Poker Hand Of The Week: 8/22/13

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

You are heads-up in a live multi-table tournament and are enjoying a chip lead of 7.7 million to 4.1 million. With the blinds at 40,000-80,000 with a 10,000 ante, you have just over 96 big blinds.

You look down at K5 on the button and raise to 175,000. Your opponent calls and the flop comes down Q53 giving you middle pair.

Your opponent checks and you continue for 175,000. Your opponent check-raises to 500,000 and you call. The turn is the 6 and your opponent suddenly slows down and checks.

He has roughly 3.4 million behind and you have him covered by about 3.6 million.

The Questions

Do you check or bet? What does your opponent’s flop check-raise and subsequent turn check say about his hand? Is he simply giving up on a failed bluff attempt? Does the 6 somehow hurt his hand in some way? Or is he going for a second check-raise? If betting, how much? Are you betting for value or to protect your hand? If checking, what range of cards are you looking for on the river to bet for value or as a bluff?

What Actually Happened

The hand went down at the World Series of Poker Circuit Foxwoods main event. After Wes Wyvill checked the turn on a board reading Q536, Jason Strasser opted to bet 700,000. Wyvill called and the river was the 5.

Strasser moved all in and after tanking for two minutes, Wyvill called all in for his tournament life. Strasser showed his trip fives and Wyvill turned over the Q, revealing the fact that he flopped top pair.

Wyvill was eliminated in second place, earning $115,069. Strasser took down the tournament title, the gold ring and the $186,600 first-place prize.

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.

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