thought process number one. Today we bring you the “thought process” that Mustapha Kanit implemented at the $1,500 Freezeout WSOP and finished him in 54th place.
As Musta himself explains, his line fell sharply off the standard on the turn, but the hero call that won him the pot on the river proved him right.
Postcards from Vegas
In the blog of the French room, of which he is the testimonial, Kanit wrote that the fruits of this WSOP 2023 are yet to come, but that he is satisfied with the game played.
“I’m here to do my best at this incredible event, the World Series of Poker. This year I decided to start the festival immediately. Three weeks have passed since my arrival. The WSOP is long, so you need to stay focused and do your best for a long enough period of time.
So far I’ve played a lot, almost 30 tournaments, with two deep runs. The fields are huge, there are many differences. Therefore, you must keep calm and not let events overwhelm you by keeping your concentration high. The first deep run came after about ten days. There were about 50 players left in this $1,500 freezeout tournament, which attracted more than 2,500 entries. I ended up playing a pot of about 65BB with ace-king against two jacks, but the coin fell the wrong way… I still think I played well. I had good feelings, especially when it came to making good hero calls or folding big hands.”
The hand
Musta then explains one of these well-chosen hero calls. Final lines from Day 1 of WSOP Event #28, $1,500 Freezeout. Opening x2 from a row, Kanit calls from the cutoff with pocket sixes. Our Musta has a stack of 200,000, which is 80bb, covering the original raiser who has 130,000 chips.
flop t9
5
check over.
Turn T, original raiser bets 8,000, Musta raises 20,000, Oppo raises to 38,000, Kanit calls.
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River 4 against 58k, Musta calls and collects with his six!
As Musta thought
With preflop and a perfect flop in Standard, which is Musta’s TP turn:
“If the original raiser bets 8000, I’ll respond with an unusual action because I think I have the best hand. It’s going to be really difficult to get value on the river, but there are chips to be won against his half-bluffs. So I raise to 20,000 with the intention of checking the river. I expect him to call the turn and check the river, but he raises to 38,000! Surprised me… I don’t think he checks a lot of tee shots on the flop because he doesn’t have a lot of natural checks/raises. And I don’t necessarily bet a 10 on the flop for balance reasons. Sometimes I bet, sometimes I check.”
Musta’s unusual action is the result of Story accumulated on the concrete Opponent:
“My opponent has made a lot of unconventional moves so far. I think he’s trying to apply pressure. I call and the river is a 4 that doesn’t complete a draw. My opponent bets 58,000. In situations like this, I always take the time to analyze the plot as a whole. Instinctively it seems like a clear decision, but I prefer to analyze everything thoroughly to make the best decision with all the information I have. I decide to pay because his bet doesn’t make much sense. He doesn’t have many tens within reach. On the contrary, I see many possible bluff combinations: QJ, KQ, KJ, not to mention flush draws. After the call, my opponent reveals A
7. Then a nice bluff! I win a big pot that will be important for the rest of the tournament.”
The right approach for World Series tournaments
Concluding the post, Kanit underscores the importance of maintaining a correct approach at World Championship of Poker tournaments:
“In WSOP tournaments, it’s important to be able to play balanced poker based on your picks and readings. This is even more true for experienced players. From time to time it is necessary to deviate from the standards in order to make your opponents nervous. The WSOP has huge fields of participants. However, you must be able to gauge your opponents’ ranges and playing styles in order to optimize your results. Especially at full ring tables. Playing too many hands is a big mistake because 3-bets can quickly become very difficult and players with a good image can take advantage of that.”
