Brent Hanks Analyzes Key Hand Vs. Vanessa Selbst In Event No. 2 Of 2012 World Series Of PokerNew Bracelet Winner Explains Why He Didn't Raise River With Full House |
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Brent Hanks was the first open-event bracelet winner of the 2012 World Series of Poker, taking down event no. 2, a $1,500 no-limit hold’em tournament that boasted 2,101 players. Hanks picked up the biggest payday of his career, more than $400,000 after a heads-up deal, along with the coveted gold bracelet and in the process boosted his lifetime live tournament winnings to over $1.1 million.
To do so, he had to overcome a stacked final table that included J.P. Kelly, Andrew Badecker, Jacob Bazeley and the hyper-aggressive Vanessa Selbst, with whom he played a pivotal pot during the final table.
Here, Hanks takes us through the hand, which was a major turning point in the tournament, and explains why he couldn’t raise on the river, despite holding the near nuts.
Julio Rodriguez: Can you talk us through the hand where you made a full house against Vanessa Selbst’s straight?
Brent Hanks: She opens to 70,000 in the small blind, which is just a little more than a min-raise, so obviously I’m never folding pocket sixes. The real question is whether I should three-bet or not. Vanessa Selbst is a very aggressive player and I was afraid that if I three-bet her, she could very easily four-bet me and put me in a difficult situation. It’s almost as if she wants to be three-bet, to be honest. Perhaps against another opponent, I might raise, but it just didn’t make sense in that situation, plus I’m much more comfortable playing a hand like pocket sixes post flop, so I just called.
JR: The flop comes down 8
6
2
.
BH: She bets 70,000 and because her range is so wide and I’m likely to be way ahead, I can’t really raise in this spot. I definitely don’t want to push her out of the pot. Also, I’m in position, so even if she has nothing, I want to give her a chance to bluff the turn.
JR: Are you worried about protecting your hand at all?
BH: There are a few hands that I’m worried about here, but nothing that I really have to protect against because they mostly include gut shots and maybe 5-4, which is doubled gutted.
JR: The turn is the 7, Selbst bet again and you called.
BH: The turn is pretty much the worst card I can imagine, since it completes not only 5-4, but also 10-9. She settled on a bet of 110,000, which was kind of interesting. I really felt like she wanted me to raise her, like I was being baited into it. Obviously I’m afraid of a straight, but there are some hands I beat in her range such as top two pair or a pair and a straight draw.
JR: The river was the 8, pairing the board and Selbst bet 520,000.
BH: The river is great because not only does it pair the board, obviously letting me beat a straight, but it’s also a card that I could very easily be holding in Vanessa’s mind, a card that wouldn’t really worry her since she’d be trying to get value from trip eights. That being said, I can’t really raise her river bet either. Vanessa is too good to call a shove with a hand like 10-9 in that situation because she knows that I’m not going in with any less. Furthermore, I’m only getting called by hand that beats me, which in this case could be 8-7, 8-6 or pocket sevens. So for those reasons, I just called.
JR: How important was this hand to your victory?
BH: It was a pretty huge swing in momentum for me. Of course, it gave me the chip lead, but it also got me going for the rest of the final table. I was able to ride that momentum all the way to the bracelet.
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Comments
drkp
12 months ago
cool hand. Hanks coulda said a bit more at the end. Sure he thought the following as well. Key aspect of the river play is VS's bet sizing, basically potting the river. When Hanks says, she fold T9, knowing VS knows he wouldn't shove less, this speaks to the line of the hand. That is, Hanks admits he would virtually never bluff at this stage of the FT (or value shove light) using the old double float, shove over a potsize river bet line. By betting so much, VS turns potential trips of her opp into a mere bluff catcher. thus, he wouldn't raise with trips, and VS couldn't call w/ worse than 66. There are possible flushes in her range, but I agree, she'll prolly fold those too, despite redic odds.
swallsjr
12 months ago
Never underestimate VS's ability to make a blow up call in this spot.