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Poker Hand Of The Week: 8/15/13

You Decide What's The Best Play

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Give us your opinion in the comments section below for your chance at winning a six-month Card Player magazine digital subscription.

Ask any group of poker players how you played your hand and they’ll come up with dozens of different opinions. That’s just the nature of the game.

Each week, Card Player will select a hand from the high-stakes, big buy-in poker world, break it down and show that there’s more than one way to get the job done.

The Scenario

There are 46 players remaining in a live tournament and with a chip count of 690,000 and blinds of 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante, you have 69 big blinds, good enough for an above average stack.

You look down at ASpade SuitQSpade Suit and min raise to 20,000 from under the gun. The button, a solid player who started the hand with 297,000, makes the call. The small blind calls and the big blind folds.

The flop comes down 9Club Suit3Spade Suit2Spade Suit giving you the nut flush draw. The small blind checks and you continue with a bet of 28,000. Your opponent on the button raises to 76,000 and you call. The turn is the 10Heart Suit and the action is on you.

Your opponent has 200,000 remaining in his stack.

The Questions

Do you bet or check? If betting, how much? If checking, what is your plan if your opponent bets? If your opponent checks behind, what is your plan for non-spade river cards? Given the current pot size and assuming you have 15 clean outs, should you be taking a more aggressive line on the flop?

Allan FarberWhat Actually Happened

At the 2013 Card Player Poker Tour Choctaw main event, Allan Farber was holding ASpade SuitQSpade Suit on a board reading 9Club Suit3Spade Suit2Spade Suit10Heart Suit and elected to min-bet 10,000 in an effort to see the river for cheap.

His opponent, Carlos Sanchez, saw through the move and elected to raise to 48,000. Farber called and the river was the AHeart Suit. Farber checked and his oppponent moved all in for 152,000. Farber tanked for a couple of minutes before sliding out a call and his opponent could only show down 7Spade Suit7Club Suit for a bluff.

Sanchez was eliminated in 46th place, earning $3,574. Farber eventually went on to finish in second place, earning $136,011 at his fourth final table of the series.

What would you have done and why? Let us know in the comments section below and try not to be results oriented. The best answer will receive a six-month Card Player magazine digital subscription.