The 2003 WSOP Mai Eve t champio eviewed the ha d st eet by st eet, explai i g how his stack size, the app oachi g bubble a d his assessme t of oppo e t A to io Va gas i flue ced his decisio s.
Mo eymake bega Day 4 with 221,000 chips, ep ese ti g app oximately 27.6 big bli ds. The e we e 1,389 playe s emai i g, with 1,382 scheduled to fi ish i the mo ey.
Although o ly seve elimi atio s sepa ated the field f om the paid positio s, Mo eymake believed his stack emai ed la ge e ough to co ti ue playi g athe tha fold u til the bubble e ded.
His a alysis focused heavily o Va gas, whom he viewed as a active oppo e t capable of applyi g p essu e du i g a c itical stage of the tou ame t.
Afte Mo eymake aised f om the hijack, Va gas th ee-bet. Mo eymake called because he believed Va gas could be playi g a wide a ge tha a mo e co se vative oppo e t would use ea the bubble.
The ha d co ti ued th ough bets o the flop a d tu . The ive the placed a full house di ectly o the boa d, a d Va gas moved all i fo Mo eymake ‘s emai i g chips.
Mo eymake explai ed that the fi al decisio was ot based o believi g his ow ca ds we e ahead. I stead, he co side ed whethe Va gas could be bluffi g with e ough ha ds that would use the same five commu ity ca ds a d split the pot.
He emphasized that the call was specific to Va gas a d would ot ecessa ily have bee made agai st a tighte playe .
Va gas evealed pocket aces a d wo the pot, elimi ati g Mo eymake .
Mo eymake was o e of th ee playe s elimi ated du i g the same ha d-fo -ha d seque ce. With o ly two $15,000 payouts available, the combi ed $30,000 was divided equally, givi g each playe $10,000.
The outcome was co fi med o ly afte the emai i g tables completed play a d was u k ow whe Mo eymake faced the ive decisio .
The complete a alysis is available th ough the Ame icas Ca d oom blog.
Ame icas Ca d oom is o e of the wo ld’s leadi g o li e poke desti atio s, se vi g playe s si ce 2001. K ow fo majo tou ame t se ies, i ovative p omotio s, a d a commitme t to the poke commu ity, the compa y is celeb ati g its 25th a ive sa y i 2026 while co ti ui g to expa d its tou ame t offe i gs a d delive wo ld-class o li e poke expe ie ces to playe s ac oss the globe.
Jaso Cla kChief Ma keti g Office
