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Every year, there are always a few interesting hands from the World Series of Poker main event that elicit a huge amount of discussion. Way back in 2018, with 10 players remaining, a pivotal hand came up that stunned the poker world.
With blinds at 300,000-600,000, Nicholas Manion raised to 1,500,000 out of his 43,000,000 stack from first position. Antoine Labat, with 51,000,000, called from middle position. Then from the hijack seat, Yueqi Zhu pushed all-in for 25,000,000, about 41 big blinds. The action folded back around to Manion, who also went all-in.
Labat held K-K, but was in a difficult spot.
It is worth noting that there were no obvious short stacks at the table. In this situation, many players in the poker world said he should fold in order to make the official nine-handed final table. In the past, that would have been an important factor because the payout structure of the main event used to be drastically different due to there being fewer players in the field.
This particular year, however, there was a $150,000 payout jump between ninth and tenth place with a $250,000 payout jump between eighth and ninth.
In 2017, there was a $175,000 payout jump between ninth and tenth place with a $200,000 payout jump between eighth and ninth.
In 2016, there was a $350,000 payout jump between ninth and tenth place with a $100,000 payout jump between eighth and ninth.
These structures are very different and must be accounted for. The purpose of the giant jump in 2016 was to ensure everyone at the final table walked away with at least $1,000,000. In 2018 though, the payouts were essentially normal, as you will find in most other tournaments. For that reason, there was actually no “added value” in making the official final table, other than getting a bit more TV time (which you may or may not actually value).
So, when facing the two all-ins, what should Labat do? Assuming his opponents are not overly tight, he has an easy call. Neither of his opponents gave off any sort of glaringly obvious tells of strength.
This situation breaks down into a somewhat simple question: Would the opponents make their plays with Q-Q or A-K? While Zhu’s 41 big blind all-in is certainly large, I imagine it is typically done with strong hands that don’t mind protection. For that reason, I think we can almost guarantee Zhu has Q-Q and A-K in his range (and perhaps even J-J, 10-10, and A-Q).
The real question is whether or not Manion would go all-in with Q-Q or A-K. While it is difficult to say for sure, I bet he would (assuming he is a competent player who is aware of the payout structure). It is worth noting that if he only calls off with A-A and K-K, then Zhu can jam all-in for 41 big blinds with an incredibly wide range, assuming Manion is opening a standard range that will rarely call the all-in.
Consider that Labat’s hand is extremely under-represented, given he just called Manion’s initial raise. Had Labat three-bet, he would have a much better reason to fold because then, Zhu would have to worry about jamming into two clearly premium ranges instead of only one. Also, Manion can jam a bit wider because he can somewhat safely assume Labat does not have many premium hands in his range.
So, all in all, Labat has an easy call. In game, he stoically thought for a while before calling, whereas I would have done my best to elicit some sort of tell from my opponents.
If this hand took place online with no reads, you simply have to make the call. If you fold K-K in this spot, you are playing way too tight and are not giving yourself the best chance possible to win the event and maximize your equity. Remember, most of the money goes to the winner, about 33% of the money available to the players at the final table. With a payout structure this steep, you simply have to play for the win.
This time, Zhu also had K-K and Manion had A-A. Fun game!
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Jonathan Little is a WSOP bracelet winner, two-time WPT winner, and the 2024 PokerGO Cup champion with nearly $9 million million in live tournament earnings, best-selling author of 15 educational poker books, and 2019 GPI Poker Personality of the Year. If you want to increase your poker skills and learn to crush the games, check out his training site at PokerCoaching.com/cardplayer.