Poker Articles

In the wake of the controversy in Las Vegas surrounding the World Series of Poker Main Event final table being pushed back until November, one PocketFiver has been making waves across town at Caesars Palace. There, the WSOP Circuit Event just wrapped up. In that tournament’s Main Event, Ben “bfineman” Fineman finished second to five-time bracelet winner Allen Cunningham, cashing for a healthy $257,637. One week removed from winning Event #2 at Caesars, a WSOP Circuit preliminary event, Fineman finds himself rich with a jolt of momentum heading into the 2008 WSOP. PocketFives.com sat down with Fineman, one day removed from his monster cash in the Main Event, to talk about his experience.

He’s really one of the good guys you’ll find out there. Entering the final table of play in the $5,000 buy-in tournament with a 2:1 chip lead over the next closest player, Fineman explains his calculated strategy, “I didn’t play too many pots early on. There were a number of short stacks to my left who would be willing to shove over my raises. There weren’t many spots where I thought it’d be profitable to open in late position. For the most part, I opened with hands I would be willing to call shoves with.”

Three-handed, Fineman busted Kelly Samson out of the WSOP Circuit Event on the following hand: “When we were three handed, Kelly and I each had about 1.3 million chips. Cunningham had about 700,000. Samson limped and I checked with J-10 of hearts, looking to flop a big hand and capitalize on the two of us being very deep. I ended up flopping a gutshot and flush draw with two overs. He overbet the pot, which is what he had been doing with marginal hands. After he called my raise, the turn gave us both strong hands.  He hit trips; I hit my flush.” Samson cashed for $128,816, his first WSOP cash.

Now with a 3.5:1 chip lead on one of the top tournament players on the planet, Fineman comments on the key hand of the tournament: “Cunningham had about 800,000 chips and I opened with pocket sevens. The flop came Q-5-3 and I meant to bet 100,000 into the 170,000 pot, but made a mental mistake and bet 200,000 instead. He ended up shoving all in and, because of the extra 200,000 that was in there, I was now getting 2:1 odds to make the call. Because of my error, it made it very hard to fold given his range for shoving in that spot.  He ended up doubling up in that hand, which put us close to even in chips. If I made the right bet, I’m pretty sure I could have gotten away from it.”

Fineman cashed for $257,637, his second take in a week. He also won a Circuit Event at Caesars seven days before for $73,566. In 2007, he finished fifth in Event #28 of the WSOP for $100,431, at the time his biggest poker accomplishment, this all coming from a player who previously played cash games predominantly. Living in Las Vegas since 2005, Fineman is now able to hop in any tournament offered. Still, he feels that in the long-run, there’s more money for him in cash games, especially considering the variance of tournaments: “Right before my win in the Caesars preliminary event, I was in a $95,000 downswing from live tournaments. It was standard variance given the size of the buy-ins. You need a huge bankroll in order to play that kind of tournament poker.”

Now over $300,000 richer from the last week of tournaments, Fineman’s plans for the money include paying off some of his mortgage and being able to play in a ton of events. He stated, “I’ll be at the Rio every day during the World Series of Poker.” Other cashes he’s racked up in online tournaments include a fourth place in the Full Tilt $750k Guarantee back in December for $41,400 and a ninth place in the PokerStars Sunday Million in November for $7,933.52. In tournaments tracked for the PocketFives.com Rankings, he cashed 10 times in April for a total of $12,500 and won a pair of WSOP Main Event seats last week. All of that while dominating at Caesars.

If you see Fineman at your table, whether you’re playing in a cash game or sweating out a tournament, watch out. The man has become a successful cash game and tournament pro. Thanks to Ben Fineman for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk with us.