Vivek Rajkumar -- What's My Line?Rajkumar Recaps His Biggest Hands at Borgata |
|
For the last two years, Vivek Rajkumar has been getting closer and closer to the inevitable, a breakout victory on one of poker’s biggest stages. A consistent threat on the tournament circuit, the 22-year-old has 18 cashes on his young résumé, but most were deep runs that never amounted to much more than a finish in the teens. He could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but seemingly always managed to come up just short.
In fact, it wasn’t until this year’s L.A. Poker Classic that the native of Seattle, Washington, broke through for his first live victory and first six-figure score. With his game finally firing on all cylinders, Rajkumar tore through the 516-player field to earn the Borgata Poker Open title and a $1.4 million payday.
Rajkumar spoke to Card Player about the three hands that catapulted him to the win.
| Event/Blinds-Antes | WPT Borgata Poker Open | 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante |
| Player | Vivek Rajkumar | Howard Appledorf |
| Chip Count | 985,000 | 411,000 |
| Hand | J 3 |
Unknown |
The Hand — Earning Every Chip with a Hero Call Gone Right
In a battle of the blinds, Howard Appledorf completed from the small blind, and Vivek Rajkumar checked his option in the big blind. The flop came A
9 9, and Appledorf led out for 35,000. Rajkumar made the call, and the turn was the J. Again, Appledorf bet, this time 50,000. Rajkumar studied a bit and made the call. The river was the K, and Appledorf suddenly moved all in for a total of 315,000 before going into a statuesque pose.
Rajkumar stood up from his chair and studied his opponent for several minutes before questioning, “Seven high?” After seven minutes had gone by, the clock was called, and Rajkumar made the call, revealing his measly pair of jacks. Appledorf mucked his hand, walking away from the table, and Rajkumar took over the chip lead with 1,403,000.
The Interview
Julio Rodriguez: What was your opinion of Appledorf at this time? Had he been completing from the small blind often?
Vivek Rajkumar: This opponent was talking to me at the table about how no-limit hold’em and poker in general was about having the balls and the ability to bluff. He had shoved 50 big blinds over a short stack’s raise already without regard for who was behind him with A-10 offsuit, so I knew he was reckless, also. I thought there was a good chance he was going to pull a gigantic bluff on someone at the table at the time. This was the only time he had limped in from the small blind.
JR: Did you think about raising him preflop at all, knowing you would have position on him the rest of the hand?
VR: Against a lot of weak-tight opposition, I will raise this hand, because I will either win the pot preflop or take down an inflated pot with a continuation bet. Against this opponent, I chose to play a smaller pot in position without preflop initiative. Also, raising a hand like J-3 offsuit is better than raising a hand with more flopping value, because if he reraises me preflop, I can just lay it down (whereas folding a hand like 10-9 suited sucks), but I decided to check here.
JR: Why float the flop? If you thought your hand was good, why not raise?
VR: I thought there was some chance this guy could rebluff me if I raised the flop. I thought that calling the flop and raising the turn would look much stronger to this opponent. I could definitely raise the flop and four-bet small over his three-bet bluff, but I thought at the time that calling the flop and taking it away on the turn was the best choice. I also thought that my hand had a little bit of showdown value, which always helps in position. I thought he would lead the flop with hands like 7 high and 6 high and check more often with king high and queen high, which is what a lot of people will do on dry boards that typically hit neither opponent, so king high and queen high is often good at showdown without improvement.
JR: You hit your hand on the turn; are you turning it into a bluff-catcher?
VR: Yup, my hand, for all intents and purposes, is definitely a bluff-catcher, unless he happens to think he can bluff me off an ace with K-K or Q-Q or bluff me off 9-X with an ace, which obviously seems ridiculous. I knew from my play with him thus far that he did not think like that.
JR: Were you surprised when he moved in on the river? Were you second-guessing your read?
VR: No, I basically thought the whole time that he was willing to go the whole way with a bluff. You have to realize how people think with an ace or a 9-X in this spot, they usually want to milk you for as much as they think you can call, and since almost everyone would fold A-X or J-X on this river, my opponent would have bet 100K instead of shoving for 300K, in my opinion, so in some ways, calling 300K was easier than calling 100K. Obviously it's super-exploitable if my opponents realize I think like this, because they can bet small with their bluffs and bet big with the hands they are value-betting, but I was confident in my stereotype that this opponent was not thinking like this. Against a lot of no-limit professionals who might balance bet-sizing in relation to nut-type, air-type, and middle-type hands, my call on the river is suicide, but I was sure that this opponent was not balancing bet-sizing at all. In the end, he held absolute air. He just got caught up in the bluff.
| Event/Blinds-Antes | WPT Borgata Poker Open | 20,000-40,000 with a 4,000 ante |
| Player | Vivek Rajkumar | Stephen Vanuaken |
| Chip Count | 1,341,000 | 1,489,000 |
| Hand | A 10 |
7 6 |
The Hand — Pulling Off a Huge Bluff with Two Tables Left
Vivek Rajkumar raised to 120,000 from under the gun, and Stephen Vanauken made the call from the cutoff. The flop came Q 9 2, and Rajkumar continued with a bet of 185,000. Vanauken called, and the turn was the 7. After some thought, Rajkumar bet 380,000. Again, Vanauken called, and the river was the K.
