 ICM makes strange things happen in poker tournaments. That was apparently the case in the finals of MSPT Venetian, where 3-handed game put together Kristen Bicknell, Alex Foxen and Kahle Burns.
Let's imagine that you play an event and there are three players left. There is $120,000 for the third place. Second spot gives you much more – $169,000. The winner scoops as much as $270,000.
You currently have 45% of all the chips in the game. Another player also has 45%. Third opponent sits on the remaining 10%. It is natural that subconsciously you will try to avoid clashed with the big stack and instead try to eliminate the short one.
According to USPoker's Marty Derbyshire this behaviour is quite natural, although some will call it soft playing or even cheating.
We don't have to analyze a theoretical example as this kind of situation has recently happened between two well known players – Alex Foxen and Kristen Bicknell (a couple in private life), who got to the final of Main Event at MSPT Venetian. Their third opponent was Kahle Burns (pictured) from Australia.
The whole thing was treamed on Twitch. Foxen and Bicknell didn't talk much. They didn't do anything that would as much as suggest soft playing. They are romantically involved which must have caused a lot of comment after the game was over.
3-handed game lasted about 4 hours. Finally Burns was out and Foxen shared the pool with Bicknell so they were only playing for a few dozen thousand dollars. Before this all happened there was one hand, that raised a lot of suspicion.
Burn had about 750,000 in the stack. Foxen and Bicknell had 2,200,000 each. Foxen raised from the button with JJ. Burns folded in the small blind and Bicknell made a 3-bet with AA. Foxen called and caught a set on the flop! Bicknell bet 200,000. Foxen called and the turn came K.
Bicknell checked, but then snap called 375,000 bet. The river was another check from her. Foxen thought for a moment and bet 600,000 chips. Bicknell thought about it and finally folded. Foxen showed his set. Bicknell told Burns she had aces.
It is likelt that two players without any private relationship would go all-in on the flop here. Some suggested that was done on purpose to avoid elimination of a partner. Kristen explained everything this way:
– Kahle was on short. It does not matter who it was, two big stacks will never colide if there is a shortstack to be eliminated.
Foxen suggested it was all about implications connected with ICM and differences between particular spots. That is why Alex and Kristen proposed a chop when the game was 3-handed. Burns refused the offer.
The discussion continued on Twitter. James Obst said openly the couple was cheating. He wrote:
– I didn't get angry this summer, but it was painful to see Kahle Burns, who played 3-handed but was actually cheated by the other two participants.
Chris Kruk supported this opinion, but they were both heavily criticized by other users. Such situations are common in tournaments. Two big stacks decided no to go all-in in a game where there was still a short. This would also happen if Bicknell and Foxen weren't a couple.
Derbyshire suggests that perhaps Bicknell and her partner might have been a little bit less ostentious after the hand. They were whispering something which only made things worse from audience perspective.
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ICM makes strange things happen in poker tournaments. That was apparently the case in the finals of MSPT Venetian, where 3-handed game put together Kristen Bicknell, Alex Foxen and Kahle Burns.
