebesta was still solidly ahead when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Sebesta open-shoved from the button with KDiamond Suit9Club Suit, an effective bet of just over 27 big blinds. Shulman thought it over before calling off his 3,400,000 stack with ASpade Suit7Club Suit. The board ran out QHeart Suit6Heart Suit4Club SuitKSpade Suit9Heart Suit and Sebesta made kings up to secure the pot and the title.

Schulman was awarded $153,000 as the runner-up finisher. He now has $15,264,802 in career tournament earnings after this latest deep run.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded to the final six:

Aram Zobian has won the second $10,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em high roller event at the PokerGO Cup, defeating a field of 83 entries to secure the title and the top prize of $207,500. This was the third-largest recorded score yet for Zobian, who finished sixth in the 2018 World Series of Poker main event for a career-high payday of $1.8 million. He now has more than $4.2 million in lifetime tournament earnings to his name.

In addition to the money and the hardware, Zobian was also awarded plenty of rankings points for this victory. The 480 Card Player Player of the Year he took home were enough to move him into 20th place in the 2023 POY race standings sponsored by Global Poker.

Zobian also locked up 208 PokerGO Tour points, climbing to second place on that high-stakes-centric leaderboard. He also sits in second place in the PokerGO Cup player of the series race, trailing only event no. 1 winner Sean Winter.

Thanks to the strong turnout for this event, $830,000 in prize money was paid out among the top 12 finishers. Plenty of notables made the money, but fell short of making day 2, including 2022 U.S. Poker Open finale runner-up Masashi Oya (10th), four-time bracelet winner Ben Yu (8th), and popular poker vlogger and bracelet winner Ethan ‘Rampage’ Yau (7th).

The final table began with Zobian in the lead and just six contenders remaining. Cary Katz was the first to fall. The PokerGO founder and high-stakes tournament regular got all-in with his A-10 suited leading the A-9 of Punnat Punsri. The turn brought a nine to turn the tables, though, and a blank river saw Katz eliminated in sixth place ($49,800).

Punsri was not yet done taking the lead against A-10 suited on the turn. This time around, he got involved in a battle of the blinds against 2021 Wynn Millions main event winner Andrew Moreno. With blinds of 25,000-50,000 and a big blind ante of 50,000, Moreno raised to 170,000 from the small blind with ASpade Suit10Spade Suit. Punsri called with 10Heart Suit8Heart Suit and the pair saw an action flop of 10Diamond Suit5Heart Suit2Heart Suit. Moreno bet 220,000 with top pair, top kicker. Punsri raised to 575,000 with his top pair and a flush draw. Moreno shoved for 1,330,000 and Punsri called. The 9Heart Suit on the turn gave Punsri a flush to leave Moreno drawing dead, making the 6Heart Suit river a mere formality. Moreno earned $66,400 for his fifth-place showing, while Punsri moved into a virtual tie for the chip lead.

World Poker Tour champion Seth Davies’ was the next player to run into the Punsri buzzsaw. Punsri opened with a min-raise on the button with pocket aces. Davies three-bet shoved from the big blind for around 26 big blinds with pocket deuces and Punsri snap-called. Punsri flopped top set and held from there to narrow the field to three while taking sole possession of the top spot on the leaderboard.

Three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Kristen Foxen also fell to pocket aces. She ran AClub Suit8Club Suit into the AHeart SuitADiamond Suit of Zobian, who opened on the button and then called Foxen’s roughly 7x three-bet shove from the big blind. The board ran out QSpade Suit10Diamond Suit7Heart Suit9Diamond Suit10Spade Suit and Foxen was knocked out in third place ($99,600). She now has $6,166,588 in career tournament earnings to her name after this latest deep run.

With that, heads-up play began with Punsri holding 5,915,000 to Zobian’s 4,460,000. The two exchanged the lead a couple of times as the battle wore on, but Zobian won a massive pot with flopped trip aces against a multi-barrel bluff from Punsri to take the lead in time for the final hand of the event.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:

The WSOP Circuit is heading back to New York at the Turning Stone Resort Casino for 16 tournaments. WSOP Circuit stops will run from March 16-27, 2023

“We are thrilled to host the World Series of Poker again and to provide poker players from all over the country the opportunity to experience this iconic event,” said Ray Halbritter, Oneida Indian Nation Representative and Oneida Nation Enterprises CEO. “Thousands of people participated in our first WSOP, collectively winning more than $4 million, and with the addition of the ladies event this year and another Gold Ring up for grabs, it is guaranteed to be another historic tournament.”

The main event begins on Thursday, March 23, with a $1,700 buy-in and a $500,000 guaranteed prize pool. There will be one re-entry per flight, for a total of three starting flights.

