Poker Hand of the Week: 10/23/15

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

There are 35 players remaining in a major international tournament, but only 32 will make the money. With the blinds at 2,500-5,000 with a 500 ante, you have a stack of 202,500, or 40 big blinds.

You look down at KQ and decide to min-raise from under the gun to 10,000. The button calls, as does the big blind who has a stack of 164,000. The flop comes QQJ and the big blind checks. You continue with a bet of 12,500.

The button folds, but the big blind calls and the turn is the 9. The big blind checks again and you bet 38,000. The blind blind calls again and then checks the 2 on the river. You have 142,000 remaining and your opponent is sitting with 103,000.

The Questions

How big are you sizing your river bet? Does the fact that you are nearing the money bubble affect your bet size? Do you think your opponent has a strong hand or a medium strength hand? How do you size your bet if you think your opponent has a big hand? How do you induce a crying call from a weak hand?

What Actually Happened

At the World Series of Poker Europe main event, Jason Mercier raised preflop and bet every street holding KQ on a board reading QQJ9.

His opponent, Mario Sanchez, called him down and then checked again on the 2 river. Mercier chose to bet 52,000 and Sanchez made the call, tabling AQ for trips with a better kicker.

The hand left Mercier short stacked and he was eliminated just inside the money in 32nd place, earning a min-cash of €20,000. Sanchez went on to make the final table before busting in eighth place for €75,000.

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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