Poker Hand of the Week: 10/8/15You 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
There are four players remaining in a mid-stakes regional tournament and you are already in the money. The blinds are 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante, meaning your stack of 1,540,000 is worth nearly 31 big blinds. There are two shorter stacks, sitting with 1,400,000 and 850,000, respectively.
The chip leader, who started the hand with 6,250,000, raises to 125,000 in the small blind. You look down at 10
8 and defend your big blind. The flop comes down 10
43
and your opponent bets 100,000.
You call and the turn is the 9. Your opponent bets 275,000, making the pot size 745,000. You have a total of 1,220,000 remaining in your stack.
The Questions
Do you fold, call or raise? If calling, what is your plan for the river? If raising, how much? Given the two other short stacks, what is the best play to ensure you move up the pay ladder? Would you act different if you weren’t up against the chip leader? What would you look for to determine whether or not your top pair is good?
What Actually Happened
At the World Poker Tour Maryland main event, Greg Merson was facing a bet of 275,000 holding 108 on a board reading 10439. He eventually moved all in and his opponent, Aaron Mermelstein made the call.
Mermelstein had pocket jacks, and Merson needed help to stay alive. The river was the K and Merson took home $78,449 for his fourth-place finish. Mermelstein went on to win the event, his second WPT title, and bank the $250,222 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.
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