Poker Hand Matchup: Rachid Ben Cherif vs. Pellegrino Marotta
Rachid Ben Cherif	Win Pre-Flop	Win Post-Flop	Win Post-Turn
Starting Stack: 705,000	38.52 %	76.26 %	86.36 %	Winner!
Pellegrino Marotta	Win Pre-Flop	Win Post-Flop	Win Post-Turn
Starting Stack: 126,000	61.06 %	23.74 %	13.64 %

Posted On: Aug 15, 2013

Outcome

Preflop, with the blinds at 4,000 and 8,000 and a 1,000 ante, Marotta raised to 19,000 from the cutoff seat, and Cherif called in the big blind. On the flop Ben Cherif checked, Marotta went all-in, and Ben Cherif called.

Analysis

Marotta was down to 15 big blinds in the cutoff when he woke up with AK. Had he moved in he may well have been called only by dominated Aces or King-x’s and the pocket pairs – he still had enough chips to discourage the marginal and weak ranges in the blinds. However his near min-raise might easily receive one or more calls from a wide range of hands, and he would miss the flop 2/3’s of the time. Marotta did miss, but moved all-in with a disastrous overbet that seems to contradict his preflop strategy of keeping it small until he connected. Ben Charif submitted a well executed check, anticipating a bet from the preflop raiser who posed a limited threat to his chip position. If Marotta felt inclined to bluff at the pot after his preflop line he could also have bet a smaller amount, a bet of 25,000 post flop would still have left him with 10 big blinds and more information heading to the turn. But shoving preflop was arguably his best option. Marotta busted in 397th for $28,063, while Ben Cherif went on to finish in 53rd for $151,063.