The “Perfect” Poker Hand: Inside Alex Foxen’s WPT® Five Diamond Winning Line

Why this hand gets called “perfect”

“Perfect” here does not mean Foxen needed the river club. He was far ahead from flop to turn. The line looks close to perfect for three practical reasons:

• He uses one clear strategy from preflop to river.
• Every action fits his range, the stack sizes, and the pay jumps.
• He puts Toby Joyce in a nightmare spot with top pair and a bad kicker.

It is also a great teaching hand. The board is fairly dry. Both players make top pair. There is no preflop all in. The whole hand showcases ranges, stack depth, and pressure rather than a simple cooler.

The stage: WPT® Five Diamond and what was at stake

Foxen already had history here. He finished second in the same event in 2017. By late 2019 he was near the top of every ranking list and in a tight race for his second straight GPI Player of the Year title. Winning this final meant:

• A Five Diamond title after coming so close before.
• Back-to-back GPI Player of the Year.
• Another engraving on the Mike Sexton WPT® Champions Cup.

Heads up, stacks were not even. Blinds were 200,000 / 400,000 with a 400,000 big blind ante. Foxen had the chip lead, the story line, and every reason to keep pressure on.

The hand: A♣ J♠ vs J♥ 9♣

Board: J♣ 5♠ 3♦ K♣ 4♣

Numbers below are rounded to big blinds to keep the ideas clear.

Preflop: limp with a strong but not premium hand

Action:

Foxen limps for 1 BB. Joyce checks. Pot to the flop is about 3.5 BB.

Concept: limping strong hands heads up

In many modern heads-up approaches, top players limp part of their range on the button at this depth. That range often includes:

• Strong unpaired hands like AJo and KQo.
• Medium hands that play well postflop.
• Some traps with monsters.
• A few weaker hands for balance.
   

Limping keeps the pot smaller with the full range and makes it hard for the big blind to know whether he faces strength or a float.

Flop: J♣ 5♠ 3♦ – both make top pair

Hands after the flop:
Foxen: top pair, top kicker.
Joyce: top pair, weak kicker.

Action:

1. Joyce checks.
2. Foxen bets 1 BB into 3.5 BB.
3. Joyce check-raises to about 2.75 BB.
4. Foxen 3-bets small to about 5 BB.
5. Joyce calls.
6. Pot going to the turn: about 10.75 BB.
7. Joyce’s remaining stack: about 11 BB.

Why Foxen’s flop line works so well

Small c-bet (1 BB)

In limped pots on dry boards, strong regs often use very small flop bets. On J-5-3 rainbow:

• Foxen has the range edge after limping strong hands.
• Many worse pairs and backdoor draws can call.
• A tiny bet pressures complete air without risking much.

Joyce’s check-raise with J♥ 9♣

Joyce has top pair with a weak kicker and a short stack. The check-raise tries to:

• Charge draws.
• Push back against what looks like an automatic small c-bet.
• Take control of the hand.
   

In some matchups this can be fine. Against an elite opponent with a big lead, it starts to build a big pot out of position with a hand that rarely sits at the top of the range.

Foxen’s small 3-bet

This is the key decision. Many players either call the raise and keep the pot small or raise big and plan to get the money in at once. Foxen chooses a small 3-bet.

That line:

• Punishes loose check-raises.
• Builds the pot without committing himself.
• Sets up a stack-to-pot ratio near 1:1 on the turn.
   

From Joyce’s side, the danger grows. He now has top pair in a pot where most better Jx and overpairs sit in Foxen’s range and the SPR is very low.

Turn: K♣ – pressure card for the in-position aggressor

Board: J♣ 5♠ 3♦ K♣

The king brings an overcard and adds a backdoor flush draw.

Action: Joyce checks, then Foxen moves all in. Joyce thinks for a long time, uses time extensions, and calls for his tournament life.

Foxen shoves about 11 BB into a 10.75 BB pot. Total pot after the call is around 33 BB.

Why the K♣ favours Foxen’s range

Think about the ranges after the flop action.

Foxen, who limped and then bet, 3-bet, and stayed in position, can easily have: KJ, KQ, and some AK, Sets, Better Jx or New flush draws.
Joyce, who checked preflop and then check-raised, is weighted toward:

• Jx hands.
• A few 5x or 3x.
• Some bluffs and random draws.
   

He has fewer strong Kx combos. So the K♣ improves Foxen’s side more often and puts Joyce’s top pair deep in kicker trouble.

