Final Table Takedown: Art Papazyan

Art Papazyan played home games with friends throughout his teen years in California. When he was 21, he would occasionally drive down to Commerce Casino and play in the small buy-in games, $2-$3, $2-$5, etc.

Two years ago, at 23 years old, he was running very well at the $5-$5 game and built a bankroll of about $10,000. From there he decided to drop out of college and pursue a career in live cash game poker. He continued to build a bankroll in the $5-$5 and $5-$10 games for the next year or so. Then six months ago he began playing the higher stakes cash games in Los Angeles, primarily $10-$20 and $10-$20-$40.

With the guidance of some close friends and fellow high-stakes poker players, Blake Yu and Brian Kim, he developed strategies to beat the highest stakes live cash games, and was then ready to dive into tournament poker. Papazyan won the first World Poker Tour event he had ever entered at the 2017 Legends of Poker main event and followed that up with a second title in Maryland.

Event: 2017 World Poker Tour Maryland Live! Main Event

Players: 561 • Entry: $3,500 • First Prize: $389,405 • Finish: 1st

Key Concepts: Triple barrel bluff spots; Understanding an opponent’s ranges; Bet sizing

Craig Tapscott: Before we breakdown these hands I have to address the big smile on your face. How the hell did you win not only two WPT events in a row, but the first two you have ever entered? How do you feel about this accomplishment?

Art Papazyan: I feel extremely fortunate and that’s all I can really say. Variance was definitely on my side. I also feel like I played really well and stuck to my strategy at every stage of the tournament. I grew up loving tournaments and as a teenager I remember watching the WPT events every single time they would air, even if they were reruns. Now I can watch myself and that feels so amazing.

CT: What kind of work have you done away from the table to hone your tournament game?

AP: I have had to really change my overall game plan when I enter a tournament, because playing deep-stacked cash games requires a completely different strategy. I have to remind myself of the fundamentals of tournament poker. And I need to be able to execute it without fear of potentially busting out. I’ve never had any formal coaching in poker, so all that I know is just based off experience from playing many hands.

CT: Great. Let’s breakdown the hand.

Papazyan raises to 130,000 from the button holding 7 6 to 130,000. The small blind folds and Heeb calls from the big blind.

CT: What’s your read so far on Heeb?

AP: I hadn’t played with him prior to the final table so, I didn’t have much of a read. At this point of the tournament though, Randall seemed to me a passive player who liked to play his strong hands very aggressively. I also knew that he perceived me as a very loose and aggressive player who was trying to run the table over.

Flop: Q 5 3 (pot: 330,000)

Heeb checks. Papazyan bets 100,000.

CT: Talk about continuation betting a bit. Is this always a c-bet for you?

AP: C-betting is a crucial skill in an elite poker players arsenal. In this particular hand, I would c-bet this flop with my hand a high percentage of the time, because I have lots of backdoor equity. Also, I might need to fire multiple barrels in order for Heeb to fold his one pair hands, as my hand at this point has no showdown equity. I also have some very strong hands I’d be looking to c-bet here, such as a strong queen, overpairs, and also occasionally some sets.

CT: What mistakes do you see some players make when it comes to c-betting?

AP: In tournaments, I see many players make some crucial mistakes. For one, players seem to c-bet too frequently with hands that would make very good check backs. Players also c-bet too much from out of position; in theory, you should be checking at a reasonably high percentage when out of position and if you do decide to c-bet from out of position, the bet should be much smaller than if you did decide to bet from in position. This leads me to another mistake players do and that is their continuation bet sizings. I feel that players c-bet much too large when they c-bet and what this does is it allows other players to play their hands much more easily against them. It also strengthens their opponents range when their large c-bet is called, making it unprofitable to bluff on future streets because ranges are now much stronger.

Heeb calls.

Turn: 2 (pot: 530,000)

Heeb checks. Papazyan bets 350,000. Heeb calls.

CT: You have to be a little wary of Heeb’s holdings at this point.

AP: Well I decided to bet flop and turn, which is pretty standard with my hand. Randall likes to raise his strong hands, so I knew that when he just called my turn bet on a pretty wet board, it meant that he had one pair at best.

