Hand 2 Hand Combat -- Niman Kenkre

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Kenkre raises to $165 from middle position with the 9 8. Villain1 calls. Villain2 reraises from the big blind to $500.

Craig Tapscott: Let’s start with your read on Villain2.

Niman Kenkre: Villain2 is a very strong regular who has been a professional live-poker player for many years. He is a tough player in all facets of the game, although perhaps his one leak is a tendency to overplay some hands in a deep game.

Kenkre calls.

NK: I called because I think that Villain2 has a tendency to overplay strong starting hands that don’t improve, like big pairs. I also thought that his tight three-betting range made it a +EV [positive expected value] call for me. The tight reraising range is a good thing, because I would almost certainly have a very good idea of how strong he was and would not likely get caught off guard by a speculative hand.

CT: What about the player behind you?

NK: I had mixed feelings about the player behind me. I would like to play the pot heads up as the last to act, since I would probably be able to use my position and my imagination/creativity to win the pot on a lot of different kinds of flops. On the other hand, the player behind me was somewhat weak, and if he called, I think there would be a greater chance that I could win a huge pot if I hit my hand; but I would have to make a hand to win it. Either way, I thought it was a good spot for me.

Villain1 folds.

Flop: 10 6 2 (pot: $1,190)

Villain2 checks.

CT: Is this a sign of weakness or is he trapping you? Can you bet here?

NK: I would often bet here to try to take the pot, but he is certainly capable of check-raising with aces — and I did not want to get blown off my draw by betting.

CT: And if you had no draw at all on the flop, would you take a stab at it?

NK: I would probably bet if I had nothing, since I could comfortably fold to a raise, and I would probably bet if I had a strong draw, since I could withstand a raise. But I didn’t want to bet and have to fold a hand that could in fact hit something big, but that I would not have the odds to draw to.
Kenkre checks.

Turn: Q (pot: $1,190)

Villain2 checks.

CT: I think this check would be a good indication that it’s time to bet, correct?

NK: Yes. I thought that after I checked back on the flop, he would bet A-A or K-K nearly every time on the turn — especially since the board was getting dangerous.

Kenkre bets $900. Villain2 raises to $2,700.

NK: Now, I figured that although he could play A-A or K-K this way, it was more likely that he had either air, like A-K/A-J, or a monster, with Q-Q being the most likely. My draw was really well-disguised, so I figured that if he did have a real hand, I could really take him by surprise and win a huge pot if I hit the river. On the other hand, I also thought that I could pretty credibly bluff a diamond river. And depending on his river action, I might even be able to take a stab at a club river.

Kenkre calls.

River: 3 (pot: $6,590)

Villain2 checks.

CT: Can you fire a bluff at the pot now, since he continues to show weakness?

NK: Normally, I would not try to bluff that river. There were so many draws on the turn, and all of them missed. Moreover, after calling a check-raise on the turn, I would check back with most of my medium-strength hands on the river, so if I bet the river, I’m representing a very narrow, polarized range. And although he can no longer have a monster like Q-Q, which he surely would have bet on the river, he is certainly capable of making a thin call. With all of the draws missing, it would not be totally outlandish for him to call with as light as A-K there. In addition to the cards that make my hand, there were a lot of good bluffing cards that could have hit the river — but the 3 was not one of them. So, sadly, I was going to check back and give up on the pot.

CT: It sounds like there’s more to this hand.

NK: Yes. I observed an unbelievable tell. This was pretty amazing, coming from a very good live-action player like Villain2, but it was unmistakable. I was riffling my chips as I considered whether to bet or not. I was trying to get a reaction from him, even though in reality I was just making sure that I was going to give up on the pot. But while I was doing that, there was a commotion going on at the table behind us. There was some sort of controversy, maybe an argument, and some loud voices. I was fairly oblivious to it, of course — until I realized that Villain2 was watching what was happening there with a lot of interest! That was shocking to me. I would have expected that he would be watching me like a hawk.

CT: Could he be feigning disinterest with a monster?

NK: The only way that he would be so relaxed and disinterested in my reaction and my play was if he had a monster or a hand that he would insta-muck. The only way that he could be able to be so genuinely interested in what was going on behind us was if he had already decided what he would do if faced with a bet from me.

CT: He did reraise preflop. Did you really think he could still have Q-Q?

NK: Well, his play was completely inconsistent with a monster. After check-raising the turn, he would undoubtedly bet the river with a monster, since I would check back with a huge majority of my range there, but might call a bet with a lot of hands that I would check back. And if he had a hand like A-A, K-K, A-Q, or even A-K and was considering a light call, he would be paying attention to me. So, I could only conclude that he had already decided that he had given up on the pot after I had called his check-raise. So, I changed my mind; as I said, I had initially decided to give up on such a brick river.

Kenkre bets $5,500. Villain2 folds. Kenkre wins the pot of $6,590.

Niman Kenkre is a former professional soccer player who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Penn State. Online, he is known as “Samoleus,” and is a highly respected high-stakes cash-game professional. He left a high-paying job as an electrical engineer at MIT in 2006 to turn to poker full time. He is the envy of most online players, as he deposited $25 on Planet Poker years ago, turned it into millions, and has never made another deposit since then. Currently, he is an instructor at Bluefirepoker.com.