888 Poker Strategy

When this year’s final table finally sat down to play in the Penn and Teller Theater at Vegas’ Rio Casino and Hotel, there was only one person who could not lose the WSOP.

Chip leader Joe McKeehen had such a huge lead that nobody in their right mind could seriously bet against him. Of those he faced, his fellow 888 poker pros Neil Blumenfeld and Thomas Cannulli knew him best.

They also knew that he would not simply spew his chip-lead away, but also that he was more than capable of putting his stack to great use when the right moments arose.

Let’s look at one of the hands which showed that McKeehen – and the others – knew perfectly well who was going to win the bracelet barring any bizarre accidents.

Hand number 53, on the surface, was a fairly straightforward hand. But underlying the play there was an admission that McKeehen held the fortunes of the other November Niners in his grasp.

With the blinds and antes at 300k/600k/75k and play 7-handed, McKeehen found himself staring down at…

Q♦ Q♣

…a great hand to find yourself holding when the others are thinking how they might move up the pecking order without being trodden underfoot by the aggressive play McKeehen had displayed all the way from July’s Main Event.

McKeehen (with 77.4m behind him!) open-raised to 1.2million, making the pot 2,625,000. Fellow 888-ers Cannuli and Blumenfield left their team-mate to it and so Stern, finding himself with 7♠ 7♦, and a 33.1million stack gave it some serious thought - and only called.

This is a reasonable play in most circumstances – here I personally would have raised because I need to know what McKeehen is up to. I have the others easily covered, and I am the only one left in the hand McKeehen doesn’t want to mess with – I can hurt him. If he re-raises, I let go of my pocket sevens.

Anyway, Stern only called, and when Steinberg decided to call with 3♠ 3♣ (entirely reasonable) we saw the flop…

8♠ J♥ 6♣

Steinberg quickly checked and McKeehen just as quickly bet out 1.6M. As the commentators rightly stated here:

His continuation bet as the pre-flop aggressor means that nobody knows what he has. He could have been raising with nothing, or anything. He could be using his stack to bully, or maybe he has the nuts? McKeehen just plays good poker and lets the others worry.

Stern, in hoodie, dark glasses and arms crossed, pauses then calls -fair enough. Steinberg, having missed the flop and seeing the other guys showing interest gets out of the way.

The pot is now 7,625,000 and the turn comes

(8♠ J♥ 6♣) J♠

McKeehen checks, slowing down the action; it’s entirely possible that Stern’s call on the flop was with Jx, so there is no point building the pot at this point. Stern had a think here, and checked behind.

This was probably his big mistake; if he had hopes of winning this pot then here was the chance to put McKeehen to the test. He doesn’t know that McKeehen has QQ, but he does know that there are a lot of hands which the 888 pro could already have which beat pocket 7’s, or even get there on the river with an A, K, Q etc.

With the pot at 7,625,000 the river comes…

(8♠ J♥ 6♣ J♠) 5

McKeehen now realises that he is ahead far more often than not here. It’s doubtful that Stern, given the table situation, is indulging in a more elaborate slow-play of three Jacks.

So, he bets 3.8m, about half the pot. “That’s a great value bet” says the commentator, and he is completely correct.

Stern tanks, then hero calls. It’s certainly not a good place to semi-bluff-raise – McKeehen will likely not believe him and call anyway. Of course, McKeehen shows his queens and Stern mucks his seven’s.

Here we saw a classic example of how to wield a big chip-stack when both the money and prestige at stake are huge, and 888’s McKeehen did this for the entire final table – making the opposition fear for their tournament lives on every decision. Excellent play indeed.