I've been arguing with some of my friends about how Ben Lamb played the first hand on Tuesday night, and I would love to hear what others think. I get that Lamb may have assumed that Staszko was going to fold enough of his range that the play was going to be profitable, but against the part of his range that Staszko is calling with, he is somewhere between an 11:9 underdog and in deep, deep trouble. Assuming that Lamb was the best player left and that he plays better after the flop than the other two, was shoving a big mistake?

Bolded part is the only bit you really need to read.

And don't forget it was 3handed.

There is another thread on this already, but I agree lamb is so much better he could have picked a better spot.

Most people I have spoken with about this would not have done what he did. But then again, neither them or myself have made +$5 mirrion this WSOP.

Yer it is easy to be a couch critic, but I would of thought because Ben had position on Hinze there was not much need to make this play?

Ahhhhhhhh, the illusion of fold equity, we've all been there!

Except I've only been there at the 8k Guaranteed Final Table

I don't think lamb was the best player at the table to be honest. Maybe best PLO player, but I think he could have waited for a better spot. Staszko opened his range up because of 3 handed and he saw footage, and Lamb really didn't take that into consideration with the shove. I think he's calling with a number of hands there, and kj is not ahead of most of them.

range this,range that,nobody was thinking range..he just tried to make a statement early, and it backfired.i thought the call was worse but it worked..lamb cut his own throat because i think at worst he would have taken second

Really? This is a thread?

The fact that he was thinking of folding 77 for a minute means it was a standard ship. Hes seen the tapes and knows hes gonna come out firing, if this wasn't the first hand nobody would bat an eyelid.

I think he was the best by a solid margin at the ft at any form of poker.

While I don't think it was awful, it was far from standard. Maybe in an every day online tournament blahblahblah, sure. If he had 25 or less big blinds I don't hate it, but you had 50 ****ing BBs. It's 3 handed at the Main Event final table, play. You know you can.

While I do believe he gave the hand thorough analysis in his head, I do agree that he tried to come out firing, and wanted to show these guys he wasn't ****ing around and he got picked off with an actual hand. 77, although not amazing, is a hand I can't blame Staszko for wanting to flip with there. I'm sure he knew what he was getting himself into.

I've definitely made bad shoves in tournaments, and I've definitely made bad plays, we all have, sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.

A case can be made for a call, fold, or shove I'm sure. This is just the one tournament in poker I think it's completely ****ing ok to be results oriented. It's the first hand and you have a good amount of chips, just play a few hands before you stick it in with KJo in a bVb.

i didnt even see the hand, but if he was an 11:9 underdog vs. calling range
(lol) it would be the easiest shove ever.

if you really want to know whether it was a good play or not, maybe you should ask someone that really knows a lot about that sort of thing, like ben lamb.

Putting all his money in with King-Jack, calling. This is not somefin', someone to learn from.

I didnt see much of the coverage, but do we have reason to believe Staszko was 3betting wide and would fold a lot to a 4bet? I think theres a good chance that Staszko will call off like 90% of his 3b range to a shove.

he definitely didn't learn that at camp hellmuth!

Pretty standard three handed any other time. With the amount of money and title at stake, I would think it would be better to give the other two players a chance to make a mistake or find a better spot. Pretty big payout jump from third to second. Life changing money to most people. That is Lamb's game though and that is what got him that far. Congrats to Ben on one hell of a year.

Just picking up that pot would have been huge for Lamb. Does a lot for Ben to win that pot in terms of momentum and control of the table if Stazko lays down dem 7s

people make it that deep in the main event precisely because they treat it as any other tournament. those who dont are the ones who blind down.

the shove is standard and i laugh at those who say otherwise

If you read my poker strategy I tell everyone never never overplay king jack

that's solid advice. what about making bad calls? should you ever make bad calls with KJ?

I think there is a thread about this in every subforum.

Though this one should be the most entertaining.

That was the "Yeh I 3bet this to call a shove, but I really don't want to" look.

You're confusing this with the crying call look.

Standard shove IMO. Staszko can easily be trying to send an early message to Lamb about raising him bvb, plus its 3-handed FFS, it's not actually easy for Staszko to have a better hand than KJo. If Lamb wins the flip this thread never exists.

People keep saying it is totally standard. And a lot of the time it is. But I am wondering, in this exact spot vs this exact villain, how often is Lamb getting a fold? Is this the kind of player who does not 3bet bluff often and typically 3bets a value range that he will not get pushed off of? Im not sure what some of these posters mtt experience is, but there are definitely players out there that 3bet fairly tight and dont shut down once they make the 3bet. Is Staszko one of these players?

stas had def been 3 betting light a decent bit on sunday and hes just as much an online player as anyone else despite his age.