Tough Spot From My Global Poker League Match

The action in the Global Poker League has been fast and furious. I have played three times, going 2-1 in my first heads-up match and then taking a fifth and a third in six-handed play. You can watch the replays of all of my matches at JonathanLittlePoker.com/GPL. All in all, I am happy with my play.

I got hit by the deck in my first two heads-up matches, then made what turned out to be too loose of a call when I rivered middle pair, but my opponent, Joao Bauer, rivered a gutshot straight. Middle pair isn’t a good hand when your opponent has the nuts! Each heads-up game you win is worth three points, so I earned six points for my team, the Las Vegas Moneymakers.

My six-handed matches have been quite tough so far. I was likely one of the weakest players in my first match, featuring Olivier Busquet, Darren Elias, Anton Wigg, Tom Marchese, and Jason Lavallee. I was dealt pocket Kings twice early in the match, but failed to get any action. I then picked up pocket Tens, but I was against pocket Aces. I didn’t have much going for me in this match. Fifth place earned me a paltry single point.

My second six-handed match went much better than my first. I got away with a fun check-raise bluff on the turn and generally got to play some poker. Even though I took third place by running J-6 into J-7 on a J-7-4-8-J board, I think I played great in this match. Third place was worth a respectable three points.

In my second six-handed match, I made a fold with A-K before the flop that I initially thought was close, but upon further analysis, I realize was optimal. With five players remaining at 300/600-75, I raised to 1,500 out of my 18,500-chip stack with A-K from first position. Tyler Kenney, who had played quite snugly in the Global Poker League so far, reraised to 4,155 out of his 30,000-chip stack from the cutoff. The button folded and then Marc-Andre Ladouceur, who also seemed to generally be in line, went all-in from the small blind for 24,500.

If I was only facing a three-bet, I would have happily pushed all-in with my A-K, but when facing a three-bet from someone who I perceived to be in line, plus an all-in four-bet from another player who I also thought was in line, A-K shriveled up. While it is unclear how often Kenney is bluffing, I didn’t think he was bluffing too often. I assumed his value range was something like A-A – 10-10, A-K, and A-Q suited. Perhaps he three-bets with other high-card hands and smaller pairs with the intention of folding if someone goes all-in, but I didn’t think that was the case too often. I also thought Ladouceur had almost entirely value hands, perhaps A-A – 10-10, A-K, and A-Q suited. While he is certainly capable of bluffing in this spot, my general read was that most solid players were not trying to be heroes in the Global Poker League.

Assuming Kenney will fold every time if I go all-in (which certainly isn’t realistic as he will never fold A-A and K-K) I will have 43 percent equity versus Ladouceur’s perceived range. Since I need to win roughly 40 percent of the time to break even based on the pot odds, calling is a marginally profitable decision, at least in terms of chips. However, since you win points based on where you finish in the Global Poker League, there are payout implications to be considered. This means that I need to win a bit more than the pot odds dictate, meaning I should make a snug fold.

Notice that if Tyler calls Marc’s four-bet all-in plus my all-in, he will likely have A-A – Q-Q. If we add that range into the mix, I will only win 19 percent of the time, putting me in horrible shape. All in all, even though I have A-K with a somewhat short 30 big blind stack, I have to fold.

Unfortunately for me, Kenney had Q-Q and Ladouceur had 10-10. An Ace came on the flop and I would have tripled up. However, you cannot be results-oriented. Looking back, I am happy with my fold and I am glad I made it in front of a large audience in real time. If you haven’t already, be sure to watch the replays of my Global Poker League games at JonathanLittlePoker.com/GPL. Thanks for reading! ♠

Jonathan Little is a two-time WPT champion with more than $6 million in tournament winnings. Each week, he posts an educational blog and podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com, where you can get a FREE poker training video that details five things you must master if you want to win at tournament poker.