Billy Kopp Defends His Play in WSOP Elimination Hand

Whatever Scott Montgomery....oops i mean Kopp. You cant defend bad play no matter what you say. Calling a raise when u are down to that many players to make the final table of the biggest tournament in the world is asnine. Im sure he would say the same thing w/ 9 4 suited. you are not Gus Hansen, man. Final Table is the goal. And if u really wanted more money you wouldve folded... period !! END of STORY

raising with 35 upfront is a real players play online but in this situation just pretty stupid.

good job playing hands so fast you dump it all away with crap like 35 suited in early position

I say you got a future. It was a costly mistake, but you are obviously a good player who takes advantage of the player who luckily beat you this time. Stick to your guns and stay confident. Everybody knows your young and your future is bright. We all make mistakes. I don't know why people like to kick a man when he's down. Full steam ahead bro!

Fact: He raised a really weak hand OOP, flopped a weak flush and couldn't let go.
Opinion: Bad play and worse that he can't see it or admit it.
Everyone makes mistakes, the good ones learn from them.

Mr Kopp, your great play for sure was expected by the likes of Phil Ivey who stated to me after they got down to the final 9 that he had had a feeling that you were going to dump your chips to someone. Ivey was hoping it was he who received that gift. Mr Patrolman for player of the year.

Right... sure...... you had the best hand coming in. right.... freaking 54s OOP .... stacking off when you got check-raise....

Pretty funny how ppl decide to rag on ur play whilst they are probably 2 tabling 1c/2c games complaining how they lost with AA after they slow played it to the river and stacked off on a 4,5,6,7,9 four to a flush board

I didnt want to go into the final table with 20bb so I decided to push and miss out on at least 400k more, media attention, bigger sponsorship deals and poker glory, especislly because my reads on people were great and i didnt think it was fair. I mean it used to be about the money but now it isnt because i made it on cp.com explaining bad plays.…. Does that sum it all up?

Billy, I don't know about 35(even suited). Weak hand Pre-flop your 40/60 against any Random hand. Besides you was not even in the blinds easy fold and this never would of happened. But that not being the case you flopped (almost) the biggest 35s has to offer! And knew darvin could have a Diamond and you ship with one card to come??? Virtually any Diamond crush's you on the river and a full house is possible you knew he had a hand and gambled.....

Both Kopp and Moon had a chance to lay the hand down. Most of the critics and railbirds don't make big mistakes because they're on the rail before any big decisions come up! Kopp didn't get there playing with scared chips; he just lost in a tough spot. Moon played it well though many a player would have shown him a full house in that situation.

He's right about why he played Darvin Moon the way he did. The REAL error was getting it in against a larger stack and risking the glory of the final 9. He has to hold off in this situation and LET THE HAND GO!
The best players say to go for the win, BUT, each player that makes the final table in the WSOP is equal to a win in too many ways to list!! I guess Billy Kopp didn't see the publicity and buildup that the final nine got last year.

ya... over half the rail is a losing player im sure. this guy is a true winner and you can't win everytime. He plays a loose-aggressive style and just got caught in a bad situation. He doesnt always need to fold the low suited cards, because they were deep stack enough that he could profitability play that hand. Some of you just need to put yourself at the table and be aware of table dynamics. As far as moon goes .. for being an amateur he played the hand pretty sick against a LAG player. As far as publicity goes... you guys are idiots... obviously he'd get more publicity if he ft'd this. Thanks rediculous to believe he would be better for not final tabling this. haha..Jasonkkk talking about hands against range= doesnt apply...fact...mudslide... he has a poor hand... but against an opponents calling range he has a great hand.. meaning his hand has great implied odds vs a calling range... unless of course u both have the same suit and flop the flush.. and Richenough.. you know nothing about tournament poker... ill call out the whole rail.

What's that annoying line Danny Negreanu always uses..."Never play to cash, only to win"...

