Ivan Freitez: Known as An Unscrupulous Poker Competitor for Cheating Tactics
Some individuals gain recognition due to their accomplishments, while others capture the spotlight due to their unique playing tactics that bring them into large pots frequently. However, others, like Ivan Freitez, are steadily featured in the media for all the wrong reasons.
Freitez is the top money earner in Venezuelan poker history, with just shy of $2.7 million in live earnings. Nevertheless, he has become an emblem of dishonest practices in poker. He frequently ignores the norms of the game as long as he doesn't encounter any serious sanctions from tournament officials.
Appearing to be a part of his larger strategy, Freitez often employs angles whenever the opportunity presents itself. While this does not earn him admiration from other players and tournament directors, what can one do with a person ready to traverse the fine line between what's permissible and what's not without actually stepping over it?
Angle-Shooting to EPT Victory
In 2010, Ivan Freitez stepped onto the global poker stage at the EPT Grand Final. Before this, he had a few cashouts, the most significant one being just under $100,000. He was one among the many poker players at the time.
Arriving at the EPT Grand Final event, Freitez devised a strategy that he believed would give him an advantage. The specifics of this strategy, whether it was one he utilized in other competitions or created explicitly for this event, remain unknown.
Freitez's idea was pretty straightforward and benefited from poker rules. Any verbal statements are legally binding. Therefore, if a player announces an action before placing chips into the pot, that action remains in effect.
During the tournament, in hands where he held the best possible hands or nearly the best hand and was facing a bet from an opponent, he would announce a raise. Then, he'd follow up with putting the calling chips , explaining he meant to call, alluding to the well-known "no speak English" phrase.
Freitez knew these rules inside out and counted on his verbal action to force him to make the minimum raise. He aimed to perplex his opponents and encourage lighter calls.
Throughout the event, Freitez employed this tactic a few times. Eventually, Thomas Kremser, the tournament director, grew exasperated with his antics.
In a scenario reminiscent of previous occurrences, after calling on the flop, Freitez improved to a full house, outclassing Eugene Yanayt's top pair. The turn checked, and Freitez held the highest pair after the river card. Anxious that his top pair was enough, Eugene wagered for value. He then encountered Freitez's "I raise - I meant I call" trick.
Kremser stepped in to settle the matter, announcing that Freitez's raise was binding. However, he did more. He briefed Yanayt about Freitez's history of employing this tactic solely with strong hands and how Freitez would typically display his winning hand once called.
Despite this information, Yanayt decided to call the min-raise. The tournament featured only ten players left, split across two tables of five.
After Freitez laid out his full house, the majority of the remaining competitors were furious, but Yanayt was unperturbed. In a subsequent interview, he mentioned he was perfectly content with how the hand ended as, given his actual hand, he reckoned he would've had to call a larger raise on the river.
Thus, Freitez's angle-shooting cost him chips, illustrating the two-edged nature of playing controversially.
Karma? Really?
If poker was a completely level playing field with poker gods enforcing retribution on cheaters and angle shooters, Freitez likely would've faced a terrible cooler in a later hand and been eliminated from the tournament.
However, that's not how things typically unfold, and karma is a charming concept to believe in, but it doesn't seem to care much about individual poker matchups.
Freitez eventually won the tournament, bagging the biggest award of his career. He pocketed over $2.2 million after conquering Torsten Brinkmann in the head-to-head final battle for the championship. His questionable actions did not earn him many friends, but his bank balance was handsomely increased with $2 million, rendering him unlikely to be bothered.
In the end, Freitez knew exactly how he played and was unbothered by the situation.
Rather than splurging on high-stakes buy-ins, Freitez returned to playing smaller events with the occasional major tournament thrown in the mix.
Regarding his results following the Monte Carlo event, he didn't achieve much to write home about, except for the victory in the $350 Deep Stack Rock 'N' Roll competition in 2015. With a small entry, this was a huge field totaling over 3,000 entrants, resulting in a winnings of $117,366 for Freitez.
The Ivan Freitez Controversy: Just How Bad Was It?
The 2010 EPT Grand Final earned Freitez the title of a despicable poker villain. The poker community was aghast that someone would attempt such a ploy.
After all, isn't poker a refined game? Shouldn't proper etiquette be observed, no matter the result?
Of course, people unfamiliar with regularly playing with big stakes or only gaming with friends could think this way.
But the reality is, players have been pulling angles in smaller events where potential earnings may only reach a few thousand. So why would it be surprising to witness it in a tournament where millions were up for grabs?
It's crucial to note that angle shooting isn't a cool move, and in the grand scheme of things, it's likely to be negative expectation if you aim to be a vital part of the poker community. Angering everyone is bound to backfire.
Notwithstanding, it happens frequently, and as it's not against the rules, it's up to the players to shield themselves.
Tournament directors can act as a barrier, and Thomas Kremser's initiative is a commendable example of this.
Overall, the Ivan Freitez controversy pales in comparison to other scandals in the poker world that make headlines.
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