Hand of the day 02/02/10
Posted Tuesday, February 02, 2010 by bparis
Hi everyone, I know it’s been quite a while since my last hand of the day but I’ve been grinding a ton lately and have played many interesting hands in the past couple of weeks, so I’ll be sharing some of them with you in the upcoming days. This hand comes from the $300 six max tournament on Full Tilt that runs every Saturday. This tournament is generally somewhat tough and aggressive, and this table was no exception, as I recognized all of the players as regulars.
Full Tilt Poker Game #18042688340: $200,000 Guarantee (131876872), Table 31 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold’em - 15:34:12 ET - 2010/01/30
Seat 1: ceilidh_cu (3,600)
Seat 2: crzysavage (2,540)
Seat 3: bparis (4,905)
Seat 4: kunkles27 (1,975)
Seat 5: Aguskb (3,080)
Seat 6: TAKETHECAN0LLIS (4,900)
kunkles27 posts the small blind of 20
Aguskb posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to bparis [Jd As]
TAKETHECAN0LLIS raises to 100
ceilidh_cu folds
crzysavage folds
AJo generally doesn’t play too well against a UTG raiser’s range, but since this is six max, we can definitely play the hand. With about 120 big blinds each to start the hand, I’d rather 3-bet this than call, in order to set up a lower SPR and gain the initiative in position. Our hand isn’t likely to flop better than a decent one pair, so ideally we’d like to pick up the pot as soon as possible, either pre-flop or on the flop, with our aggression. Another advantage to three-betting AJ here is that if you do get four-bet, it’s not a big deal, as AJo plays horribly against a four-bet range. This pre-flop spot is fairly interesting in that all three options could potentially be correct, but since I’d like to maintain an aggressive posture and keep my 3-bet ranges as wide as possible, I’m choosing to take the most aggressive option here.
bparis raises to 305
kunkles27 folds
Aguskb folds
TAKETHECAN0LLIS has 15 seconds left to act
TAKETHECAN0LLIS calls 205
*** FLOP *** [8s Js Td]
TAKETHECAN0LLIS checks
So he flatted our three-bet after opening UTG, which enables us to narrow his range fairly significantly right off the bat. I think at this point he mostly has AQ, mid pairs, maybe KQs type hands, with the occasional suited connector thrown in. He could also have some slowplayed strong hands like TT+. We have top pair with the ace of spades, which could turn out to be significant on future streets. I think betting here is definitely the best play for us, as we hate many of the turn cards, and we can comfortably fold to a check-raise, as it would usually be either a set or a monster draw. Keeping the initiative in position will also make the hand easier to play on future streets, and force him to show his strength (if he’s strong) immediately in order to defend against the many draws out there.
bparis bets 420
TAKETHECAN0LLIS has 15 seconds left to act
TAKETHECAN0LLIS calls 420
*** TURN *** [8s Js Td] [5s]
TAKETHECAN0LLIS checks
bparis has 15 seconds left to act
So he’s check/called the flop, a line which probably means a medium-strength draw or one pair hand. He’s not strong enough to raise this flop against our three-bet / c-bet range (which should be perceived as being fairly strong as he opened UTG), so we’re likely ahead. We’ve picked up the nut flush draw as well, a welcome development. The question now is bet or check again? While checking is definitely the safe play for pot control, there is definitely value in betting, as we’ve figured we are very likely to have the best hand. Since we have the As in our hand and the Js is on the board, the only realistic flush combos he can have are KsQs or KsTs, both of which are likely to have check-raised the flop. He could also have something weak like 6s7s, but the point is that most flush combos, especially the ones he’d call a three-bet with pre-flop, flopped well enough to check-raise the flop, meaning we can discount them. We can also discount sets and two pairs, as he opted not to check-raise a very drawy flop. For these reasons, we figure to be ahead and therefore should continue betting.
bparis bets 755
TAKETHECAN0LLIS has 15 seconds left to act
TAKETHECAN0LLIS has requested TIME
TAKETHECAN0LLIS raises to 1,678
Wow, the impossible happened - he check-raised us. The pot is laying us almost 4-to-1 odds to call this with a half-pot bet remaining for the river, so even if we know we’re beat and we’re just drawing to our ace of spades, we likely have to call. However, the analysis undergone above leads me to believe that we are usually still ahead in this spot, and he’s using the scary board to turn one of his weaker hands into a bluff (or semi-bluff). Folding can mostly be eliminated as an option due to the pot odds, so do we call this or re-raise it? I think with position, calling can’t possibly be a mistake, while re-raising potentially could kill your value from worse hands and only get called by better. It is probably a reasonably close decision here, as the pot is already very large, but in this spot I opted to just call and use any additional information to make the best possible river decision.
bparis calls 923
*** RIVER *** [8s Js Td 5s] [8h]
TAKETHECAN0LLIS has 15 seconds left to act
TAKETHECAN0LLIS has requested TIME
TAKETHECAN0LLIS bets 2,497, and is all in
bparis has 15 seconds left to act
bparis has requested TIME
The river was a good card for us, as it made his slowplayed sets less likely. Now the only strong made hands he can have are TTT and KsQs or KsTs (along with the occasional 6s7s). Since he didn’t check-raise the flop, all of our analysis on the turn still applies, and the pot is laying us 3-to-1 odds, meaning we only need to be right 25% of the time to make a call correct here. Could we be wrong and be up against a made flush or full house? Sure, but not anywhere near 75% of the time.
bparis calls 2,497
*** SHOW DOWN ***
TAKETHECAN0LLIS shows [Kh Qh] a pair of Eights
bparis shows [Jd As] two pair, Jacks and Eights
bparis wins the pot (9,860) with two pair, Jacks and Eights
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 9,860 | Rake 0
Board: [8s Js Td 5s 8h]
Seat 1: ceilidh_cu didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 2: crzysavage didn’t bet (folded)
Seat 3: bparis (button) showed [Jd As] and won (9,860) with two pair, Jacks and Eights
Seat 4: kunkles27 (small blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 5: Aguskb (big blind) folded before the Flop
Seat 6: TAKETHECAN0LLIS showed [Kh Qh] and lost with a pair of Eights
So he had a medium-strength draw that wasn’t strong enough to check-raise the flop. While I wasn’t expecting to put in my whole 100 big blind stack with one pair, sometimes the circumstances of the hand combine to make it the correct play. Paying close attention to the action on every street enabled us to progressively narrow his range and make the correct call.
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