Coming off his bracelet win in the World Series of Poker $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, Matt “mattg1983” Graham went on a tear toward the end of the summer of 2008. He picked up wins in the $33 rebuy on Full Tilt for more than $6,000 and the star-studded $215 Sunday Second Chance on Pokerstars for $53,330. Then on August 5th, Graham won the $109 rebuy on Pokerstars for $38,390.
Graham took some time with PokerNewsDaily to go over a significant pot at the final table of his $109 rebuy victory. With play five-handed, Matt had more than half the chips in play and had been very active, as expected, at the table.
Hand Setup:
Seat 1: 204,403 chips
Seat 2 (Villain): 240,549 chips
Seat 3 (mattg1983): 1,146,389 chips
Seat 7: 241,490 chips
Seat 8: 379,669 chips
Blinds are 6,000/12,000 with a 1,200 ante
PokerNewsDaily: First, can you break down the table dynamics and your image at this point, especially with such a massive chip lead?
Matt Graham: All four of my opponents are trying to outlast each other. I have opened essentially every pot folded to me and also 3-bet liberally. My image is extremely aggro but they haven’t played back at me much at all.
Cards are dealt:
Seat 7 folds
Seat 8 folds
Seat 1 folds
Villain raises 24,000 to 36,000
mattg1983 calls 24,000 with Ad As
PND: Action folds around to the villain in the small blind and he makes a standard raise. You elect to smooth call with pocket aces in the big blind. What made you come to that decision?
MG: My stack size has actually not stopped the small blind from attempting to steal my blinds when folded to him. I have shoved over a couple of these raises but also let him have it a couple of times. I elected to call because if he had a bad hand I want him to catch a piece of the flop and get his chips in. If he did have a big hand here I don’t think he is going to fold it post flop even if he misses. I do not believe he is going to give me credit for a hand, but simply thinks I am playing my position and stack.
FLOP : Ts Th 4s
Villain checks
mattg1983 checks
PND: Are you surprised he doesn’t lead the flop? Why check behind?
MG: I was definitely unhappy when he decided to check. I figured he had a bad hand that didn’t improve so he was giving up on the pot. I checked hoping he would either hit the turn or take a stab on the turn.
TURN: Js
Villain bets 12,000
PND: What does his small bet mean to you when the turn card hits and what are his possible holdings?
MG: I felt the turn bet was a pot control bet. I felt he had “something” at this point but definitely nothing that beat my hand. He would have bet more to build the pot with a huge hand.
TURN: Js
Villain bets 12,000
mattg1983 raises to 41,945
Villain moves all-in for 203,349
mattg1983 calls 161,404
PND: After you put in a raise he goes into the tank before moving all in. What are your thoughts and did you consider laying your hand down at all?
MG: I figured he had a big spade or maybe even a jack when he was tanking. I wasn’t considering folding. I was hoping he would shove so I could insta-call with what was surely a monster favorite.
Hands Revealed:
Villain shows Kh Qh
mattg1983 shows Ad As
RIVER: 9h
PND: Villain hits his four-outer for a straight on the river and doubles through you. However, you still had control of the table and maintained that role until the end. Some players blow up after taking a beat like that. How do you keep your composure?
MG: That was a pretty brutal river, but I knew I had control of the table and one river card wasn’t going to change that.