Poker Hand Matchup: Neil Blumenfield vs. Pierre Neuville
Neil Blumenfield	Win Pre-Flop	Win Post-Flop	Win Post-Turn
Starting Stack: 27,475,000	53.35 %	96.46 %	90.91 %	Winner!
Pierre Neuville	Win Pre-Flop	Win Post-Flop	Win Post-Turn
Starting Stack: 14,350,000	46.08 %	3.54 %	9.09 %

Posted On: Dec 09, 2015

Outcome

Preflop, final table, seven handed, with the blinds at 250,000 and 500,000 and a 50,000 ante, Blumenfield raised to 1,200,000 from early position and Neuville called in middle position. On the flop Blumenfield bet 1,600,000 and Neuville called. On the turn Blumenfield checked and Neuville checked. On the river Blumenfield bet 4,000,000 and Nueville called.

Analysis

Neuville elected to flat call with his big slick in position. Taking flops with AK is much more agreeable in position rather than out, so there is less motivation to reraise pre flop. The flat call can disguise the strength of his Ace, and it can also induce a squeeze play behind him. If so inclined, Neuville could shove his 29 big blinds into an opponent who three-bet the action behind him. Neuville was fortunate to flop his set while his opponent also made top pair top kicker. You will often see inexperienced players overplay their one pair hand in this spot and go broke to the set. But not Neuville, who was content to flat call Blumenfield’s lead-out. Blumenfield didn’t have to worry about the potential for straights and flushes on the turn, where he improved to the full house. Neuville checked behind, controlling the pot size while under representing his hand. This line might induce a bluff from Blumenfield on the river, and it also loses the minimum to a hand like A-Q or 4-4. The Queen was actually a good card for Neuville as it made him wary he could be behind trips now, but in reality it also gave him some counterfeit outs for a bigger full house should another King or Queen peel on the river. Blumenfield bet out on the river leaving Neuville in yet another tough spot at the final table. Now Neuville was losing to Queens and a possible flush, but he had underrepresented his hand and still had enough showdown value to make folding unappealing. Blumenfield, along with Zvi Stern, was one of the wild cards at the table who were less predictable and certainly capable of bluffing. Neuville sunk down to 7.5 million after the hand, a disappointing trajectory after starting the tournament in 4th place.