Poker Hand of the Week: 1/8/15You Decide What's The Best Play |
|
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 at the final table of a major Las Vegas poker tournament and with just three players left, you are guaranteed at least $562,736 from your initial $10,000 investment. Second place will earn $869,683 and the winner will take home $1,477,890.
With 10,610,000, you have a big chip lead over your two opponents. The player on your left has 2,275,000 and the player on your right has 4,700,000. With the blinds at 50,000-100,000 with a 15,000 ante, you have 106 big blinds in your stack.
You start the hand with the button and look down at K
2. You min-raise to 200,000 and the small blind, who is the shortest stack, folds. The big blind calls.
The flop comes down 9
7
4 and your opponent checks. You fire in a continuation bet of 150,000 and your opponent calls. The turn is the 8, giving you a flush draw, and this time your opponent leads into you for 350,000.
You decide to raise to 850,000 and your opponent takes about 30 seconds before calling. The river is the 10
and your opponent checks. The pot now stands at 2,495,000 and your opponent has 3,485,000 remaining in his stack.
The Questions
Do you bet or check behind? If betting, what are you trying to represent? Is the 10 a good card to bluff on? What kind of hand would your opponent check on the river given how coordinated the board is? What does your turn raise say about your hand range? If you do decide to bluff, what size bet should you make?
What Actually Happened
At the 2014 World Poker Tour Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic main event, Garrett Greer faced a decision holding K2 on a board reading 974810.
He eventually opted to bet 750,000 and after a minute in the tank, his opponent, Brett Shaffer, made the call with 87 to win the pot with two pair. Perhaps a larger river bet would have been more effective.
The pot wasn’t enough to improve Shaffer’s position at the table, as he ultimately busted in third place, earning $562,736. Greer went on to finish runner-up, taking home $869,683. The eventual winner was none other than Mohsin Charania, who earned his first WPT title and the $1,477,890 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.
Copyright © 2001-2024
CardPlayer.com. All rights reserved.
