www.CardPlayer.com Vol. 34/No. 3 January 27, 2021 Shifts In Poker Strategy With Ping Liu Bet Sizing For Premium Pocket Pairs Kentucky Wins $1.3 Billion Lawsuit Against PokerStars DAMIAN SALAS WINS 2020’S EXTRAORDINARY WORLD SERIES OF POKER $10,000 BUY-IN MAIN EVENT FIRST-EVER ARGENTINIAN WORLD CHAMPION TRIUMPHS IN EVENT MARRED BY DELAYS AND PLAYER DISQUALIFICATIONS PLAYER_35_3B_Cover.indd 1 1/5/21 9:07 AM PLAYER_03_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 2 1/4/21 12:03 PM PLAYER_03_GlobalPoker_DT.indd 3 1/4/21 12:03 PM Masthead - Card Player Vol. 34/No. 3 PUBLISHERS Barry Shulman | Jeff Shulman Editorial Corporate Office EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Julio Rodriguez 6940 O’Bannon Drive TOURNAMENT CONTENT MANAGER Erik Fast Las Vegas, Nevada 89117 ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER Steve Schult (702) 871-1720 Art [email protected] ART DIRECTOR Wendy McIntosh Subscriptions/Renewals 1-866-LVPOKER Website And Internet Services (1-866-587-6537) CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER Jaran Hardman PO Box 434 DATA COORDINATOR Morgan Young Congers, NY 10920-0434 Sales [email protected] ADVERTISING MANAGER Mary Hurbi Advertising Information NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Barbara Rogers [email protected] LAS VEGAS AND COLORADO SALES REPRESENTATIVE (702) 856-2206 Rich Korbin Distribution Information cardplayer Media LLC [email protected] CHAIRMAN AND CEO Barry Shulman PRESIDENT AND COO Jeff Shulman Results GENERAL COUNSEL Allyn Jaffrey Shulman [email protected] VP INTL. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Dominik Karelus CONTROLLER Mary Hurbi Schedules FACILITIES MANAGER Jody Ivener [email protected] Follow us www.facebook.com/cardplayer @CardPlayerMedia Card Player (ISSN 1089-2044) is published biweekly by Card Player Media LLC, 6940 O’Bannon Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89117. Annual subscriptions are $39.95 U.S. ($59.95 U.S. for two years), $59.95 Canada, and $75.95 International. Remit payment to CUSTOMER SERIVCE, CARD PLAYER MAGAZINE, PO BOX 434, CONGERS, NY 10920-0434 or call 1-866-587- 6537. Periodicals postage paid at Las Vegas, NV, and additional mailing offices USPS #022-483. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to CARD PLAYER MAGAZINE, PO BOX 434, CONGERS, NY 10920-0434. Card Player makes no representations as to whether online gaming is legal in your community. Please check with your local authorities. Reproduction or use in whole or part is prohibited without prior permission from the publisher. Contributors are afforded the opportunity to express themselves to the fullest; however, statements and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the publisher. Information is gathered only from sources considered to be reliable; however, accuracy is not guaranteed. Publisher does not endorse any of the products or services advertised in this magazine, nor is publisher responsible for the contents of any ad copy. Published and printed in the United States. 4 CARDPLAYER.COM FOLLOW US ON TWITTER CardPlayerMedia 004_MastheadB.indd 4 1/4/21 12:09 PM PLAYER_22_ACR_FP.indd 3 9/29/20 9:49 AM Table of Contents - Card Player Vol. 34/No. 3 18 22 16 Features Strategies, Analysis Also In this Issue 18 & Commentary 6 Damian Salas Wins 2020’s Extraordinary 26 About Us World Series of Poker $10,000 Buy-In What Will We Remember About The 2020 33 Main Event WSOP Main Event? Tournament Schedules By Erik Fast By Gavin Griffin 22 34 27 Poker Leaderboards Shifts In Poker Strategy With Ping Liu WWFD? Poker Pros Revisit Hands From The Past By Greg Raymer To Show How The Game Has Changed By Steve Schult 28 Tournament The Inside Straight How I Got Banned For Life From The Hand Matchups Golden Nugget 16 8 By Houston Curtis Michael Deinlein vs. Anton Siden Poker News Recap 30 27 12 Discovering Leaks Samuel Vousden vs. Luc Van Der Beek Player Of The Year Update By Nathan Gamble By Erik Fast 31 29 16 Transitioning From Live To Online Poker Manuel Ruivo vs. William Kassouf Head Games: Proper Bet Sizing With By Jonathan Little 32 Premium Pocket Pairs Manuel Ruivo vs. Samuel Vousden By Craig Tapscott Cover ©WSOP.com Cover 6 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3 006_TOC.indd 6 1/5/21 10:25 AM PLAYER_03_Venetian_FP.indd 3 1/4/21 12:03 PM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT the INSIDE STRAIGHT News, Reviews, and Interviews From Around the Poker World AS GRUDGE MATCH HITS HALFWAY MARK, DANIEL NEGREANU PUTS A DENT IN DOUG POLK’S LEAD By Steve Schult