Sometimes players need to know when to fold ’em

In tournament play survival mode is key with weaker hands

In the 2016 Super High Roller Bowl at the Aria in Las Vegas last spring, a tournament that saw 49 players pony up a $300,000 buy-in for a shot at a $5 million top prize, an interesting hand took place at the end of Day 2.

At an outer table, with action six-handed and the blinds at 6,000-12,000 plus an ante of 2,000, Phil Galfond, who had 535,000 in his stack, opened for 30,000 from the hijack seat with As 4s. Dan Perper, sitting on a stack of 394,000, flat-called from cutoff seat with 8h 8c. Phil Hellmuth, who had a stack of 739,000, three-bet to 95,000 from the big blind with 9d 3c. Galfond folded, and Perper used a time extension to debate what to do.

Most players would have shoved their short stack, but Perper opted to fold. Calling a raise only to get squeezed out by a three-bet is costly, and this is a major reason why players are often encouraged to either raise or fold.

However, given that it was near the end of play for the day, was it possible Perper made the common mistake of altering his game for the sole sake of surviving to the next day?

“I don’t think it was a huge factor that we were close to bagging and tagging (chips),” Perper said, “other than the fact that it was late and I was tired. That said, I was very proud of making it to Day 3 in such an incredible field. Knowing I would likely be on to the next day was a small but non-zero factor compared to how upset I would be if I busted while exhausted. I think most players don’t care that much about making it to another day. It’s really just the next hand of the tournament. Having a chance to recharge and come in the next day with a well-thought-out plan is definitely nice, but it doesn’t affect play too much.”

Another factor that influenced Perper’s decision was how long it took him to act on his hand.

Generally speaking, a short-stacked player wants to show strength when committing his or her chips in the hope that opponents will fold marginal hands. The longer it takes players to pull the trigger on a shove, the weaker they’re perceived. Perper was well aware of this.

“I figured Hellmuth would realize I wasn’t super strong, increasing the chances he would call me with hands that I’m a favorite against when a major factor in the argument for shoving is to get a fold from some of those hands,” Perper said. “I think if I had snapshoved, he would have folded a bunch of hands that he wouldn’t have folded after me thinking for a while.”

There are two major takeaways from this hand. The first is that you should never let a nonfactor such as the amount of time left in the day’s play influence your game. The second is that you should always be aware of your table image and act accordingly. Chad Holloway is a 2013 World Series of Poker bracelet winner and media director for the Mid-States Poker Tour.