POTD #44 Xuan Liu vs Kristen Foxen at the WPT Global Slam FT.

Can Xuan pull the trigger?

Playing poker on stream can be physically taxing¹ and stressful. I know what it’s like to play on stream, and yet whenever I’m watching a stream, I have a temporary amnesia where I forget what it’s like. “That’s an obvious bluff. How could anyone fold here?” is an easy thing to say from your couch. It’s a lot harder to do under time pressure when you don’t have RFID cards telling you the answer. One of the nice things about playing poker on stream is it has reduced the amount of time tossing and turning, asking the eternal poker question, “What did they have?” Many of the biggest pots I play are streamed. If I want to know what someone had, all I need to do is wait 30 minutes to an hour and see for myself. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule, and we will be talking about one today: when you give up and your opponent has a good bluff catcher. Would they have called? You’ll never know.

In today’s hand, Xuan Liu gave up on the river against a very strong bluff catcher and went on to win the tournament. A beautiful thing about winning a poker tournament is that any doubt, frustration, or self-criticism about the missteps you made along the way temporarily evaporates, once you’re hoisting the trophy. The time for reviewing your play is later; for now, every mistake you made was something that led to your inevitable victory. Remember to smile in your winner’s photo. The give-up worked for her, but is it good in theory or versus her opponent? We will find out today.

The Hand

Triton Montenegro 2025 Event #1, $25k WPT Global Slam

Day 2, Final Table, 6 left. Blinds 100k/200k/200k BBA

Preflop: Xuan Liu (3.5m) raises to 400k UTG with A♥️4♥️; folds to Kristen Foxen (4.8m) in the BB who defends with K♥️T♣️.

Flop (1.1m): 9♥️ K♠️ 7♣️ Kristen checks, Xuan bets 350k, Kristen calls.

Turn (1:8m): 4♣️ Kristen checks, Xuan bets 700k, Kristen calls.

River (3.2m): J♥️ Kristen checks, Xuan checks.