My favourite hand: Ivan Demidov vs Dennis Phillips (2008)

After finishing 3rd at the WSOPE, Ivan Demidov arrived at the WSOP final table full of confidence and soon made his presence felt with this bluff

Demidov: A-Q
Philips: A-K

The set-up: Play is nine-handed. Phillips limps UTG and the action folds to chip leader Demidov who raises to 1.025m in position. Phillips re-raises to 3.525m but Demidov comes back over the top for 8.225m total. Phillips calls and the flop comes 8-10-J. With 17.26m in the pot Phillips makes a tiny bet of 4.5m, prompting Demidov to shove…

Ivan Demidov

I went into the final table very confident, having finished third in the WSOPE Main Event in London and having made a few final tables in Full Tilt’s FTOPS series. So I was pretty sure I had a good chance of finishing in the top three. I was also pretty sure Dennis would play tight early on and he did. He’s also a little bit emotional – he’d lost a few pots just before the hand, and I think he’s the sort of player who can get affected by that. I also knew about his tactic of limping under the gun. He did that with Jacks against my friend so I knew he wasn’t only doing that with Aces. He limped with strong hands but not just hands that he was willing to go all-in with.

When I raised I thought he may re-raise me, so I was ready for that and had a plan. After he three-bet, our stack sizes were perfect for my move. By four-betting in this spot I only risk 8m, but it makes it really hard for him to move all-in. I am pretty sure he can only shove here if he has Aces or maybe Kings. When he just called, I was pretty sure he didn’t have A-A or K-K, partly because of the stack sizes but mainly because he had brought hundreds of friends and supporters with him. Dennis would never have risked slow-playing a big pair with all those people there. I put him on hands like A-K and Q-Q. He would have folded everything else.

When the flop came 8-T-J, it gave me a double gutshot and overcards. After he led out with such a small bet, I had to move all-in considering the pot odds and the huge chance that he would fold. His bet definitely assured me that he was weak. Even if he called me with something like Q-Q I had outs. It was a pretty easy decision to go all-in. It was definitely the most important hand of the tournament for me. Normally I don’t play like that and won’t make big bluffs. I don’t know how to explain it but I just felt like I had to do it.

I don’t think anyone will ever reach the WSOP and WSOPE Main Event final tables in the same year again. The field at the Las Vegas WSOP is really huge – about 7,000 people. Just to make one final table is near impossible, but two final tables? I don’t think so.

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