A kick-off no-limit hold’em event with a $400 buy-in and a $200,000 guaranteed prize pool begins on Thursday, March 16. There will be four starting flights in that tournament.

On Tuesday, March 21, the first of two starting flights of the popular Monster Stack event will begin with a $100 buy-in and a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000.

Some other fun tournaments included are the seniors event on March 19, with a black chip bounty event also running later that day. If you’re looking for some other forms of poker then Monday, March 20 is the day for you. A six-max no-limit hold’em event begins at 10 a.m. that day, with a pot-limit Omaha event to follow at 3 p.m. The ladies event will take place on March 24, and there will be a second seniors event running on March 26.

In addition to those events, there are mega satellites and nightly tournaments also included on the lineup. You can see the full schedule of events for the series right here.

About Turning Stone Resort Casino

A renowned, award-winning destination resort in Upstate New York, the Oneida Indian Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Casino features world-class amenities including five hotels, two luxurious spas, five golf courses, more than 20 dining options, a 125,000 square foot Las Vegas-style gaming floor, The Lounge with Caesars Sports, a state-of-the-art sports betting lounge, The Showroom, an intimate concert venue, a 5,000 seat arena and several nightlife venues.

Conveniently located 30 miles east of Syracuse at NYS Thruway exit 33, Turning Stone was named the #1 Best Overall Gaming Resort in New York by Casino Player Magazine and earned a record-breaking total of 30 Best of Gaming Awards for 2022, the most of any casino in New York. Visitors can also look forward to The Cove at Sylvan Beach, opening in May. The lakeside vacation rental destination is located about 20 minutes from Turning Stone and an hour south of The Adirondacks right on Oneida Lake, featuring 70 two- and three-bedroom cottages.

Play your favorite poker games when you’re in New York City. We’ll give you 10% free buy-in bonus in the form of chips for signing up! Text:”SPBlog” to (347) 471 1813 to RSVP & Address with full name, email & occupation.

Benjamin Rolle, known to most of the poker world as Bencb, is one of the greatest online tournament players in the game today.

The 33-year-old German was a standout junior soccer player but turned to online poker after college and grinded his way to the highest stakes available. Originally an anonymous player, it wasn’t until the summer of 2019 that he revealed his identity.

He has won many millions during his career, most notably chopping the World Championship of Online Poker $100,000 Super High Roller with Fedor Holz for $1.2 million. He recently took down the Sunday High Roller on GGPoker for close to $400,000 and scooped a Super Millions title for $424,000.

Rolle started Raise Your Edge poker training and has shared his strategies with thousands of players worldwide. (You can get started with Raise Your Edge and save big with the promo codes CARDPLAYERAPP or CARDPLAYEREXP.)

The high-stakes crusher pens the occasional column for Card Player Magazine, and also streams his play on Twitch. When he’s not playing or teaching, he works with his champion Esports club Acend.

Card Player caught up with Rolle to discuss bluffing, specifically when to pull the trigger and when to wait for a better opportunity.

Craig Tapscott: How can players identify the best spots to be creative and initiate a bluff?

Benjamin Rolle: Bluffs do not need to be creative. They are part of the game. They are mandatory.

It is all about risk and reward. Risk a little for a decent reward. This often involves betting the flop as a bluff, potentially second barreling a lot on the turn, but being very selective on the river. Once people call the flop and turn, they are often too attached to their hand and won’t fold the river. This is the biggest difference between winning and losing players.

Winning players can let go of their hand regardless of whether or not they called the flop and turn. They are able to reevaluate the situation on the river. Losing players often believe, “I called flop and turn, so I have to call the river.” That’s a big trap and a very flawed thought process.

If you study with solvers, you will see a lot of hands are folded on the river depending on the sizing used by our opponent. The larger the bet in relation to pot size, the less we call; the smaller the bet, the more we can call as we get better odds.

When we are bluffing, if we have missed the flop and play versus the big blind it will almost always be profitable to throw in small continuation bets as bluffs. For example, 33 percent or 25 percent the pot size.

On the turn, we either want to bluff on a scary card or with immediate draws like an open-ended straight draw or flush draws. Here, even if we have a hand like AHeart Suit 2Heart Suit we would still continuation bet on a K-10-5 flop, as the Villain will have lots of missed hands and we want to protect our hand against something like 8-7 offsuit or Q-7 offsuit that are in Villain’s defense range.

With Q-J we have an easy second barrel on the turn as he will have a few under-pairs like pocket eights that will call against a small c-bet as well as the 10x which starts folding now. With open-ended straight draws or flush draws we don’t need a lot of fold equity. I usually bluff a lot on the flop and turn but bluff less on the river, even with good blockers, as I’ve explained.

Craig Tapscott: What are a few of the worst situations/spots to attempt a bluff and why?

