Poker Hand Matchup: Jeff Papola vs. Zohair Karim
Jeffrey Papola	Win Pre-Flop	Win Post-Flop	Win Post-Turn
Starting Stack: 133,000	17.82 %	7.58 %	4.55 %
Zohair Karim	Win Pre-Flop	Win Post-Flop	Win Post-Turn
Starting Stack: 142,900	81.71 %	87.88 %	86.36 %	Winner!

Posted On: Oct 01, 2014

Outcome

Preflop, with the blinds at 1,000 and 2,000 and a 300 ante, Player A raised to 4,200 from under the gun, Papola called in the small blind, Karim reraised to 16,800 from the big blind, Player A folded, and Papola called. On the flop Papola checked and Karim checked. On the turn Papola bet 18,000 and Karim called. On the river Papola checked and Karim checked.

Analysis

Some unorthodox preflop play from Papola followed by a highly coordinated board kept Papola out of trouble here, losing the minimum with Kings where so many others would have gone broke citing the ultimate cooler. Papola flatted Player A’s opening raise, under-representing his hand as he set the trap, and Karim obliged him with a substantial reraise that appeared to be a squeeze. Papola might have considered springing his trap with a massive four-bet, but in the end he elected for another flat call, continuing to disguise the strength of his hand. A wet flop came offering straight and flush draws, and Papola continued his passive tact with a check over to the preflop aggressor. This is a spot where a lead-out bet can get expensive, as his opponent might aggressively raise with a drawing hand like A-10. Papola did well to stay cautious here while practicing pot control, dodging bullets on the flop just as he had done preflop. Karim probably didn’t love the board either, and checked it back demonstrating the same mix of caution, pot-control and deception that his opponent had utilized. The turn completed the low part of the straight draw and Papola let out with a modest blocker bet, charging the many hands that he was beating a price to see the river. This was great bet sizing from Papola, just enough to stall Karim from bluffing or raising. Both opponents probably loathed the river card, aware that the board just kept getting worse and worse for their overpairs. Now any Ten had completed the upper part of the straight draw, and a potential flush to the spades was completed as well. There were a myriad of holdings that could easily beat their one-pair hands. They each cautiously checked it through, and must have been quite surprised at each other’s holdings at the showdown. Papola survived the hand, eventually busting in 77th for $7,770, while Karim went on to make the unofficial final table and $46,701 for his 10th place finish.