Poker Hand of the Week: 9/25/15

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

It’s day two of a major live tournament. Over 1,000 players entered and there is a little less than 400 players remaining. Only 100 players will make the money.

A player who started the hand with 30,900 raises to 1,700 in early middle position and gets called by the hijack, the button and the small blind. You look down at 85 in the big blind and toss in the call.

The flop comes down K1010 and everyone checks. The turn is the Q and again you check. This time, the original raiser bets 3,500 and everyone folds to you. You decide to call and the river is the A, completing your back door flush.

There is 16,300 in the pot and you have 35,600 remaining in your stack. You bet 10,000 and your opponent moves all in for a total of 25,600.

The Questions

Do you call or fold? What kind of hand is your opponent representing in this spot? What does the pot odds say about your decision? Do you feel your hand is underrepresented? Is it possible your opponent is raising with a value hand worse than yours, or is he strictly raising with either a monster or a bluff? Do you regret betting the river?

What Actually Happened

At the 2015 WPT Borgata Poker Open, an unknown player bet 10,000 holding 85 on a board of K1010QA and was raised all in by Pete Skyllas.

The unknown player tanked for a long time before eventually calling and was shown the bad news. Skyllas showed KJ for a royal flush and took the pot.

Not only did Skyllas double up in the tournament, but thanks to a promotion with Royal Caribbean, the WPT also awarded him with a free cruise.

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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