Poker Hand Of The Week: 11/14/13You 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 six players remaining in the biggest tournament of the year. With 36.7 million, you are sitting comfortably in a near tie for second place. The blinds are 300,000-600,000 with a 75,000 ante, giving you nearly 62 big blinds.
The player under the gun folds and you look down at A
4
. You raise to 1.35 million and the chip leader, a young pro with 58.8 million, makes the call from the small blind.
The big blind folds and the flop comes down QJ10
. Your opponent checks and you fire in a continuation bet of 1.1 million. Your opponent calls and the turn is the 9, putting four to a straight on board.
Your opponent checks again and you bet 2.35 million. He calls and the river is the A, giving you top pair. Your opponent checks for a third time.
The Questions
Do you bet or check behind? If betting, how much? Are you betting for value or as a bluff? If checking, how often do you expect top pair to win? Are you checking because you have showdown value or because you don’t feel bluffing will work? Is there any chance your opponent would fold two pair or better to a river bet? What range of hands do you put your opponent on?
What Actually Happened
After getting called on two streets, J.C. Tran opted to shut it down and check behind on the river holding A4 on a board reading QJ109A.
His opponent, Ryan Riess, showed 1010 for a flopped set and took the pot, increasing his stack to 64.575 million, or 33 percent of the chips in play.
Tran was left with 31.825 million and was eventually eliminated in fifth place, earning $2,106,893. Riess went on to win the World Series of Poker main event, banking $8,361,570.
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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