Benjamin Rolle: The worst spots to bluff in are when your opponents have a lot of very strong hands in terms of their absolute hand strength, especially on boards where you can technically have full houses, flushes, and straights. For example, a final board such as 7-9-J-9-Q.

Often you see opponents snap calling with a hand like A-9 or 9-5 suited because they have trips which is in general a strong hand in hold’em but only in terms of its absolute hand strength. Of course, if Villain bets flop, checks turn, and bets river it becomes an easy call as he can value bet K-K or A-Q against our weaker Q-x or J-x.

But if he check-raises you on the flop, bets turn, and goes all in on the river, your 9-5 suited, K-9 suited, or A-9 suited doesn’t look so pretty anymore.

Less experienced players think “I have trips I must call.” This is a very dangerous train of thought. They are unable to think in relative hand strength and consider the prior action and board runout. Particularly in this situation where your opponent can have straights, maybe he was semi-bluffing and made a backdoor flush or he had a two-pair on the flop and made a full house. Overall, his range consists of a lot of hands that beat you and very few bluffs. This makes your trips a very bad hand.

That’s not how most people think. So here, if I play this line and get to the river, you can be certain I will have a straight, full house, or a flush and exploit the fact that people can’t lay down strong absolute hand strength.

At my stakes, playing $5,000 and $10,000 buy-ins online, I will sometimes have bluffs since they think on a similar level, and it is easier to run big bluffs. Certainly not on lower and mid-stakes, though.

Craig Tapscott: Some players are confused when it comes to bluff catching. What should they be looking for? And how do combos/blockers come into play when I am deciding whether to call?

Benjamin Rolle: The first thing I ask myself is, “Is it an easy spot to bluff?” This is also what I advised in a recent Twitter thread.

Easy spots to bluff are boards where a lot of draws have missed.

Let’s say the board runs out 9-8-4-2-4. Villain can have Q-J, J-10, Q-10, 7-6 suited, 6-5 suited, A-3 suited, or A-5 suited. A lot of potential bluffs making it easier to make a 9-x or 8-x hero call even against a triple barrel bluff.

Now let’s assume the board does not provide these “natural bluffs” with busted draws. A board like 10-10-5-2-2 is much harder to bluff. Here blockers come into play. Villain needs to be able to identify the hands which block Villain’s strong holdings and unblock Villain’s weak holdings.

You certainly don’t want to bluff with a 6, 7, or 9 in your hand since it blocks Villain’s folding range. This consists of 6-6 thru 9-9 as well as some weak ace-high flop and turn calls like A-9 suited or A-8 suited (not saying this would be a good call, but it can happen). A hand like Q-J or K-Q blocks some stronger 10-x that might have slow-played or some stronger overpairs that didn’t reraise preflop like J-J or Q-Q.

Without going into too much detail, you can see that this spot requires a deeper understanding of poker, especially blockers. Thus, it will be harder for people to find the right hands to bluff and pull the trigger.

To be honest, I think that the 10-10-5-2-2 board is not a great board to bluff in the first place since a lot of weaker opponents will just end up calling 8-8 type of hands since they don’t like to believe you have trips or even aces and they are too curious. So, it is always better to bluff in spots where opponents get to the river with ace or king-high flush draws or a lot of weak pairs with draws that have called the flop and turn and will fold the river.

But again, I primarily focus on betting a lot of flops and continuing the aggression on a lot of turns but then often not bluffing in big river pots on low and mid-stakes. Being able to understand this and sticking to it is perhaps not the most thrilling style of play, but definitely the more profitable approach if you’re looking to take poker more seriously.

Craig Tapscott: How does bluffing change at final tables?

Benjamin Rolle: It changes a lot, but in both ways. Meaning, when you are the bigger stack, you will find more often spots that are supposed to be bluffed more aggressively since your opponent is supposed to fold a lot more.

And here is the catch, “supposed.” The language I’m using is essential. There is a huge difference between what people are supposed to do and what they will do. Even if you find spots where Villain is supposed to fold a lot, it doesn’t mean he will. And this can cost you a lot of money.

A prime example is you defending as a big stack from the big blind against a mid-stack (30-big blind effective stacks) and the board comes 6-6-5 and you intend to check-raise bluff and bet turn and put him all in on the river or even donk lead, bet turn and go all in on the river. Now, this is a terrible board for someone open raising from early or middle position. Given his mid-stack position and the short stacks present on the final table, he needs to be careful, and check his entire range. He doesn’t have a single hand that wants to play for stacks.

Even A-A wants to play a maximum of two streets for value. In a chip EV (chEV) scenario, we bet flop, bet turn, and go all in the river. Or even go broke on the flop against potential 8-8/9-9 or draws. Not saying it is a dream spot in chEV situations, but it’s more reasonable to play for stacks than in ICM situations on final tables.

