WSOP Event #32: Jason Lester Gets His Long Overdue Bracelet

When is a pot-limit game not a pot-limit game? Why, when it’s no-limit, of course. In what became a very pre-flop heavy final table, Jason Lester emerged victorious, finally earning his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em event after many close finishes.

Pot-limit differs from no-limit in that, until the blinds get very high, players generally can’t go all-in before the flop. After all, they can only bet as much as the pot. Pot-limit games are very post-flop oriented. But on Monday, in a pot-limit event, it seemed like most of the action was actually before the flop.

The typical “action” hand went something like this: pot bet, pot bet, pot bet all-in, call.

The rest of the hands were actually quite uneventful. It was a very strange final table.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the proceedings was the crowd, namely the cheering section of runner-up, Alan Sass. The 23-year old local had a massive contingent which filled an entire section of bleachers. Well, that is when they were actually sitting in the bleachers. Perhaps because this was a non-televised final table, WSOP officials and security were not too big on crowd control, allowing spectators to stand all the way up to the stage, without regard for the competitors actually playing or other fans trying to see the action. With baseball caps angled any direction but straight and double-fisted beers dripping on the floor, the Sass posse looked like they were milling around at a high-school kegger. Even if you closed your eyes, the fragrance of Milwaukee’s Best Light and dad’s cologne made you wonder where the chaperones were.

On the bright side, cheered hard and often for their friend and did add excitement to what might have otherwise been a relatively boring final table.

Alan did his best, as well, to give the people something to get excited about, as he frequently made big moves with marginal hands or hands where one would think he’s at best a 50/50 shot to win. Fortunately for him, he won most of those hands. Aggressive poker is good poker, and Alan most definitely plays good poker.

But in the end, it was Jason Lester who reigned supreme. As opposed to Sass, Lester took more of a “slow and steady wins the race” approach. He entered the final table as one of the middle stacks, and didn’t seem to want to get into big coin-flip or questionable confrontations. Sure, he pushed a few times when he needed to, but he tried to go for the bigger edges, rather than putting all his chips on the line with small ones. Where he was most successful was playing aggressive with smaller portions of his chip stack. He seemed to know what it would take to get players to fold, and if someone played back at him, it was easy enough to lay a hand down when he hadn’t invested too much.

The final hand, which occurred just minutes after the dinner break, was a prime example of each player’s style, and for once, the money got into the pot after the flop. The flop was 9-2-3 rainbow and Sass led out with a $45,000 bet. Lester re-raised to $120,000 and Sass moved all-in for another $365,000. Lester, after some careful thought, called.

Sass, in what might not have come as a huge shock to those who had paid attention, didn’t have a made hand. In fact, his all-in was really more of a bluff than anything else. All he had was 6-4 suited for a gut-shot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw.

Lester, on the other hand, did have a big edge, holding 9-7 for top pair.

The turn and river cards were both paint, improving neither hand, and Lester had his cherished WSOP bracelet.

Originally published July 24, 2006