River: J (pot: 1,230,000)

CT: What now? Time to represent a big hand?

AP: Of course. The river brought the front door flush in and with a diamond in my hand I knew I had to fire away.

Papazyan bets 1,100,000.

AP: I chose a large bet sizing on the river because I knew Randall didn’t have any strong hands in his range here and I wanted to put a weak queen into a tough spot.

But…

Heeb calls and reveals Q 8. Heeb wins the pot of 3,430,000.

CT: Are you totally happy with the way you played this hand? And I don’t mean to be results oriented in any way.

AP: I’m totally cool with how I played it. Maybe I could have sized my river bet bigger and just decided to go all-in. I feel that would’ve been a better play. But as far as betting three times with my hand goes, I really like the way I played it.

Key Concepts: Disguising the strength of your hand; Three-bet sizing when out of position; Table image

Donovan raises from UTG to 180,000. Papazyan raises to 600,000 from the small blind holding A A. Heeb reraises to 1,580,000 from the big blind. Donovan folds.

CT: When Heeb reraises what are your thoughts?

AP: Well first I had Donavan’s raise to deal with from UTG. I knew what my image was at the table; I had been three-betting a decent amount up to this point. But luckily for me, I was dealt aces here in the small blind. I chose a large sizing for my three-bet, from 180,000 to 600,000, because I was out of position. I wanted to give Zach more fold equity. But in reality, I have aces and I want someone to four-bet.

CT: And when this dream came true, what’s the best play for value?

AP: Randall put in a large cold four-bet from the big blind. Time to think. And he put in one-third of his stack. That was a giveaway for me as to his holdings. I knew for sure he wasn’t ever light here. But I also knew in a four-handed game it could be as weak as 10-10 or A-Q in this spot. And since I have A-A, it’s more likely he has 10-10 to K-K. Looking back on it now, maybe it’s best for me to go all-in and put him to a decision, but I wanted to be balanced here and just call with even my strongest hands preflop.

CT: For those players who are not quite sure what you mean, please explain wanting to be balanced.

AP: By being a balanced in a certain spot it makes your opponents unable to exploit you. So, by just calling his four-bet with A-A, it means that my weaker hands that I would decide to call his four-bet with, such as 10-10 and A-K, will be protected from being bluffed because I also have K-K to A-A here as well. This strategy is much more important versus smart opponents in deep stacked cash games, but it also has a place in tournament poker as well.

Papazyan calls.

Flop: Q 3 3 (pot: 3,380,000)

Papazyan checks. Heeb moves all-in. Papazyan calls. Heeb reveals 10 10.

Turn 5 (pot: 9,400,000)

River: 5 (pot: 9,400,000)

Papazyan wins the pot of 9,400,000.

CT: I can only fathom a guess, but I am assuming you plan to be a regular on the circuit now? Or are you going to hit and run and exit undefeated?

AP: (Laughs) Yes. I do plan to travel the circuit and play as many WPT main events that I can. I mean, all I need is one more title and I’ll be tied for most titles of all time. I believe I can definitely win two more in my lifetime and have the most titles of all time, never hurts to dream, right? But, I do feel that I’m playing at a very high level in these tournaments and this is due to me always being focused and trying to play each hand as best as I can. As long as I can continue to do that, I feel that I’ll have a considerable edge over most of the players in the field.

CT: Besides batting 100 percent at WPT events and the big money, what do you enjoy most about competing in tournaments as compared to the high-stakes cash games you regularly play in?

AP: Tournaments and cash games are truly two different beasts, but some similar strategies post flop can be used in both arenas. I just enjoy competing in general. I feel that this is what drives me to always preform my best, regardless if I’m playing a $50-$100 no-limit cash game or if I’m at a final table of a WPT main event. When I’m sat at a table my only goal is to win and to pit my strategy versus someone else. And I enjoy the pain just as much the joy when battling at the poker table. The pain reminds me just how badly I want to win and that I have so much more to study to improve my game. It’s important to always stay on top of optimal poker strategy, because the game evolves day-to-day and there is someone who has developed a strategy to already exploit you; therefore, you must improve yourself to not allow that. Whether it be tournament or a cash game, I’ll be at the table somewhere battling to the death. ♠