Isaac Haxton
Outcome
Manlius native Isaac Haxton is one of the highest-ranked poker players in the world. At the poker table, every one of Haxton’s moves, even a million-dollar bluff, is calculated. To the untrained. Issac Haxton aka Hollywood Haxton is back on the Poker Life Podcast today. Ike is one of the top all around poker players in the entire world.
Preflop, with eight players remaining and blinds of 1,500,000-3,000,000 with an ante of 375,000, Aleksejs Ponakovs called from middle position. Grayson Ramage called from the cutoff. Jonathan Proudfoot called from the small blind. Isaac Haxton checked the big blind. On the flop Proudfoot, Haxton, and Ponakovs checked. Ramage bet 4,950,000. Proudfoot folded. Haxton called. Ponakovs folded. On the turn Haxton checked, and Ramage bet 16,500,000. Haxton check-raised to 46,500,000. Ramage called. On the river Haxton bet 35,370,000. Ramage moved all-in for 159,521,254 and Haxton folded.
Isaac Haxton: On Poker And Refusing PokerStars' Olive Branch
Isaac Haxton Poker
Analysis
Ike Haxton
This hand sees four players take a flop, a pretty unusual happening at a high-stakes final table. The family pot resulted from Aleksejs Ponakovs limping in from the lojack with Q-10 suited, which allowed Grayson Ramage and the players in the blinds to come along for one big blind. Isaac Haxton checked his option with pocket sixes and hit middle set on the flop. Small blind Jonathan Proudfoot checked, and Haxton checked behind. Ponakovs checked to Ramage, who decided to take a stab as the last to act with his backdoor flush and straight possibilities. Proudfoot got out of the way and Haxton called with his set. Ponakovs folded and the turn brought the 8´. Haxton checked a second time with his set and Ramage fired a second barrel of 16,500,000, having now picked up four to a flush. Haxton unleashed a check-raise to 46,500,000 and Ramage called. The A´ on the river completed Ramage’s flush, leaving Haxton in a challenging spot as the first to act with what was now third set, as Ramage’s bet-call range on the turn will include some flush-draw combinations. Haxton ultimately decided to make a blocker bet of 35,370,000 into the pot of 117,900,000. The bet of 30 percent of the size of the pot is likely targeting calls from worse hands that might not bet themselves were he to check. Ramage raised all-in with his flush, reducing Haxton’s hand to a bluff catcher which he ultimately decided to fold. The decision was likely informed by the fact that there were two players with 11 big blinds or fewer at the table and a roughly 6.3 buy-in difference ($63,257) between finishing eighth and surviving to the top six, which Haxton would be quite likely to do were he to fold and preserve his remaining stack of roughly 41 big blinds. Ramage took down the sizable pot and moved into an effective tie with Diego Ventura for the chip lead, while Haxton remained the third-largest stack despite losing roughly 42 percent of his chips in this hand.