Vasily Ravic85Tsapko (pictured), fourth in Main event of the World Championship of Online Poker, shares his memories of the brightest day in his career and analyzes several important hands with his colleague from 2CardsCollege, Vadim vadka Shlez.
There are not many online poker tournaments that make their winners millionaires. One of the most famous of them is the Main Event of the World Championship of Online Poker, which has a buy-in of $5,200. This year’s tournament had 1,995 participants. Three players earned more than $1 million in prizes:
1. Coenaldinho7 — $1.3M*
2. AlwaysiNduCe — $1M*
3. Nolet20 — $1.23M*
4. beertjes79 — $800K*
5. Ravic85 — $400K
6. Mr.Kingball — $273K
7. K.T.A. -1985 — $200K
8. joiso — $150K
9. bindernutnut — $100K
* Four-way deal
Any professional player realizes that his first time at a final table like this could be his last. The price of a mistake increases greatly. Tsapko gladly agreed to discuss the difficulties of playing under such pressure.
It has been almost 2 months since the WCOOP final table. Have you cooled down?
I have, but from time to time I still recall some hands which I could have played differently and I remember the deal was made immediately after I busted out. That’s the moment when I get emotional and thoughtful. For example, I’m starting to think that I could have asked for $20K less and become part of the deal. I could have made a 3-bet in some spot and, vice versa, skipped a bet in another. It all may have ended in another way.
Was it your biggest final table?
Yeah, but I’ve had some comparable final tables. I had 37% in this tournament and had something like that at the WSOP. I made it to a final table that offered $400K for first place and had 70% of my action there.
In what state were you sitting down at this final table? Did emotions bother you?
I think the very process of getting there was emotional in the first place. I almost busted out shortly before the final table and then managed to win several important all-ins. When I found myself at the final table, I got very excited. I had a good stack and the lineup for such a tournament was excellent. I took a thorough rest. So, I avoided pins and needles.
I had a plan for the game and followed it calmly. I felt some sweet anticipation when it got down to seven players. I had a small stack and managed to win several hands in a row, some re-steals went through, and I ended up with a nice stack. At that moment, I had the feeling that it’s almost done and I was going to ship a big one, but the short stacks kept clinging to their chips and we couldn’t complete a deal. And everything ended, let’s say, so-so. The deal was done right after I busted out.
Why couldn’t you make a deal earlier?
Even with a small stack, I was getting $900K by ICM and the chip leader wanted it to be chopped in such a way that I would get $800K. I didn’t even think about discussing it, but now I think that I could have been more diplomatic. I could have agreed to a cut of $20K, for example, and everyone else would have done the same and we could have managed to make a deal. And we still could have $100K to play for. It would have been a much more agreeable deal for me.
Then there was a moment when my stack had increased and I was to get more than $1 million by ICM. I also offered a deal at that moment, but somehow halfheartedly, so I guess I could have been more persuasive.
On the other hand, a deal is almost a usual thing for such tournaments, but this time the chip leader, Polish regular AlwaysiNduCe, refused. I don’t know why, but his decision cost me a fortune and him too. He was to get $1.4 million by ICM and, in the end, he took second place, earning only $1 million. Next time I’m going to negotiate for a deal in a different way.
Did you take it hard when you busted out?
Of course, it tasted bitter with no joy whatsoever. The money that I lost (-$400K), I thought it was mine already. After I busted out, my first thought was that I could have played differently.
We decided to find out whether Ravic indeed could have played differently and possibly climbed higher in the payout table. Another coach of the 2CardsCollegepoker school, Vadim “vadka” Shlez, is Vasily’s vis-а-vis.
Ravic85: It was a standard open-raise, rather tight, but I’ve folded like 20 times before that. The flop gave me a gutshot. I don’t like spots like this. Besides, my opponent is “clinging” to the board. He folds 35% to a c-bet on the flop and 23% on the turn. Roughly speaking, with this type of opponent, you either fire three barrels or none. I decided to bet here, but I gave up on the turn, and when the fourth suited card came, I decided to make a bluff bet.
Vadka: First when I saw this hand, I thought about two things. The first was his stack size. He was obviously check-calling and then checking with showdown value. Second, your bet-sizing, I don’t like it. I think that if you were holding an Ac, Kс, or even a Qс, you’d be betting a little more hoping that your opponent held a club and paid you off with it.
Thus, I think if you decided to bluff, your sizing should have been around 2.5 million in chips because it would have made your opponent think that you have value. Besides, a big bet from a stack like yours looks really scary. There’s no point in betting less. In this spot, he has called you with Kx9x, which is almost A-high here.
Ravic85: I don’t think a bet of a bigger size would have had more fold equity here. On the contrary, I could have bet, say, 1.1 million in chips and my opponent could have easily decided that it was a pure setup and folded. It’s important to keep in mind that people at this final table are very emotional in their own way. Someone’s tight and someone, vice versa, is over-excited. People literally have temperature. You can’t discount that.
