Deep Stack Event
What happens most often for a newcomer coming into a deep stack big buy-in event is that they turn into a calling station overnight. It’s as if they stepped off the plane and morphed overnight into this ugly, little butterfly that only knows the words, “I call.” There are a number of factors that lead to this strange behavior.
The pressure of the money and the incredible stage that the WSOP Main Event certainly lend a hand, but most likely it is a player not accustomed to playing with such a large stack and their natural curiosity gets the best of them. Here’s a typical hand for a first timer playing in the WSOP:
Our hero has A-K and opens the action for 300 with the blinds at 50/100. He gets two callers and there is 950 in the pot. The flop comes K-8-6. A great flop for our hero as he has flopped top pair, top kicker. He bets 600 into the pot and is raised by one of his opponents to 1,800. The other player folds and our hero calls. There is now 4,550 in the pot. The turn is an innocent looking deuce. Our hero checks and calls a 3,000 bet from his opponent. There is now 10,550 in the pot. The river is a harmless three. Our hero checks and calls a 5,000 bet from his opponent who turns over a flopped set of sixes.
Our hero has lost half of his stack in one hand, when his best course of action would have been to put in a third raise on the flop to define his opponent’s hand. Make a raise to say 4,500 there and when your opponent puts in a fourth raise, you can fold and save yourself nearly 5K in chips. Or you can even lean on the side of caution and fold to the initial 1,800 raise. Regardless, calling as you can see only leads down one road… and that’s the rail.
If you find yourself playing in a deep stack event like the WSOP Main Event, remember that you cannot get information about your opponent’s hand by calling. Yes, there are times you will want to call when it is likely you have the best hand and want to keep the pot small, but generally it is best to be aggressive with bets and/or raises.
Your opponent’s reaction will typically tell you what you need to know. If they fold, they had nothing and you had the best hand. If they call, they are most of the time, but not always, on a draw or have a hand that they feel might be the best but are unsure of themselves. If you have a strong hand, you should continue firing. If you’re bluffing, you should proceed cautiously but another bet is probably not out of line.
If your opponent raises, unless they are a maniac, it usually means they really like their hand and you should only proceed if you have a very good read on your opponent or feel that there is a chance that they are making this bet with a hand that is worse than yours.
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