888poker Hand of the Week: Weiqi Liu Wins a 5-Way All In
In the world of ICM (independent chip model) and laddering up, it's pretty unusual to see a five-way all in, but that's exactly what happened on Day 2 of Event #58: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and only one hour into the money.
PokerNews Live Reporting Blog:
From the PokerNews Weiqi Liu had a decision to make. Four other players were all in already, and he was making up his mind whether to join the party. He took a bit too long, and the clock was called, but eventually, he called to make it a five-way all-in.
Liu went into the preflop action in a bit more detail with PokerNews.
"The whole hand was kind of weird. The under the gun player, Tony Hoang, shoved. The guy to my right, Daniel Stanley, shoved for about 15k, and I'm not worried about him either. I got AK off suit, and I decided to call the 15k because I wanted to see how the players behind would act.
"The small blind, Kenneth Marker, shoves for 33k. I'm worried about this shove because it's really strong. Then the big blind, Alfie Adam, went all in for less. And then the action is back to me."
"I actually thought about folding but only for a split second."
Liu went into the tank and admitted that he didn't really entertain a fold, but he wanted to run through the hand in detail. Ace-king shrinks up significantly when there are four people all in. So, why did Liu end up making the call?
"I realized I didn't have many outs to win it. While I was tanking, I was trying to recall the hands that were played earlier. I actually thought about folding but only for a split second. I was most worried about the small blind player [Marker] and realized he was playing pretty loose. I had everyone covered, so I wasn't at risk. I felt I was pot committed, and even though it wasn't easy, I decided to call."
After Liu made the call, the hands were tabled.
| Daniel Stanley: | Q♥Q♣ | ||||||
| Kenneth Marker: | J♥J♣ | ||||||
| Alfie Adam: | 4♣4♠ | ||||||
| Tony Hoang: | A♦6♦ | ||||||
| Weiqi Liu: | A♣K♥ |
Liu was relieved when the hands were tabled to see only one of his outs gone. He may not have realized that his hand only had a 20% chance of winning against the field.
From the Blog:
Everyone had their own sweat to cheer for. Hoang was convinced diamonds would come to his rescue while Adam had his bag slung over his shoulder but was still convinced he would get quad fours.
When the pot was all sorted, the dealer put out the cards 8♣10♠7♥10♥K♣.
The river delivered that "king out" and Liu jumped out of his chair in delighted surprise before settling down. He had knocked out four players in one fell swoop, and the entire pot was pushed his way.
Liu hails from New York and has only been playing poker for about a year. He primarily plays cash games and doesn't consider himself well-versed in tournament play. Basically, he thinks of poker as a serious hobby.
"I love the thinking, the strategy, and mentality behind it, but playing poker is a tough lifestyle."
"I love the thinking, the strategy, and mentality behind it, but playing poker is a tough lifestyle. I'm not sure I could do full-time. I think I want something more stable."
Liu only entered this tournament because his friend convinced him that it would be fun. When asked if he would have made the same decision again knowing he was only a 20% favorite against the field, he responded, "I think so. If I was closing the action, I probably would have folded, but since I already invested half the chips necessary, I felt I was committed."
Winning this hand most likely helped Liu ladder up to place 76 out of 1,763 entries for $4,358.
