It was the very last hand of Day 6, and after having opened Manion watched Alex Lynskey three-bet and then a short-stacked Barry Hutter move all in. In fact, just the day before, Manion had folded kings preflop himself! Throughout the later stages of tournament, Manion had gained a reputation for playing tight, risk-averse poker. His range, as a result, skews stronger.Įven if he didn't know Manion's background, Labat might paid attention to his opponent's playing style. In general and in this particular situation - on the bubble of the biggest poker tournament in the world - players with less experience are unlikely to get out of line. Manion is a small-stakes recreational player competing in his first Main Event. Nicolas Manion: dealt pocket aces at a most opportune time For simplicity, let's put Zhu aside for the moment. In order to answer these questions, Labat might have considered his opponents' backgrounds.

What is Manion's range? What is Zhu's range? And is either capable of committing all of his chips with ace-king or jacks? Labat's expected value depends on a few key questions. 'If we add AKs to Manion's range,' says Daut, 'calling loses ~$80k. Surprising, but clear fold.'Īccording to Daut, calling with kings is profitable only if Manion is shoving with not only aces, kings, and queens, but also every combination of ace-king and jacks. 'I ran ICM numbers assuming Zhu had JJ-KK, AK and Manion QQ-AA. Sharing his thoughts over Twitter, Ryan Daut, a poker veteran with over $1.8 million in live tournament cashes, advocates for a fold. Could he really fold a hand this strong? Antoine Labat: dealt pocket kings and forced to make a tough decision Assigning Accurate Ranges Labat had about 52 million to start the hand, meaning he had both Manion and Zhu covered.įor the next minute, Labat shook his head and muttered to himself. Once the action was back on Manion, he announced he was all in as well, committing the just over 43 million he had to start the hand. Then Yueqi Zhu, who also had two kings with K ♠ K ♥, moved all in for 24.7 million from the hijack. Antoine Labat called in middle position with K ♦ K ♣. With the blinds at 300,000/600,000 with a 100,000 ante, Nicolas Manion raised under the gun to 1.5 million with A ♠ A ♥.

Just 10 players were left from the starting field of 7,874, and players had redrawn and were seated around a single table. For the last week, the poker world has been buzzing about a stranger than fiction hand from the stone bubble of the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event final table.

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