I never used to understand what he meant...but I was the chap limping to FT and finishing 7th / 8th...until I lost my fear of the bubble and started using my chips when I knew most other players were scared...Now I bubble slightly more than I used to (not significantly so)...but when I do make FT, I'm finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd...everytime...

Fact is you've got 12 chaps left....and 10 of them (Possibly Ivey excluded) are thinking of nothing but November 9...you've got a big stack and can pick up blinds and ante's almost at will because of the fear of the FT bubble...you've gotta make a few moves and raises with marginal hands if you want to arrive at the final table with a moster stack...and take down one of the top 3 places...(Which Ivey probably won't do with his stack...but it'll be fun watching him try)

Maybe he coulda gotten away from the hand on the turn...but I have no problem with the PF raise...

And anyway...who are we to judge....Here's a 23 year old chap who's just made over $1 million in this WSOP alone...and who know's how much on-line in the past year...and he's just been signed by a poker site even though he's not in the Nov 9...Sounds like he doesn't know what he's doing...

The lad got badly stuck in a horrible spot...It's Happened to us all a thousand times...

I'm sure he felt sick after the play...and has gone over other way's he could've played the hand a million times since...but he'll learn something from it...all I know is I don't wanna have to play this chap to often...Although, given his bankroll, that's unlikely....LOL

Who would you back in a Head's up match between Billy Kopp and Darvin Moon?? I'd happily take 7-10 on the Kopp...

Well Done on a great series Billy K...

YOU CAN NOT DEFEND BAD PLAY NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY!!! END OF STORY!

He shouldn't have been in that hand in the first place. 5-3 in early position is a fold, unless you're Gus Hansen.

I'm pretty sure in this situation you are raising 53 suited from early position hopefully just to pick up the blinds and antes, but most definitely not to stack off with a baby flush on a paired board with 1 card still to come. I think fatigue got the better of him in that hand.

lol at most of the responses...you all know so much thats why ur grinding freerolls on spadeclub..anyone who questions this hand should sit on a broomstick and rotate...queers

Face it, the guy made it deeper than anyone who is sitting here posting comments. I think he has regrets in how he played the hand, but in the end he made a read and went with it. Unfortunately it didn't work out for him. Anyone who's played poker has made very similar decisions, just not on this big of a stage. In regards to hand strength, hey these guys don;t make a living only playing the most premium hands. I tried something and in all honesty caught an incredible flop. Anyone of us would be sitting in a puddle of joy had we got that lucky. Can't really blame him for not giving Moon credit for a bigger flush.

Dude shoved all-in drawing stone dead...with almost the babiest of flushes on a paired board...what else needs to be said.

Funny thing is that the birds always know how the pros should've played the hand after it's all said and done .... we're all so much smarter in the end.

The SUITED donkey DONKED OFF!!!

But, They Were Suited. Online donkey play.
This is real poker with real players, who can see right through that play.

You critics are chicken-s--t second guessers. Poker is an amazingly complex game full of difficult imperfect decisions. Kopp played great and made one bad move.....oh well....let it go you railers and remember your past f--kups and move on.

It seems like Moon had the better read on Kopp huh? No credit to him? I'm quiet sure this comments tool is here for us to give our opinions, right? Blast away people.

I think yolkypalky has the best take on the play. I wouldn't fault him so much if the board hadn't paired but the chance of a boat was just to great in that spot. But I've never been in that situation and won't badmouth him for doing what he thought was right.

I also agree with theloniusD when he says "Kopp played great and made one bad move...oh well..."

I wonder how much money all these people who are critical of Bills play have made in poker. The man is 23 and it a millionaire. He must be doing something right. Should have he been so bold when so close to the final table, probably not. But this point of view is coming from a person who is not nearly as successful and doesn't have near the money.

One last point, money is relative. If your a school teacher and you enter the WSOP, make it near the final table, yeah your not going to take unnecessary chances, you NEED the life changing money. If your already a millionaire, your only 23, you know you'll be back for the next 10 years, it's a totally different story then the teacher who makes 40k a year.

Monday Morning quarter backing is always easy.