Vadka: I agree, but I also think this is the reason why you shouldn’t have bluffed here. Given his stack size, he was feeling very confident. Moreover, he had a very successful start at this final table. I would always make a c-bet here since the board fits you more than him. However, there’s no point in firing three barrels here, especially if we’re unsure of his range. He could have two-pair, a straight, or a flush. I think if you chose to give up on the turn, you should have skipped a bet on the river as well.
Ravic85: Now I’m also thinking that I shouldn’t have bluffed, but on the other hand I could have made a small bet like one-third of the pot. First of all, we lose fewer chips in case we get called, which is important given the size of our stack. Second, and I know it by my own experience, when someone makes a small bet, you start thinking, “This can’t be a bluff; it’s a trick, for sure.”
Vadka: Yeah, yeah, and you fold with a grin, “I’m not an idiot.” I have such spots very often on dangerous boards against regulars. In this hand, you should have either bet more or less. By the way, even if you had bet more, he would have called you anyway with any small club.
Ravic85: By the time this hand took place, I had already been waiting for a deal. That’s why I called. Now, it’s obvious that I had better made a 3-bet and pushed to a 4-bet. My further actions were without mistakes, but still it ended in a bad way for me. After two checks on the flop, I decided to bet and I’m sure it was profitable in this spot. The turn card could strengthen one of my opponents, so I checked. I was bound to bet into the Ace on the river, though I ended up value betting myself.
Vadka: I agree that your only mistake is pre-flop. You should have re-raised with AQ. You admit it yourself that you’ve been thinking about a deal throughout the whole final table and it means the money was, in a way, pressing on you. Awaiting the deal certainly put pressure on you because it could let you climb up in the payouts. When you play with such a mindset, you can’t make optimal poker decisions.
You didn’t get enough value with these hands and in this case you have put yourself in an unfortunate situation. After joiso (Alexander Kostritsyn) busted out, you had no strong opponents at the table and there was no one to outplay you.
Ravic85: In the last hand, I had the shortest stack at 16 blinds. When I saw a raise from Nolet20, I decided to re-steal. Then, I looked into his statistics and saw there was no raise on the cutoff at all. I was in for a surprise and then Coenaldinho7 made a call in the small blind. I decided to call too and then I got this flop.
My SPR (stack-to-pot ratio) was 2 in that spot. I had 8 million chips behind me and the pot was 4 million at that moment. I think I had to play my hand for my stack in such a situation. Moreover, I expected Nolet20 to raise the flop with an over-pair and Coenaldinho7’s call spoke of his weakness.
Vadka: I agree that you can play this hand for your stack, but not facing two opponents. I like your donk-bet on the flop, but I’m not sure about two calls from your opponents, especially the call from the second one, Coenaldinho7. To me, it on the contrary speaks of his strength. I, for one, wouldn’t donk-bet with a plan to push afterwards. I would prefer to see the reaction to my bet and, in this case, when both opponents called, it would be an easy check-fold on the turn for me.
The bottom of your range here is a flush draw with over-cards. That’s why, judging by the small blind’s line, he has a strong range like a set or a flush draw with over-cards. His percentage of calling pre-flop on the small blind is 9%. All this, I think, directs us check on the turn trying to get a free river card that could strengthen us. I think no one was going to try to bluff steal the pot after the flop. And if Nolet20 bets after my check on the turn and Coenaldinho7 calls it, my cards are folded instantly.
Ravic85: Look, Coenaldinho7 was kind of loose throughout the whole tournament. His general stats are 25/15 and, even more, he protected the big blind 11 out of 25 times. The indicator of calling on the small blind does not seem representative to me, especially since my own stat was way less than his 9%. To me, the things could have been quite the other way round. Nolet20, for example, could have held some pocket pairs under Tens like 77 or 88. Coenaldinho7 could also have been defending AJs or QTs.
Vadka: I agree that such combination of hands could have existed, but the line of play of Coenaldinho7 indicates strength. I still think you should have checked the turn and if Nolet20 bet and the small blind called, you fold; if not, you could have called. At that, you can fold on a bad river because you’re not protecting your hand, but bluff-catching the draws that didn’t get there. But again, it all is fair if you’re facing one opponent. Frankly speaking, when I saw this hand live, I thought you were holding at least T6.
Ravic85: Do you think that there is a fold pre-flop, despite modern tendencies, if we’re talking nuts versus nuts?
Vadka: I could have folded against Nolet20, who is super tight. I think his range starts with AT. Again, there is a call from the “understanding” Coenaldinho7, who has minimal percentage of completing the small blind. Of course, I don’t insist, but I would have folded pre-flop against two opponents.
As a bonus, we added the hand that Ravic himself liked very much. Those who watched the final table have a vivid recollection of this hand:
Ravic85: Epic hand. When I won it, I didn’t even have the slightest thought that I would bust out in fifth place. I had a note on this opponent that he min-raised paired flops. When I saw his strange bet, I thought to myself, “Come here, my sweet bun!” Pity that this hand had no objective influence on the results of the tournament.
This article was prepared by GipsyTeam.ru and experts from 2CardsCollege Pro Poker Training.