Poker Hand of the Week: 5/1/15You 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 big buy-in tournament and are the chip leader with five players remaining. The blinds are 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante, meaning your stack of 3,980,000 is worth 79 big blinds. There is one short stack with 19 big blinds, otherwise, everyone else has some room to play.
An unknown, but otherwise successful player raises to 110,000 from under the gun. He started the hand with 3,350,000 and is in second place overall. The action folds around to you in the big blind and you look down at 8
8
.
You call and the flop comes down 10
4
2. You check and your opponent puts out a continuation bet of 120,000. You call and the turn is the 8, giving you a set. The pot is currently worth 510,000.
The Questions
With your turned set on a board with numerous draws, are you looking to get maximum value or protect your hand? Do you check or bet? If betting, how much? If checking, what is your plan if your opponent bets? What if he checks behind? If check-raising, how much? Are you looking to play a big pot or a small pot?
What Actually Happened
At the 2015 World Poker Tour Championship event at the Borgata in Atlantic City, Asher Conniff opted to bet 280,000 holding a set of eights on a board reading 10428.
His opponent, Alexander Lakhov, made the call. The river was the 3 and Conniff bet 645,000. Lakhov called with JJ for an overpair and missed flush draw and Conniff took the pot, along with a huge chip lead in the tournament.
Lakhov went on to survive to heads-up play before busting, earning $573,779. Conniff won the tournament, along with his first WPT title and the $973,683 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.
