Dara O’Kearney: Tales From the WSOP 2025 Part 6

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Prelude

If you have kept up with parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of my World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2025 series, then you will know how I have performed at the tournament so far. Next, I’m going to break down my most interesting hands from Day 1 of the Main Event.

I didn’t want to get into murky spots early on with cash game players

In the past, my approach to all WSOP events, but especially the Main, is to play a very tight and cautious style early on, looking to take advantage of opponent errors and overly wide ranges. This means I rarely bust out early (in 15 attempts, I’ve only managed to bust out once on Day 1 of the Main, and that was a cooler three hands before the end). However, it also means I rarely accumulate a big stack in the early going. One big reason for this strategy is as a pure tournament specialist, deep stacked play was my biggest weakness, so I didn’t want to get into murky spots early on with cash game players much more at home in these spots.

In the last 18 months though, most of my own study has been directed at deep stack play, and I’ve been more likely to build stacks in the early stages (and also more likely to bust early). My main meta strategy this year has been to play as many pots as possible early on in tournaments against the weaker players and try to push my perceived post flop edge. This has worked out very well with me accumulating in the early stages most of the time.

I sat down right at the start of Day 1D. Blinds were 100/200 with a 200 bb ante and starting stack 60k. My table was six-handed for now and included online phenomenon Bryan Paris, a very good young Asian pro, and a guy who plays 25k high rollers. So all in all, a much tougher table than average. We were likely to break at some point, so I amended my game plan somewhat to steer clear of the tougher players and try to play as many pots as possible against the others.

Hand one

Utg opens to 500. He’s the high roller and has been very active so far (small sample size obviously). The small blind who I have identified as the clear value on the table (no Hendon mob, and he’s already made several clear mistakes) makes it 1500. I’m in the big blind with AKo.

This seems like a clear spot to four bet. That should force the opener out and allow me to play in position against the fun player. I make it 3700, utg folded and the small blind called.

Flop:
Jh Th 7d

The small blind checked. This is a much better board for me, I have more sets and overpairs so I bet 2500 and he called quickly.

Turn:
4h (so flush gets there)

He checks. I think this is a much better card for him than for me, so I checked behind.

River:
Qd (so we make the nut straight)

He checks again. I focused on two data points:
(1) He’s very sticky
(2) I hadn’t seen him bluff yet

I therefore bet 7k, expecting all his one pair hands to call. He snapped with KQo

Hand two

It’s still early in level 1 (bb200) and I’ve chipped up to over 70k. It folds to the button (table fun player, weak passive, down to 40k already) and he limps.

The big blind has about 60k and he’s a fairly typical American recreational

I’m in the small blind with KhQd. The big blind has about 60k and he’s a fairly typical American recreational.

I raised to 900 (I could have gone even bigger against this button). The big blind folds and button called without any thought.

Flop:
Ts 7s 5c

In theory this feels like a good hand to check and it won’t fold better or get called by much worse when bet, but against an opponent who is too wide preflop and very straightforward postflop I decided to cbet 700 as an exploit. My read on him was he was far too wide pre, and not aware enough to bluff. He was playing pretty honest, folding when he had nothing, hanging on when he had something, so the main purpose of the bet was equity denial. He calls.

Turn:
7h

This is a much better card for his range than for mine, so I checked and he checked back.

River:
4s (so the flush gets there)

I elected not to bluff for two reasons:
(1) He’s very sticky. I don’t think I can get him to fold almost anything better.
(2) I think I have more showdown than I would against a more skilled player (all the missed straight draws) and he didn’t seem capable of bluffing these so I realize this showdown more than I should.

I checked, he checked behind, and I won, cementing my read on him.

Hand three

Still early in level one (bb200) and everyone has around starting stack (60k). I cover the table with over 70k.

Utg1 (a loose recreational who plays high rollers and is coached by Chance Kornuth) opens to 500. The table fun player in small blind calls. I’m in the big blind with J5dd and call.  My hand seems good enough to call and not bad enough to turn into a bluff. My main meta strategy this year has been to play as many pots as possible early on in tournaments against the weaker players and try to push my perceived post flop edge. This has worked out very well with me accumulating in the early stages most of the time.

Flop:
9c 5s 4h

The small blind checks. I very briefly considered leading before I checked.

my hand seems too strong to consider folding or turning into a raise

The opener bet small and the small blind folded. I called with middle pair, my hand seems too strong to consider folding or turning into a raise but not strong enough to raise for value.

Turn:
8d

I check and he checks behind.

River:
8c

I didn’t think a lead could get called by worse so I checked. He checked behind and I won.

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