With A♣ J♠, Foxen still has top pair, top kicker, plus the ace of clubs as a key blocker. Shoving the turn:

• Gets value from worse Jx that feel too strong to fold.
• Protects against river cards that could kill action or make Joyce a better hand.
• Uses the low SPR to put max pressure on a shorter stack who faces a big pay jump.
   

Solver-style strategies also like small flop bets and low-SPR turn shoves in spots like this, even if exact ranges differ. The line fits that model.

Joyce’s call needs Foxen to over-bluff and to shove enough weaker Jx. Against a tighter value range, J9o is in rough shape.

How the hand played out…

River: 4♣ – pretty card, no longer needed

The river 4♣ completes Foxen’s backdoor flush. The pot was already decided. Joyce was behind from flop to turn and drawing very thin once the money went in.

Joyce finishes runner-up for $1,120,040. Foxen wins $1,694,995, the WPT® Five Diamond title, and locks a second straight GPI Player of the Year award.

Is this hand really “perfect”?

No hand is perfect in a strict sense. Players never see all the cards or know real frequencies. This one looks very close to ideal in three ways.

Strategy fit

• Limping AJo at this depth fits modern heads-up mixes.
• Small flop bet matches a balanced range strategy.
• Small 3-bet punishes check-raises and controls pot size.
• Turn shove uses stack leverage at the right time.
   

Nothing is random. Each step sets up the next one.

Range advantage

From preflop to turn, Foxen:

• Keeps his range strong and wide
• Forces Joyce to defend with hands under that value range.
• Attacks a turn card that helps his side more often.
   

The result is clear: A♣ J♠ against J♥ 9♣ on this board is a clean case of same pair, better kicker, plus key blocker.

Stack-to-pot ratio and ICM awareness

After the flop action the pot is about 10.75 BB and Joyce has about 11 BB. Many rivers would put the chips in anyway. By shoving the turn, Foxen:

• Denies free cards.
• Avoids messy river spots.
• Keeps full control with a strong one-pair hand.
   

Heads up, ICM is lighter than at four or five handed tables, but the last pay jump still matters. Foxen uses his lead to keep Joyce under maximum pressure while still betting hands that play well all-in.

Could Toby Joyce have escaped?

Coaches like this hand because Joyce’s line feels natural and painful at the same time. Many players go broke here without thinking twice. There are two real turning points.

Flop check-raise

Raising the small bet with J9o:

• Grows the pot out of position.
• Exposes the weak kicker against a player who limps strong Jx.
• Pushes the SPR down toward commitment.
   

Flat-calling keeps the pot small and leaves more room to navigate turns and rivers.

Turn call

Once Joyce check-raises and then calls the 3-bet, he reaches the turn with top pair and a pot almost equal to his stack. Facing the shove, calling means he believes Foxen jams enough worse Jx and bluffs.

Some reviewers argue that this is a fold against a strong, tight value range. Top pair can be folded when:

• The kicker is weak.
• The board favours the aggressor’s range.
• The bet is for most of your stack.
   

That is the hard lesson. Heads up does not remove kicker problems.

What you can copy in your own games

You may never play a $10k WPT® final, but the ideas from this hand scale down well.

Limp some strong hands heads up

When stacks are deep:

• Add hands like AJo, KQo, and medium pairs to your button limping range.
• Mix in a few traps with big hands.
   

Opponents cannot read limps as weak and will make more mistakes postflop.

Use small flop bets in limped pots

On dry boards, you apply pressure often without risking big chunks of stack.

• Bet small with a wide range.
• Expect loose calls and some light raises.

Fight frequent check-raises with small 3-bets

If someone starts check-raising many flops:

• Respond with small 3-bets using strong one-pair hands and some bluffs.
• Force them to define their range and play larger pots out of position.
   

Track stack-to-pot ratio

Before betting each street, ask yourself:

“If I bet and get called, how big is the pot compared to our stacks?”

In this hand the flop action leaves SPR near 1. Foxen knows any big turn bet will put everything in. That clarity makes decisions easier.

Respect kicker trouble

When you have top pair with a weak kicker:

• Slow down against large bets.
• Think about how many better kickers your opponent can have.
   

Not every top pair is a stack-off. Folding in spots like Joyce’s saves whole tournament runs.

Watch the hand and go deeper

To see the full picture, watch the official WPT® Five Diamond final table clip of this hand and follow the action while you read this breakdown. Then look at other WPT® hand analyses and strategy pieces to build a small library of “reference hands” you can revisit.