Also, given the huge nut advantage for the big stack having all sorts of 6-x combos like 7-6 offsuit, 10-6 suited, J-6 suited etc., he will have a leading (donking) range since he must take the initiative and can dictate the size of the pot. Now, since he has more trips than the mid-stack, he can have plenty of bluffs.

Despite the big blind having a lot of bluffs, the mid-stack needs to start folding overpairs on later streets in case the big blind puts him all in. Well, that’s not really the case, especially for less experienced players. Their thought process looks like the following. “I have an overpair, I am top of my range, I have to call.” So you will get very few folds.

You can follow a GTO approach and have a lot of bluffs or play exploitatively, understand how humans, especially weaker and less experienced players approach these spots, have very few bluffs, get massive payouts when having trips and not punting your stack off just because theory tells you to bluff in these spots.

Against a strong opponent who understands ICM and these board dynamics as well as nut and range advantage, it might be better to have more bluffs in these spots.

Also, another big factor under ICM are the bet sizings. In chEV (early and midgame of tournaments), we want to use a lot of pot-size bets and overbets on the river.

In ICM we more often use 33 percent, 50 percent, and 66 percent bets, given that we have to be more careful with our chips. So often, you will apply already a lot of pressure betting two-thirds pot which might be half your opponent’s stack since the ICM pressure will come on top of it. You force your opponents into tough situations by using these smaller sizings, especially in situations when ranges are really wide, such as small blind versus big blind or late position (button, cutoff, hijack) versus the blinds.

The final table is all about using your chips wisely and also choosing your opponents wisely. Betting 25 percent pot might apply a lot of pressure against a 10-big blind stack, but no pressure at all against a 50-big blind stack. Keep that in mind. ♠

Jason Koon has officially been crowned the champion of High Stakes Duel 3. The 37-year-old poker pro unseated 16-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who had an incredible 9-1 winning record when the pair squared off for the unique heads-up poker series from PokerGO. Koon defeated Hellmuth in a $1,600,000 match but was not yet able to walk away with his winnings. The rules of the show dictated that in order to be declared the latest HSD champion, Koon would either need to win again in the $3,200,000 round or have no challengers step up within a 30-day window after Hellmuth declined to rematch against him.

In the end, it turned out that nobody was willing to post $1,600,000 million to play Koon knowing they would then need to not only win that match but also have to win the next round (with a whopping $6,400,000 on the line) or have nobody challenge them in the allotted time span.

Koon seemed to anticipate a lack of challengers. After his win over Hellmuth, he told PokerGO reporters, “My preparation for this match was not only Phil-specific but it was also – I assumed it was going to go two ways… One, there’s going to be some very rich recreational player who wants a sweat, which is great. Or there’s going to be some super alpha person who comes from Russia or somewhere who wants to play me, but I doubt it. I just can’t really see anyone that will play me. I’m not trying to be arrogant, it’s just that it’s a lot of money to move for a one-percent or two-percent edge that you’re going to have at most against me, but my preparation was to be ready to play an optimal player. I did not play an optimal strategy today. I played a very Phil-specific strategy. But if I play another player, I will be ready to play them if they play the way that a solver would play.”

With no challenger, Koon became the first player not named Hellmuth to secure the wrestling-style HSD championship belt. Koon may have only had to play one match, but his victory in early December over Hellmuth came at the highest stakes yet played on the show, and against an opponent who had won High Stakes Duel 1 and 2 with clean sweeps of living legends of the game Antonio Esfandiari and Daniel Negreanu.

high Stakes Duel 3 began with another win for Hellmuth, this time over sports commentator Nick Wright. Wright opted not to rematch for round 2, and high-stakes cash game regular Tom Dwan stepped in to hand Hellmuth his first loss in round 2, ending his incredible winning streak at 7 consecutive rounds. Hellmuth availed himself of a rematch and came out on top, setting up an $800,000 showdown with Scott Seiver, who stepped in for Dwan. Hellmuth came out on top, setting up the $1.6 match that was ultimately contested against Koon. Had Hellmuth won that match, he could have chosen to walk away as a three-time HSD winner.

Koon’s battle against Hellmuth lasted around 2.5 hours, with the challenger taking the lead relatively early thanks to a mistimed five-bet bluff from Hellmuth. As it turned out, he had chosen to make this move when Koon held the best starting hand in hold’em: pocket aces.
Koon was able to extend his lead fairly consistently after winning that big preflop confrontation and eventually closed out the match when his Q-8 outran the A-K of a short-stacked Hellmuth.

To watch a replay of the $1,600,000 round, along with any other High Stakes Duel episodes and a massive library of other top poker content, you’ll need a PokerGO account. Sign up today using the promo code ‘CardPlayer’ for $20 off an annual subscription.