Hey moneywheels - shut up!! you are talking out of your ass... Billy Kopp made a terrible mistake and trying to cover it up saying he knew what he was doing. Who cares what type of money he has or how much he made? A ton of pros will slam him for his ridiculous play. I bet you think Jerry Yang played perfect poker in 2007 Main Event. Anytime a person tries to defend bad play in a tournament saying "I was playing for 1st place blah blah blah... bullchit" like Philip Helm. they are idiots.
They might be rich idiots for the time being but variance will eventually bite that ass.

Richenough - I'm not sure I'd classify it as a "terrible mistake" ... he made a decision that turned out to be a bad one .... It's funny cause everyone wants to talk about how much of a donk Kopp is and "how can he put all his chips in with the board paired" .... Everyone wants to point out what a bad play he made ... and really they only say this is because he lost the hand ... had Moon paired the board and hand one diamond in his hand, everyone would be talking about the great read Kopp made and what a terrible call Moon made .... Why is no one criticizing Moon's play here? .... getting your check raised shoved on and calling off 90% of your chips with the board paired and possibility of a better flush?? ... oh yeah, cause he won the hand. No one makes the right decisions or reads 100% of the time in poker .... cut Billy some slack here ....

hey holdem4food... Shut Da Hell Up!! YOU CANT DEFEND BAD PLAY!! Kopp got lucky a ton of times to make final table with 2nd in chips when it was 10 handed I kept watching the updates... If Kopp didnt realize the actual reason why he should not play 3 5 suited in early position (because of celebrity status, sponsorship deals, free entry into other tournanments, hot girls,etc...) thats HIS OWN DAMN FAULT. No one likes a liar- and Kopp will probably crying at night about how he coulda woulda shoulda been at final table as nov 9....

YOU CANT DEFEND BAD PLAY!! PERIOD!!

Richenough - Well, that's your opinion and your entitled to. You can probably poll the rail birds and they'd share your opinion, but I would think that most poker pro's grinding everyday to make a living would disagree. These guys don't make their money waiting for AA or KK. They'd probably contend that he wa being creative and got unlucky. I really doubt he's doing any crying over this, disappointed that his read was wrong, sure, but crying doubt it. BTW, you really make the case for you opinion strong with your attention to detail ... Kopp made the final table 2nd in chips and you were watching the updates 10 handed, etc .... too bad he finished 12th ... lol .... If you're going to tell people to shut up and throw out ALL CAPS ... you should really make sure you actually know what happened ...

Interesting hand. Richenough, I think your assessment of Kopp's moves as "bad play" is way too simplistic. I also think those defending Kopp's play are engaging in the same kind of wishful "investing" that Kopp refers to in his interview. It sounds like his heart was in the hand and his mind was making up reasons to come over the top after that 6 million raise. His own raise from early position is a cool move, IMO. It's just 2.5 times the BB, maybe just enough to get shorter stacks or bubble-scared players to drop. Or maybe enough to get some chips in for a drawing hand dog like 35 suited. Either way, his bet of 750K is a very interesting feeler bet. Moon's smooth call for the turn is a big mistake IMO. Moon should have pushed then. But maybe Moon had a read on Kopp? I'd like to hear Moon's account of the hand. Anyway, when Moon check raises the pair on the turn, you have to drop your hand, IMO. But Kopp had been in it for a long time and as he tells it, had been chopped down to 13 mill and had just been grinding back up to 20. I think we all know how wearing it can be to be in a situation like that. So...bad play? no. Good play? no. Just situational, like so many other hands in tournament poker.

Well said zorgafish. Just situational. Nuff said.

Hmmm, I don't really know if the play is bad or not. Yeah on TV it looks bad, but reality is that's just 1 hand out of many not shown. He put in hrs of play, and felt his decision was correct. He's got great results before the main event, and probably will after. I understand the raise OOP mainly because if you only raise premium hands from early position you give away information about how you play, and can easily be played against. kind of unlucky, but at the same time a 800K winner so yeah not that bad.