It was late on Day 7 of the 2014 World Series of Poker Main Event. Felix Stephensen, an internet poker pro from Norway, was sitting behind a chip stack of 15 million, placing him fifth out the rest 15 players and only six spots clear of the November Nine. Together with his every move under a microscope and all the poker world watching, Stephensen had carefully and calculatingly climbed the leaderboard without putting his stack susceptible to serious damage in the course of the day.
That quickly changed in Level 33. With the blinds at 120,000/240,000 and a 24,000 ante, Stephensen was sitting within the small blind when he peeked down at 
. As he waited for his turn to act, he watched a large number of action play out in front of him.
First Mark Newhouse raised to 500,000 from middle position. Then Thomas Sarra Jr. called directly behind, and Bruno Politano called from the cutoff besides.
When the action reached Stephensen he opted to reraise, pushing 2.25 million into the pot. The large bet forced a fold from Newhouse, but Sarra Jr. fired back with a four-bet to 6.7 million. Politano folded, and Stephensen suddenly faced the largest poker decision of his life.
We sat down with the Norwegian pro to get his thoughts in this critical moment and the way the verdict that followed helped secure his seat on the final table.
PokerNews: That is obviously an enormous hand that at last boosts you into the chip lead with 14 players left normally Event. Talk us through it from the start.
Stephensen: Well, I REALLY tousled the bet-sizing. I WISHED to three-bet to 1.75 million but I went 500K an excessive amount of. I SUPPOSE it worked out (laughs). If I'M GOING to 1.75 million, [Sarra] probably folds.
That’s interesting. So then Newhouse folds, and Sarra reraises to 6.7 million. What’s facing your mind?
At this point I FEEL we’re probably flipping somehow. Even perhaps chopping. Tens, jacks, queens and ace-king appear to be essentially the most likely hands [for Sarra]. I can’t really fold either way — ace-king suited against some weird action, and that i think he was steaming just a little bit, too. He had recently lost a reasonably large pot against [Luis Velador].
I thought it over for a couple of seconds after which jammed it in for slightly below 15 million. Obviously I USED TO BE up against the nut hand for my ace-king.
Right… Sarra calls and flips over the 
and you’ve got him dominated. Do you're thinking that he was priced in to name there?
Yeah, I BELIEVE he was. He only had like 6 million more — half his stack. He’s obviously screwed after I jam because I’m going to have a very strong range there to get it in. I’d say ace-king is pretty with regards to the ground of my range. I flopped a fair hand and held up.
Editor’s note: The board runs out 
, and Stephensen rakes within the biggest pot of the tournament to that time. Sarra is eliminated in 14th place.
We heard Sarra tell someone that he was having a difficult time keeping his eyes open late within the tournament. That can have even affected the best way he played this hand. Did you've gotten any problems coping with fatigue?
I’m pretty used to setting up long hours, but that’s mostly in front of the pc. I USED TO BE obviously tired during that week — the setup is so intense. You stand up at 10 or 11 a.m., attempt to get some breakfast, go play until 1 or 2 within the morning, after which I WANT an hour or two simply to wind down. I couldn’t go on to sleep afterwards.
The days are really intense and also you don’t get any time to come back in your feet. You simply must manage all of the way.
What was your strategy going forward when you won the 25 million-chip pot against Sarra? Were you trying to coast into the November Nine or were you looking to build a large stack to have on the final table?
I was planning to place some pressure at the shorter stacks. On reflection now I probably will have applied a little bit more pressure, but it’s scary fascinated with blowing up. I FEEL I raised a large number of hands, but if we set out to 10 I got the worst table draw. I USED TO BE second in chips but I had Jorryt [van Hoof], the chip leader, to my direct left. He’s pretty active and super good, and Newhouse was on his left. At that time I just decided to tighten up and get to November. I USED TO BE hoping we had another redraw in November but apparently we don’t.
Talk about that. How is that this seat draw going to electrify your play on the final table?
You must have respect for the larger stack in tournaments, so I’m probably going to play somewhat tighter than usual. But I’m not likely to let Jorryt run me over, either.
For more on Stephensen, take a look at his November Nine profile here at PokerNews. And make sure you stay up for more November Nine strategy articles and interviews leading as much as the general table!
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