Steven Labelle recognized when he got heads up that he was against a more skilled player in Michael Malm, and said as much out loud on several occasions during the final table. He also said he was dead tired more than once, and his strategy to deal with both those problems was to shove nearly every hand.
He mostly adopted a shove-or-fold strategy for the heads-up phase, as excellent strategy for anyone who feels outmatched heads up as it removes the possibility for the more skilled player to steal pots on late streets. The strategy kept Malm on his heels, mostly having to fold to the shoves and giving up his calls or raises.
That let Labelle chip back up, and despite Malm doubling into the lead a few times, Labelle was always able to chip back up through his aggression. On the final hand, Malm called off the shove with a hand that had Labelle dominated but the poker Gods are fickle, and Labelle found his kicker for a three-outer win. He had a slightly bigger stack at the time and the ring was his.
That’s a wrap from Deerfoot Inn & Casino for the January 2025 WSOP-C Calgary — I’ll tidy up some final posts and admin work on Tuesday, but that’s another successful Circuit stop for Calgary in the books.
