Poker Hand of the Week: 5/22/15You 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.
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The Scenario
You are heads-up in a big buy-in European live tournament and are down nearly 2-1 in chips. With the blinds at 60,000-120,000 with a 20,000 ante, your stack of 3,900,000 is worth approximately 32 big blinds. Your opponent is sitting with 6,450,000.
You’ve been heads-up for about 40 hands and so far the match has gone back and forth with the lead changes a few times. You look down at 9
9
on the button and raise to 260,000. Your opponent calls from the big blind, which acts first postfop, and the flop comes down K
J9.
Your opponent checks. There is 560,000 in the pot and you have 3,620,000 remaining.
The Questions
Do you bet or check behind? If betting, how much? Given you have such a strong hand, how do you extract maximum value? How do you size your bet to ensure you are playing for stacks? Since the flop is so wet, how do you protect yourself from being drawn out on? If checking, what is your plan for uncoordinated turn cards? What about for turn cards that complete straight or flush draws?
What Actually Happened
At the 2015 WPT Amsterdamn main event, Farid Yachou opted to bet 330,000 after flopping a set of nines on a flop of KJ9. His opponent, Steve Warburton, made the call.
The turn was the 5 and Warburton checked again. Yachou bet another 330,000 and Warburton moved all in, having his opponent covered. Yachou called with his set and was pleased to see that Warburton was drawing slim with K
5 for two pair.
The river was the Q and Yachou doubled up to the chip lead. Two hands later, the two players got it in on a classic coinflip and Yachou’s hand held to win the tournament and the €239,559 first-place prize. Warburton settled for the €167,134 runner-up cash.
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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