Interview of Hasan Habib
Jon Eaton
July 19th, 2005
Full Name: Hasan Habib
Date Of Birth: 4/19/62
Birthplace: Karachi, Pakistan
Now Resides: Downey, CA
Favorite Poker Game: No-Limit Hold ‘Em
Started Playing Poker: 1985, hit the tournament circuit in 1998
Q: Hasan, you have proven yourself to be one of the top tournament players on the tour over the last few years. To what do you credit your success as of late?
A: The last year and a half I've been lucky enough to have a good run in tournaments. Some factors that may have contributed might be: I'm more selective about the tournaments I play, more emphasis on better sleep before tournaments, and a more relaxed tournament style.
Q: Recently, you took third at the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio. You announced during the tournament that you had a percentage of Tuan Le’s action. Tuan went on to win it of course. Tell us what was going through your head when you were three-handed?
A: I would have given up any amount of money that I could have made that day for the title. The title meant that much to me. Not only would it be a lot more emotionally gratifying, the title would probably be more rewarding financially through endorsements also. I had decided to take no prisoners.
Q: I had a chance to watch the episode on TV this week, and it’d be impossible for me to say you weren’t in it to win it. But others obviously might do otherwise in a similar situation. Do you think the issue of people swapping percentages and buying other players into events should be addressed in tournament poker?
A: That is probably a question as old as poker itself. Good players with bad bankrolls will always find people to put them in tournaments. I usually disclose if I have a piece of another player, most are unwilling to. For instance, before the final table started, Tuan and I informed all players and the tournament directors. Obviously this is very rare and it might well have been the first disclosure of its kind in a major tournament. The only problem with mandating such a disclosure is that the only players who will disclose will be the ones who plan to play hard with each other. In fact, they will just get scrutinized under a magnifying glass, so to speak. The proverb, "no good deed goes unpunished" comes to mind here. I really don’t have the answer, but I think we do need to work on it.
Q: The only curious question about the tournament I had was why you folded king-jack to Tuan’s all-in when he held queen-jack. You laid it down face up, and raised some eyebrows. Given the range of hands Tuan could move in with, you didn’t feel that this was a correct call? What were your thoughts on the hand?
A: I think I had a bad read on Tuan and didn't want to double him up to 4.5 million. Earlier during six handed play I laid down K Q when I was getting better odds. Hollink opened for 300k, I called, Phil Ivy called 300k and moved all in for another 900k. With the blinds and antes I was getting better than two-to-one odds. I folded. As it turned out, I would have won and knocked out both the short stacks.
Before the show aired, some people felt I soft played Tuan. But I think and hope they changed their minds after they saw how hard I played against him. For example, raising his blind with 3 4 off-suit, and check-raising him with no pair, no draw after the flop came 8 8 9. And calling his all-in bet with two sevens, etc.
Q: There was one big pot when you were still at two tables I wanted to ask you about. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi had flat-called Tuan Le’s raise in the small-blind, and you re-raised the both of them with queens. Le went away but Mizrachi, I believe the chip leader, pushed all-in with sixes. You thought a long time before calling. What was going through your mind before you made that big call?
A: That was the biggest pot of the tournament up until that point. His hand played like aces, and if I called, it would set me all-in. With 12 players left, I didn't want to jeopardize the tournament. If I folded I would still have above average chips. This was going to be the biggest decision I had made in the biggest WPT event. I thought for a long time, and only called when I thought I had the best hand. Wouldn't you know it, my read was right that time and it propelled me to the chip lead up until we got three handed.
Q: You’ve made a name for yourself with a lot of tournament wins, but you’ve fallen short of the ultimate goal (2000 WSOP, 2004 and 2005 WPT Championship) a few times. Even with all your success in poker, do those big tournaments that you couldn’t put away bother you at all?
A: I contemplate sometimes, how it might be if I had won one of the big ones. But overall, I feel very lucky and I’m very gracious for what I have been able to achieve. I would say the glass is definitely half full, and much more. I can only thank the stars.
Q: In 2001 at the WSOP, I remember reading how you played extremely aggressively and pushed even small edges a lot. You’re style has somewhat slowed down, with more controlled aggression. What caused your drastic change in playing style?
A: I found myself not so comfortable anymore with the volatility inherent in such an aggressive style. Now if I have a bunch of chips, I try to hang on to them with a more controlled style. I still mix it up. I think it helps me focus a lot better.
Q: Besides players buying other players’ action and swapping large percentages, what other issues do you think need to be addressed in poker today?
A: Some of the biggest poker championships today have blind structures that go up so fast that it becomes a crap-shoot. I don't think that's a very prudent way to distribute millions of dollars and determine a champion. It might make for good TV, but it's a shame for poker.
The corporations, casinos and TV stations are making all the big money, feeding on [us players]. It's only fair that the players should have a share of that.
Even the biggest of players are afraid to talk about these issues publicly, because of some sort of possible exclusion or other repercussion from these entities. We know Rome wasn't built in a day but somebody laid the first brick. So c'mon, let’s get together and make the poker world a better place for us.
Thanks for reading and happy bluffing everybody!
