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Edited by Samiksha at 26-12-2023 12:47 PM
Living off reporting on poker tournaments has given me the opportunity to witness countless hands, many of which are rich in valuable strategic discussions.
In this series of articles, I will focus on analyzing some hands from the tournaments I've covered to see if we can glean some insights.
Hand Background:
About a month ago, I had the privilege of attending the Mid-America Poker Tour held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I participated in three events but was eliminated each time on the first day despite accumulating a decent stack.
While the results were disheartening, at least I had some hands to use as writing material. This week and the next, I'll discuss two regretful hands that left me shaking my head.
The first hand featured an opponent who seemed inexperienced, with little concept of pre-flop and post-flop betting sizes. For instance, I observed him making pre-flop raises close to 10 big blinds and then revealing a big pair when action folded to him. However, he had a fortunate run and held more chips than I did (approximately 90,000).
Hand Action:
Blinds were 600/1200 with a 200 ante. This player, in an early position, made an opening raise to 8000. I called on the button with A♣️ J♣️, and the two blinds folded.
The flop came 6 ♣️ 7 ♥️ 8 ♦️, and he continued with an 8000 bet, which I called. The turn was 10♣️, and he bet 8000 again, and once more, I called.
The river was Q♠️. He checked, and I bet 15,500. He quickly called, revealing AQ and luckily took down the pot with a top pair on the river.
Concepts and Analysis:
Normally, calling a pre-flop raise with A♣️ J♣️ against an opponent lacking experience is not my style. However, sitting on the button with 75BB and not wanting to continue folding to his raises, I felt throwing in a different play occasionally might not be a bad idea. Especially given his previous raises with strong hands, I believed he likely had a high card, and if we both missed the community cards, I could often take down the pot.
When the flop displayed three unrelated cards to my hole cards, I felt it was a perfect opportunity to execute my plan. I called with a hand that had little potential except for a backdoor nut flush draw, hoping for a thrilling card on the turn.
The 10♣️ on the turn was exactly what I hoped for, providing me with numerous nut straight draws, and another 9 on the river could potentially make me the winner. Now, my opponent bet small, using the same bet size as on the flop and turn.
Having played thousands of hands against inexperienced players, my historical experience told me that this type of play often indicates a weak hand. While there could be exceptions in this specific scenario, my intuition told me I was up against AQ or AK.
However, he could still have a big pair. Perhaps he didn't want to give up the right to bet and felt uncomfortable check-calling with a big pair here.
My initial instinct was to make a massive raise, pushing all my chips in. Assuming the worst-case scenario - he had AA - I still had a decent chance. If my read was correct, I would win a substantial pot here. Then, I thought, why not see one more card? If he had a big pair, I had a cheap chance to complete my flush draw. If he didn't have a big pair, I might be able to bluff and win on the river.
So, I just called, and the disgusting non-club Q came on the river. My opponent checked, and I thought it was best to make a probing bet, checking if he had AK. I considered betting larger, but inexperienced players here often overvalue big pairs and would call anyway. Therefore, I thought a smaller bet would be successful, taking down the pot against AK and saving some chips if I misread.
As the final result showed, he had AQ, hitting a pair on the river. Obviously, it was a cruel river card for me because almost any non-club card could have won me the pot. I couldn't help but reflect on my decision on the turn. If I had trusted my read and gone all-in with the nut flush draw, I could have had a stack close to 100BB.
This hand also illustrates how questionable pre-flop decisions can impact subsequent actions. Folding pre-flop and striking when this player didn't get a good hand would have put me in a strong position. I wanted to pull a little trick, but it ended up backfiring. |
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Post time 11-12-2023 12:33:35