After being down nearly seven- Doug Polk Daniel Negreanu fi gures to Doug Polk, Poker Hall of Famer Daniel Negreanu won several buy-ins over the last few sessions of their high-stakes grudge match to fi n- ish the year down slightly more than $770,000 as their high-stakes grudge match reaches its halfway point. Polk had been up more than $957,000 through 9,950 hands head- ing into one of their mid-December sessions. Up to that point, the gen- eral consensus was that Negreanu was running poorly, having been on the wrong end of several coolers. Even Polk admitted as much. But Negreanu won $143,642 over 834 hands in a marathon session to cut Polk’s lead to just over 20 buy- now offi cially leads by $770,254. half. If you were down 49-0 against ins. After Negreanu’s victory, the duo “We kind of thought it made sense a really good team, you might go took some time off to play the online to stop at the halfway point and ‘You know what, guys? Let’s pack it portion of the $10,000 World Series readjust, see if we want to continue in for the second half. Let’s not get of Poker main event, but came back playing or not.” said Negreanu after out there. Let’s go have some beers.’ in late December to play three more the match. “It’s kind of a good time But I don’t think it’s quite that bad,” sessions before the year’s end. because our next match isn’t until Jan. said Negreanu. “It’s 19-0. He’s up 19 e six-time WSOP bracelet win- 4 and we can decide, will the match points. ree touchdowns is what I ner won another $117,962 on Dec. 21 continue?” need, and that’s essentially what three to bring the defi cit below $700,000, According to the agreed-upon big winning sessions could look like. If but Polk won nearly all of that back in terms of the match, the player who you play longer sessions, you can win their penultimate session on Dec. 23. is down at the halfway point has the 10, 12, 15 buy-ins, especially as the After a break for the holidays, Polk option to quit. With Negreanu down stacks get deeper. I’m going to have to and Negreanu played one fi nal session slightly more than 19 buy-ins, he has run really hot to win the match, but he on Dec. 28. the right to stop playing and cut his did that in the fi rst half. As the match Negreanu won roughly a buy-in of losses, if he wants. went longer, I started playing better $40,000 in the fi nal session of 2020 When asked if he was going to keep and better. e version of me today before stopping exactly at hand no. going, however, Negreanu seemed is not the same version of me in the 12,500. rough the halfway point optimistic and made it look like the fi rst week.” of their 25,000-hand match of $200- show would go on. In a tweet promoting a stream of $400 heads-up no-limit hold’em, Polk “It’s [like] a football game at the the match, Polk also made it seem like Sign Up For Card Player’s Free Poker School. Review Hundreds of Articles and Videos On Winning Poker Strategy. www.CardPlayerPokerSchool.com 8 CARDPLAYER.COM VOLUME 34 / ISSUE 3 008_News.indd 8 1/5/21 8:56 AM THE INSIDE STRAIGHT the pair would be playing more heads- all of it, winning more than three buy- the green. up poker in 2021. ins before running a couple massive, e bluff caught the attention “We will be hitting the 12,500- unsuccessful bluffs. of four-time bracelet winner Shaun hand mark today. Will DNegs tap out? With $20,000 in the middle, and Deeb, who needled Polk that the Tune in to find out!” tweeted Polk. the board reading Am Jo 9p 7p 4o, play must have been a setup to keep But in a follow-up post of the Negreanu checked and Polk moved Negreanu playing the second half of thread, Polk simply wrote, “No, he all in for about $60,000 with 8o 2o. the match. won’t.” Negreanu quickly called and showed “Nice to see [Doug] punting today Despite Negreanu winning a buy- the nut straight to take one of the to make sure Daniel has a winning ses- in back in their most recent session, biggest pots of the match. He won a sion and doesn’t quit at 12,500 hands,” Polk was in the driver’s seat for nearly few more pots and ended the day in tweeted Deeb. m KENTUCKY WINS $1.3 BILLION LAWSUIT AGAINST POKERSTARS By Steve Schult On Dec. 17, the Kentucky Supreme Court reinstated a 2015 ruling from a Franklin Circuit Court, ordering PokerStars to pay roughly $1.3 billion to the state. e suit was originally filed in 2010 by Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet J. Michael Brown, who now serves as Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive cabinet sec- retary, for $290 million against the online poker site.