Poker Hand of the Week: 8/19/16You 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 nine players remaining at a major final table from a starting field of 847. You are already in the money and guaranteed at least $75,000 from your initial $5,000 buy-in, but this tournament features a top-heavy prizepool with $1 million set aside for the winner.
You currently have 2,725,000 in chips, which is good enough for fifth place. The blinds are 30,000-60,000 with a 10,000 ante, giving you 45 big blinds. There are a couple of short stacks sitting with about 20 big blinds, but nobody is in any immediate danger.
The player in the hijack, who started the hand with 3,435,000, raises to 150,000. It folds to you in the big blind and you look down at J
J
. You call and the flop comes down 98
4.
You check and your opponent bets 135,000. You call and the turn is the 2. You check again, and your opponent checks behind. The river is the K and the pot size is now up to 690,000.
The Questions
Do you check or bet? If checking, how much of a bet are you willing to call? If betting, how much? Is this a good spot for a value bet or is your hand more of a bluff catcher? What hands fit your opponent’s range? Given your line, what kind of range can your opponent put you on? Are you ever getting called by worse? Do you regret taking such a passive line?
What Actually Happened
At the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open main event, Tim Burt was holding pocket jacks on a board of 9842K and opted to bet 210,000.
His opponent, Jason Koon, called with K
J for a rivered pair of kings and Burt was forced to muck.
Burt survived long enough to secure a third-place finish for $310,000, but Koon went on to win the tournament and the $1 million 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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