by Playing the World Series of Poker in 2021 felt fantastic; after missing the real thing in 2020 due to Covid, being back on the felt, in person, was a true joy. My results were solid, if unspectacular—4 cashes in WSOP events plus 3 cashes in non-WSOP events during the same time period; no DEEP runs in the WSOP though, which is a bit disappointing for sure.
Whether winning a WSOP Bracelet or min-cashing (or even busting out of a tournament early), there are always interesting hands that come up over the course of the Series. Here are 4 interesting hands from my 2021 World Series of Poker.
Hand #1
Jehu Bordier Licona opened to 16,000 in the cutoff and Jeremy Wien three-bet to 53,000 on the button. Licona called.
Licona then jammed for 109,000 on the flop of
and Wien thought over the situation before calling with his opponent covered.
Jehu Bordier Licona:
Jeremy Wien:It turned out to be a good call as Wien was ahead with ace-king. The
PokerNews.comturn was an action card as it gave Licona a flush draw but the river brought the
and Wien took down the big pot and sent Licona to the rail.
This was a very difficult spot for me, as my opponent put me to the test for most of my remaining chips. Having just ace-high, on a board that would connect with a lot of hands that he could raise-then-call with preflop (AQ, KQ, QT, 99, TT, etc), I was initially going to fold. But I had played with the aggressor the day before, and he had made a couple of moves like this. Any hand he has, I wouldn’t be drawing dead; mostly though, the reason I called is that his play really felt like he wanted me to fold. I had been the pre-flop aggressor, and if he checks to me, I’m almost certain to go all-in. So if he has a big hand, why would he possibly try to push me off of mine? It didn’t make sense, so I ultimately made the call. While it was the correct call, and I was ahead, I still needed the last two cards to run out clean. Thankfully, they did, and I had a strong stack as we approached the money bubble. (Unfortunately I got very unlucky with AK in a hand just before the money hit, so I didn’t cash this event, but I was proud of how I played this hand and the entire tournament against a very strong field.)
Hand #2:
The action was picked up on the turn with the board showing
and a player from the button all-in.
Two players in the hand folded and action was on Jeremy Wien who tanked before making the call to put his opponent at risk.
Opponent:
Jeremy Wien:Needing help on the river Wien spiked the
PokerNews.com
I limped QQ in UTG (bunch of relatively—or more than relatively—aggressive players at my table, and I thought I’d likely get a chance to limp-raise). Instead I got 4 limps including the blinds, and the flop came KK5hh. It checked around to the button (a new-ish player at the table who’d been pretty aggressive in his limited time), who bet 2300; the SB called, I called, and everyone else folded. The turn was the Js, putting 2 flush draws and a bunch of straight draws on the board. I decided to lead 8k, figuring it was the cheapest way to learn if someone else has a king, cause they’ll raise, unless they have KJ. The button shoved for 51k total, and the SB folded. This seemed to me to be an over-bet, which made my decision more difficult. A raise to 23k I snap-fold. It just felt like a big combo draw. I made the call and got the quick verification that my read was wrong, as he turned over KTo, leaving me drawing to two outs. Thankfully, one of them hit, and I picked up the pot, knocking him out and getting my stack up to around 120k chips. It really isn’t very often that I get all/most of my chips in and am dominated, even less often that I suck out in that spot, so I certainly won’t complain when it happens.
Hand #3:
The action was picked up on the turn with the board showing
and the pot of already over 50,000 in chips.
Jeremy Wien bet 25,500 from the big blind leaving only about another 25,000 behind and committing his opponent to the pot with only a little over 26,000 in chips.
His opponent tanked for a while before he eventually mucked his hand and asked Wien “what did you have?” He replied with “I had a good ace and figured you had a worst one.”
PokerNews.com
During the last level of day 1 of the Main Event, I got into a large pot (which I generally try to avoid on day 1 if possible). The UTG player opened to 1800, and there were 4 callers before it got to me in the BB with AJo. I thought I had a chance to take down a chunky pot without risking a flop, and if I end up heads-up with AJo, so be it, so I raised it 10k on top to 11.8k total. UTG and 2 of the others called. The flop came AT9ss, and I led for 14k. UTG snap-folded, as did one of the other players, and the button called. Once this happens, I was relatively confident that he was on a draw or a mediocre ace. The turn came a 4 (non-spade), and with about 35k in chips (he had roughly the same), I led out for 15.5k. If he moves all-in, I know he has at least two pair, and I can fold (and retain a playable stack heading into day 2); if he doesn’t raise, he’s almost certainly behind me, and hopefully I can get him to pay me off or fold a hand before it can suck out on me. He thought for a minute or two before tossing his cards into the muck. He said he had A2, and I have no reason not to believe him. Why he’d call an 11.8k 3-bet with 4 others in the pot with A2, even suited, I’m not sure, but no complaints from me, as I moved to a very healthy stack heading into day 2 of the WSOP Main Event.
Hand #4:
WSOP Main Event, day 2, first level of the day (no link for this hand, as there were no poker reporters nearby when it occurred)
With a very healthy chip stack and playing quite well, I felt great about my position early in day 2 of the Main Event. I had the second-most chips at my table and almost two hours into play for the day, I’d gotten a fairly good sense of the poker styles of the other players at my table. In what turned out to be my last hand, the UTG+2 player opened to 1700; it folded to the cutoff (very active/aggressive pre-flop player and the chip leader at the table) who re-raised to 5000 straight. It folded to me in the BB, and I make it 15k with KK. When it folded back around to the big stack, he moved all-in, covering my stack. With his stack, my stack, and the action, I just couldn’t find a fold here. Knowing he has me covered, he could easily be trying to get me to fold hands like JJ, QQ, AQ, AK; if he does have AA, tehre’s room for him to raise to 35-40k to try to induce me to shove. It didn’t make sense that he’d play AA that way, so after giving it some consideration, I made the call. Unfortunately he did in fact have AA, the board ran out clear, and my Main Event (and 2021 WSOP) was over. Busting out of the WSOP Main Event is always deflating, but having had a very good chip stack and getting coolered like that—it was even more painful this year than most.
