When I Was A Donk: Rep Porter

In this series, Card Player asks top pros to rewind back to their humble beginnings and provide insights regarding the mistakes, leaks, and deficiencies that they had to overcome in order to improve their games.

Rep Porter is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner with more than $2.4 million in career live tournament earnings. His first bracelet came in 2008 after taking down a $1,500 six-max no-limit hold’em event. He won his second in 2011 after coming out on top of the $2,500 razz event. He also went deep in the 2013 main event, banking $573,204 for his 12th-place finish.

The University of Washington graduate and former equity options trader also plays high-stakes mixed games and is a lead content creator and instructor at ThePokerAcademy.com, a site dedicated to helping players achieve better results through better decisions.
Here, Porter talks about a mistake he made while playing in a high-stakes triple draw game.

“Back around 2009, I was at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles playing deuce-to-seven triple draw with a guy. I believe we were playing stakes of $300-$600. I was up a good amount and he was running out of money. He was actually down to his last bit of chips, about $1,000 or so.”

“The way this hand played out, on the second draw I had drawn one and he had stayed pat behind me. I checked, he bet $600, and I check-raised, forcing him to put in his final $400, which he did.”

“Now, on the surface this seems like a pretty standard play. I had made my hand and he only had a little less than a bet left, which was going in after the third draw anyway, so what’s the harm in raising?”

“We go into the third draw and of course I stand pat with my 8-6. Now, even though he doesn’t have any money left and he’s stood pat the whole way, he decides to break his hand. Later he claimed he broke an 8-7. Of course, he ends up making a 7 to beat me and win this pot. He then goes on a run and wins back $15,000 from me over the course of our match.”

“That never would have happened if I had just waited until the river to get that last $400 in. Had I not check-raised and shown that much strength, he probably wouldn’t have broken his hand, the money still would have gotten in, and I would’ve won the showdown. I didn’t need to narrow my range like that by announcing the value of my hand. By being too aggressive, I allowed my opponent to make the correct decision and it cost me.” ♠