Chris Moneymaker commented again on one of his main moments in this edition of the WSOP Main Event. The 2003 world champion explained in detail the ‘hero call’ that resulted in his elimination on the tournament bubble against Antonio Vargas. In an interview with ACR Poker, he revealed the entire reasoning behind the decision.
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Thus, Moneymaker recalled that he started Day 4 with 221,000 chips, equivalent to just under 28 big blinds. There were 1,389 players left, only seven above the payout range. Therefore, he stated that he still had room to contest pots and did not intend to just wait for the bubble to burst.
However, he assessed that Antonio Vargas was taking advantage of the bubble pressure to increase aggression with a very wide range. In the decisive hand, Moneymaker opened from the hijack and called Vargas’s 3-bet holding J♥9♦. According to him, the choice happened because of the read built during the tournament.
Thus, the legendary player who is one of the people responsible for the so-called poker “boom” had reasons to face this play. Moneymaker believed that the opponent was frequently applying pressure and could be using various marginal hands at that moment, but the result ended up being different.
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Moneymaker believed in the tie
However, the flop came 8♥7♠7♦, Vargas made a small bet and Moneymaker stayed in the hand with a straight possibility. “I had the straight draw, was getting good pot odds and that size didn’t make me think his range had turned into just big pairs”, he said.
Additionally, the turn brought the 7♣, forming a set on the board. Vargas bet again, and Moneymaker decided to call once more. In the champion’s view, the third identical card reduced the combinations of hands containing a seven. At the same time, he believed the opponent would continue applying pressure with bluffs.
Finally, the river 8♠ completed the full house on the board. Vargas put the opponent all-in. “I wasn’t calling because I thought jack-nine beat aces. I was calling because I believed a sufficient part of his range was playing only the board. He might be the only player against whom I would make this call”, he summarized. However, Vargas revealed A♥A♠ and eliminated Moneymaker.
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