Hand 2 Hand Combat -- Morten Erlandsen

Rebecca McAdam: Before we discuss the hand, what would you say your style is?



Morten Erlandsen: My style is not overly aggressive – actually some players would say that I'm tight compared to average on the stakes I play. But of course, I adjust and can play very aggressive too sometimes.



RM: When you're playing heads up, are there more hands than usual that you would start with and raise with?



ME: I like to raise with suited connectors and with one gap too, especially when I'm against players who are quite deep.



RM: Had you ever played this person before?



ME: Nope, when this hand was played, the game was running for an hour or so. He was very, very aggressive, but not bad. We were 160 big blinds deep.



Pokergirl1 raises to $150 from the small blind. Villain defends and raises to $500. Pokergirl1 calls.



RM: Would you raise your small blind a lot heads up?



ME: Yes. I also have position on him on the flop. That's why I also call his raise.



RM: When he reraises, what were you thinking he had?



ME: It could be anything, because he did this a lot previously. But I have an easy call because I'm in position with a fairly good hand when quite deep.



RM: What was your plan?



ME: I looked at his stack – I had to play $350 more, but he had almost 8k behind. So if I can hit a great flop I can get a big pot – that's what we call implied odds.



Flop: Q 5 4 (pot: $1,000)



Villain bets $600. Pokergirl1 raises to $1,350. Villain reraises to $2,900. Pokergirl1 calls.



RM: If there weren't two spades on the flop would you have laid it down?



ME: Yes I would.



RM: When you hit four to the flush on a flop, what would you recommend betting- some would say to make a medium sized bet to build the pot. How do you know how much to bet to get value without compromising yourself?



ME: It varies a lot from game to game and from opponent to opponent, what has happend previously, how much money there is behind, and stack size is very important. So I can't actually give a short answer here … that's why there are so many books written about poker!



RM: What was your intention here, were you trying to get him to fold?



ME: My plan was to either get him to fold and take the pot right there, or if he calls I can see the turn and he would probably check to me, and if I didn't hit I could check behind and see the river for free. That was my plan, but that didn't happen.



RM: When he reraised you, what did you put him on?



ME: He could have a big range, but I hoped he had a high pair, or A-Q, or a stone cold bluff, because he liked to make many moves. If it's a stone cold bluff (like he actually had), I could hope to hit, or hope that he would give it up on the turn – I could bluff if a blank came on the turn. I actually didn't like his reraise on the flop – it's not what I hoped for. I raised because I had position on him, but then I also had to call because now the pot is big.



Turn: 6 (pot: $6,800)



Villain moves all-in for $4,594. Pokergirl1 calls.



RM: He now has a straight draw (as do you), do you think that is why he goes all-in?



ME: I think he would have moved all-in in that hand on the turn no matter which card came. He probably decided to see if he could bluff me no matter what, but that's only something I can see afterwards.



RM: What was your motivation behind calling with one more card to fall – was it simply the value you could get for hitting your flush/straight?



ME: I am actually lucky that it's a 6 on the turn, because now I simply look at pot-odds … with a straight and a flush draw on the turn, I have to call if the pot-odds are more than 2/1.



RM: I understand he was being aggressive but he had nothing and you were calling, so do you not think that he should have known when to lay it down?



ME: There is thought behind his moves, and he is actually a winning player on high stakes, but very, very aggressive.



RM: What do you think his thoughts were?



ME: To represent a super strong hand. Let's say the turn is an ace, queen, or jack of clubs, what do I do? I have to fold. I call because I pick up a straight draw to go along with my flush draw. My call on the turn is based on pot-odds – I have to call even if he has A-A or a set of queens – I get more than 2/1 on my call. His all-in move of $4,594 gives a total pot of $11,394 -I have to call $4,594 more to win $11,394. I have pot-odds of 2.5/1 in that spot.



River: 5 (pot: $15,988)



Pokergirl1 wins the pot with 9 high.



RM: When the 5 drops and the cards are turned over you probably think you're dead…



ME: I had a friend watching from behind while I played that hand – when he put me all-in I just said, "Argh, now I simply have to call because of pot-odds" … then I call and miss. I didn't believe my own eyes when the pot went to me. We actually had to look at the hand history, it went so fast that we first thought something was wrong with the software. Then we could see he had 8-3. If u look at it, you can see how many combinations he could have that I can beat … not many! 3-2 would give him a straight, all 4's, 5's, and 6's would give him a pair to win; and all over nines, I would lose to too. There is simply only three combinations – 8-2, 8-3, and 7-2 – all other hands, I'm beat (laughs).



Thirty-six-year-old Danish online pro Morten Erlandsen has been playing professionally since 2002, and for the past five years has been living off his winnings from heads up and shorthanded online cash games. His latest endeavour is his new site, www.Pokergirl.nu, which offers coaching, staking, and rakeback and bankroll deals, as well as rake races where players can qualify for unique tournaments both online and live. In January 2009, he joined Team Mermaid, and in his first six weeks on board won just under €200,000. He now seeks his first major live win to go with his remarkable online success.