Since last we spoke Pt. 9 WSOP 2018 was interesting 3/5?
The remaining two tables of the 10k PLO Championship Event merged into a nine-handed unofficial Final Table, and the plan was to play three hours more, or down to six players, whichever came first. Neither appeared to matter as I opened the button with AA47r, and was met with a 3 bet from Jerry Wong in the SB, who would call off his remaining ~700k after I put him all-in. He held the KQJ9 rundown with a suit.
With 3.7mm chips in the middle, the flop was a very welcomed 442r, however a turned K offered Wong his obligatory sweat. After the river snapped the felt, I had to vocalize the suits in my head to make sure I wasn't seeing things - King of diamonds, King of spades. Somewhere in the distance Gus Hansen chuckles a faint "tihi" as every ounce of hope floods out from my body, and my weakened, defeated shell counts out the remainder of its stack. 7 bigs left.
I found a lucky double through Richard Lyndaker after defending Q953ds from the big for 2/3 of my chips, and committing the remainder on the 984r flop, then holding vs Richard's AQJT. An orbit or so later I doubled back to 2mm, 3 betting Mike Leah's button open from the big blind with AK63 and a suit. He was up there in chips and gambled with Q776cc that held through the flop, got turned by a King, and missed his gutshot + set outs.
By the time we were 7 handed, I had chipped up to 3.6mm which was 30bbs at this point, and slightly above average. Mike Leah opens his button for pot, and I defend 6633ssdh.
The dealer fans out a A76ccd flop
I check and Leah bets 525/900k, which I opt to pot to 2.4mm, and Mike snap-says all-in. I'm honestly taken aback by his absolute lack of thought and willingness to instantly shove in this spot, and now I'm having doubts about my hand. I realize it might seem silly with 800k behind in a 5.7mm chip pot not to just run it immediately, and understand that in most formats and circumstances the money is already in there, but I want to think about the types of hands that instantly re-shove in a pot for the tournament chiplead of a 10k Final Table. In my head there aren't many that don't pause for a second, and honestly, had he paused at all, my chips would've been in the middle by now.
As I'm in the tank I ask Mike if his insta-potting was just the equivalent of him announcing he has Aces, and effectively turning his hand face-up to not suffer the variance against any sort of draw ( regardless of them all having odds to call ), he nods emphatically. He then asks the floor if hes allowed to show cards, but I know he already knows what the ruling is there.
I apologize to the table, but I'm honestly considering the idea of folding in spite of how bad that would surely be. Leah starts talking to the rail "You guys remember that hand with Beth Shak, Hellmuth, and Brett Richey!?" He's alluding to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eURkGgAzr9o "I've goottttt it" he says as he makes the same AA hand gesture to the rail that Beth made to Dan in the hand hes referencing. I'm completely mind-fucked.
Ultimately I decided that, aside from unblocking clubs, it seems pretty clear to him I have closer to a made hand than anything else at this point, and I didn't think he'd be trying so hard to sell Aces if he had me over-set. Kudos to him for knowing that I'm probably the only person at the table stupid enough to fold a hand this strong, and to go after me so hard. He's gotten me at least once before that I can remember.
A wave of relief washes over me after eventually making the call and seeing AQJ7 in his hand, for top two pair. I honestly felt so calm in that moment my body naturally spun a cathartic 360, and I had zero concern with the runout; it felt impossible to lose, and I didn't.
Mike and I have been friends for some years now, and we briefly discussed it all shortly after the call was made. That pot vaulted me into the chiplead, and regrettably Leah would bust his short stack soon after to end our day, which set up an eerily similar Day 4 six-handed Final Table to the one I experienced two years prior in 2016.
<3 Brandon
