button in SafariDid Chip Leader 'Disrespect' Poker By Refusing to Bust Short Stack on Bubble?
A high-stakes poker player accused his opponent of "disrespecting the game" for leaving the short stack with less than a big blind instead of putting him all in during a recent Poker Masters event.
John Krpan lashed out to Nick Palma, who wasn't in the hand, about Clemen Deng, the chip leader on the bubble in Event #4: $10,500 No-Limit Hold'em. Deng, instead of forcing Joey Weissman to play for his entire stack, let him off the hook and kept him alive on the bubble. But there was some meta strategy behind what Krpan felt was "disrespectful" play.
Krpan Not a Fan of Modern Poker Strategy
With 13 players left — 12 to be paid — and the blinds at 15,000/30,000, Weissman raised from the button to 180,000 with A♦K♦, leaving just 10,000 behind. Deng, the big blind with around 1.6 million, just called with 3♣3♥ instead of putting the small stack all in.
The board ran out 9♦8♥4♥10♠J♦, and both players checked it all the way through. Deng's small pair held up, so he scooped the pot, leaving Weissman with one-third of a big blind on the bubble, to which Krpan took issue.
"Disrespect the game. It's what you did — disrespected the game," Krpan told Deng, who responded, "it's part of my strategy."
Palma then jumped in to defend Deng by explaining modern tournament poker strategy: "No, that's how it is now. It's strategy."
"I'm not defending him for no reason, that's just how the game is now," Palma continued.
Krpan wouldn't give in. He continued to criticize the play and went so far as to say he won't continue playing "because you're disrespecting the game."
Although Krpan gave zero interest in the strategy behind the one-chip behind move, Palma explained the reasoning. He said: "The reason why he leaves him with a 10k is because he wants to have everyone short so he can continue to raise and abuse the bubble. It has nothing to do with, he's not disrespecting anyone."
Deng, by not busting Weissman, can, as Palma briefly explained, continue to raise preflop and take down pots with junk hands on the bubble. The other players are likely to be waiting for Weissman to bust so they can make the money, and are unlikely to play anything but premiums until that happens.
Deng, at that point, can afford to splash around and increase his stack simply by abusing the short stacks who won't play any hands until the player with one-third of a big blind busts on the bubble. It benefits the big stack for the money bubble to last as long as possible.
Weissman's decision to leave a chip behind when he raised paid off. He didn't win the hand, but he spun up his stack to around 190,000 and avoided the bubble. Adrian Mateos, who has bubbled three events during PGT's Poker Masters series, bubbled.
Krpan, a recreational player who appeared in the Molly's Game movie poker scenes, lost a race immediately after the bubble burst and finished in 12th place for $20,000, whereas Weissman took that last chip to ninth place and $24,000. Deng finished runner-up to Vitalijs Zavorotnijs and cashed for $144,000.
The one-chip move has become trendy in high rollers the past couple of years, and it isn't just the big stack using it to their advantage on the bubble. Short stacks will often leave a chip behind when a big pay jump is coming, so as to leave open the possibility of folding to a raise. This tactic is especially effective when the player is on the button and can fold the next six or seven hands without putting a chip in the pot.
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