Poker Hand of the Week: 9/4/15You 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.
The Scenario
There are three players remaining in a major European live poker tournament. With 18,030,000 in chips and blinds of 150,000-300,000 with a 50,000 ante, you are sitting on 60 big blinds and are the chip leader by a small margin.
The three of you agreed to a deal just a few hands ago, guaranteeing you a payday of €941,613, but there is still another €100,000 to play for, along with the trophy and title.
The button, who started the hand with 17,800,000, folds. The small blind, who started with 14,750,000, raises to 850,000. You look down at J
10 in the big blind and decide to defend.
The flop comes down K
Q2
, giving you an open-ended straight draw. Your opponent bets 900,000 and you call. The turn is the 6 and your opponent checks. You bet 1,300,000 and your opponent calls.
The river is the 4 and your opponent checks again. The pot size is currently 6,250,000.
The Questions
Do you give up and check behind, or do you attempt a bluff? What would be the deciding factor in checking? If betting, how much? What would be the most believable value bet size? How do you maximize fold equity? What kind of hand is your opponent holding after raising preflop, betting the flop and check calling the turn? Should you bet just in case your opponent is holding just the A?
What Actually Happened
Holding a busted straight draw with J10 on a board reading KQ264 at the EPT Barcelona main event, Steve Warburton opted to check behind.
It was a good move, considering that his opponent Frederik Jensen was holding AA and would most likely call any bet.
Despite this hand, Jensen was eventually eliminated in third place, earning €810,294. Warburton finished runner-up, banking €941,613. The title and the extra €100,000 went to poker legend John Juanda, who walked away with a total of €1,022,593.
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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