Playing WSOP Event No. 3 the $1,000 NLH with Vanessa Rousso
For professional tournament pros, the lower buy-in large-field no-limit hold��em tournaments can be quite the minefield, but to win, you must adjust. Vanessa Rousso talked to PokerNews about a hand in which she employed a modified strategy when playing Day 1A of Event 3 at the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold��em event that attracted 4,345 players.
What were the blinds when the hand took place, and what is your general preflop strategy in these events?
The blinds were 75-150. At this point in the tournament, when there are no antes, I have a pretty loose preflop range as long as I have an above average chip stack and I��m in position, especially in a low buy-in like this. The reason is that since I have such a significant skill edge against most of the other players at the table, I want to play a lot of hands. So, I��m a little more experimental with the hands I��m willing to call a raise with than I would normally be. I��m adjusting for the fact that (a) the blinds are still relatively low, so it��s not that expensive, and (b) I have an above-average chip stack in a very weak field.
So in this hand, a very tight, readable player raised in middle position. A player called to my right, and it came to me on the button with ace-four of hearts. I called and the big blind called. We went four ways to flop. The flop came ten-high, all hearts, so I flopped the nuts. The big blind lead and the very tight player who was the preflop raiser, raised a strong, big amount. At that point, the raise was about seven percent of his chip stack. I did the math and realized that if he put in a pot-sized bet in on the turn, I could probably get his whole stack.
What kind of hand are you putting him on at this point?
I figured that for him to make such a strong bet, he had to have a set or an overpair. Obviously it��s impossible that he has aces with the ace of hearts because I have it. He might be drawing dead to runner-runner with an overpair, but I really thought he had a much stronger hand with his bet. The player to my right folded, and I just flat called his raise. I wanted to make sure the board didn��t pair on the turn.
This is something I do to reduce variance. A lot of the time, I��ll make my moves on the turn, rather than on the flop with strong hands in large fields like this because in order to survive a very large field, you��re going to have to survive a lot of situations where you��re a 70 percent favorite. The thing is, even if you are a 70 percent favorite, three out of ten times you��re going to get sucked out on. Even though you��re a fairly large favorite with those 60-40��s or 70-30��s, you can actually cut your variance in half by getting your money in on the turn. That��s why I didn��t raise on the flop. I decided to go for variance reduction.
What about the concept of ��protecting your hand��? Is that an overused term, and can you explain why that doesn��t apply here?
Here��s the key, my analysis was that either I have this guy drawing dead, or he��s drawing to the board pairing. Based on his bet though, I didn��t think he was going to fold. I wanted to see the turn first, and reevaluate after I see what he does and whether or not the board paired. Against a tough field, maybe you should take more risks and try to protect your hand, but against a weak field like in a $1,000 buy-in, I think it��s more important to use variance reduction and keep pots small. I don��t try to play very big pots unless I��m getting my money in with a very low likelihood of getting sucked out on. Also, I had too many chips to really reraise there. If he reraises and I shove, we��re playing a big all-in where he��s drawing 40 percent live to the board pairing or to quads. Instead of getting it in as a 60 percent favorite, I��d rather wait until the turn and be an 80 percent favorite. That��s my philosophy.
So what happened on the turn?
The turn was a complete blank. Here��s another point where I think there��s something to learn. It should have been very obvious, based on the action of me flat calling a bet and a raise, that I either flopped a flush or was drawing to the nut flush. At this point, those are the only two possible hands I could realistically have. He bet pot into me on the turn, and I raised all-in. He instantly called. Now, he could have folded after I went all-in and had a survivable chip stack, or he could have checked the turn instead of betting and committing himself. If he checked, he could have check-called a pot-size bet from me, seen the river, and either made a big laydown or at least felt the situation out. Playing the hand the way he did, he forced himself to get it all-in. Once I raise him all-in, there��s no possible way I��m bluffing. I wouldn��t do that with the naked ace of hearts, so on the turn, it should be obvious I have a flush.
Now, he had a set of tens, which is a hard hand to get away from because he��s still drawing 20 percent live on the turn, but he could have employed a more risk-averse strategy by check calling the turn. I don��t think he necessarily had to go broke on that hand. I mean, it worked out great for me, though [laughs]. So I think that��s the lesson. Even when you have a set on a coordinated board like that, when there were multiple players preflop, you have to suspect you��re hand is no good. There��s a 75 percent chance they have the flush and a 25 percent chance they��re drawing at the flush. In that spot, why not check? If a heart comes on the river, and you let the ace of hearts get there, that��s only going to happen a great minority of the time, but you save yourself the 75 percent of the time when you��re beat.
Had the board paired on the turn, and he made a pot-sized bet, you planned on folding, right?
Yes. I would have known my hand was no good. Sometimes you just have a good read on someone. When he made the raise on the flop, I was convinced he had an overpair without a heart or a set, and if he pot-size bets into on the turn, I know to fold.
Rousso went on to finish Day 1A of Event 3 a little above average in chips. She��s currently playing Day 2 of this event. More information can be found on the PokerNews.com live updates page. Before play got started, Rousso talked to the video team.
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