Rajkumar moved all in for 733,000, and Vanauken went into the tank. After three minutes of thought, Rajkumar said, “Well, at least I know you don’t have the nuts, or else you would have called by now.” After another minute of thought, Vanauken folded, and Rajkumar revealed the bluff. The pot he dragged in vaulted him to 2,110,000 in chips.
The Interview
JR: Were you just changing gears, or is A-10 suited a standard under-the-gun opening hand?
VR: A-10 suited is a monster under the gun for me seven-handed.
JR: You found out later that he had 7 6 and turned the pair with the flush draw. Be honest, what were you putting him on at that point, when he called preflop?
VR: I thought, based on a multitude of things that I had picked up, that he had bigger face cards or a smaller pair facing my early-position raise. I did not think he had a lot of speculative hands like small suited connectors at the time. Although, with deep effective stacks, I realize now that he can probably play all these hands profitably against me in position, moreso if one of the blinds joins in, and he can play a multi-way pot with both the blind and me.
JR: The flop brings no help to your hand, but you bet pretty strong. Is this a standard continuation-bet?
VR: It was a fairly uncoordinated board with just a flush draw. I thought my continuation-bet in a vacuum with no dynamics against this player was profitable, so I went ahead and did it. Note that even if he's calling with a lot of suited connectors preflop, the only hands that can continue on this board are hands like Q-X, spades, J-10, and hands like middle pairs like pocket tens. If his range is much wider than that preflop, my continuation-bet is profitable. Note that to balance my continuation-bet with air, I would also bet this flop with a queen, overpairs and draws.
JR: The turn doesn't help either, yet you fire out again. Did you bet 380K knowing it would leave you enough to bluff again on the river? Did it cross your mind to give up?
VR: I thought I could get him to fold a lot of his naked spades on the turn, including hands like J-J or 10-10 that called on the flop to see what I did on the turn. I also thought there was some chance I could get him to fold Q-J, since we had no history and I had not been seen bluffing. When he called the turn, I was done with the hand, more or less.
JR: You shoved the river, and he tanked for a long time. Knowing what he had, are you surprised that he tanked for so long? What does that say of your bluff attempt?
VR: I thought he would fold A-Q and Q-J to my river shove with an overcard popping up for his tournament life. There are also a bunch of pair-plus-straight-draw hands and pair-plus-flush-draw hands that will call the flop and the turn but fold the river, so the only hand I was worried about that would call was K-Q. Against the entirety of his range, I thought my bet was profitable, so I went ahead and shoved all in. To balance my three-barreling range, I will often value-bet A-A or A-K like this, and often even A-Q if I think my opponent is ready to make a hero call with Q-J, J-J, or 10-10.
| Event/Blinds-Antes | WPT Borgata Poker Open | 80,000-160,000 with a 20,000 ante |
| Player | Vivek Rajkumar | Mark Seif |
| Chip Count | 6,075,000 | 6,355,000 |
| Hand | 10 10 |
A A |
The Hand — Getting Lucky at the Final Table
Vivek Rajkumar raised to 450,000 from the cutoff, and Dan Heimiller called from the button. Mark Seif then reraised to 1,350,000 from the small blind. Rajkumar thought it over for a bit before reraising to 4,350,000. Heimiller folded, and Seif moved all in.
Rajkumar instantly made the call with 10 10, only to see he was up against Seif’s A A. However, the board ran out Q 10 5 Q 9 to give Rajkumar the monster pot and complete control of the table with more than 13 million in chips.
The Interview
JR: Raising with pocket tens is no mystery here, but then Heimiller calls from the button and Seif reraises. What are you putting Seif on? A squeeze? A smaller pair? Overcards?
VR: You have to realize that Seif is the most aggressive player at the table, definitely more aggressive than me, overall. (I like to think I'm situationally aggressive.) I was putting Seif on a range of hands including middle pairs, high pairs, overcards, and, every once in a while, a squeeze with air because, I raised in late position followed by a flat-call, which is quite wide in and of itself. With 40 big blinds and tens at a five-handed table, I absolutely cannot fold. Also, realize how exploitable it is if I folded tens to him every single time he raised me. In addition, Seif had already re-reraised all in with pocket eights, cracking queens behind him, so I knew he was three-betting and four-betting without super-premium hands.
JR: Heimiller folds, and Seif moves all in. You have to call at this point, but do you have any immediate regrets for your reraise?
VR: Given everything I knew, I would absolutely play this hand exactly the same way. People just don't realize how lightly stacks get in with two aggressive players at a five-handed table with 40 big blinds in play. Even if I had lost this hand, I would not have regretted it, but luckily I am a gigantic luckbox, so I hit that set right on the flop with no sweat whatsoever. Booyah!
