The Problem With Nines In Stud 8 Featuring Randy Ohel

With the return of the live version of the World Series of Poker this past fall, mixed game tournaments were brought back into the limelight as they were basically removed from the online version of the series.

Few players were happier to see those events return than Randy Ohel. The Florida native and Las Vegas resident has more than $2 million in live tournament earnings, almost exclusively from mixed events. He has a WSOP bracelet from the $2,500 2-7 triple draw in 2012 and recorded deep runs in several other events, including runner-up finishes in the 2018 $10,000 2-7 triple draw, the 2016 $10,000 seven card stud eight-or-better championship, and the 2014 $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.

Ohel secured another runner-up finish this past October with a second place in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E, earning $99,276 after falling heads-up to Anthony Zinno. In the last few years, Ohel dove into the poker coaching world and is currently taking students to learn non-hold’em poker variants. He can be found on Twitter @RandyOhel.

He sat down with Card Player to break down a stud eight-or-better hand he played at the final table of the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event.

The Hand

Event – Limits	$1,500 H.O.R.S.E.	100,000-200,000 with a 20,000 ante
Players	Randy Ohel	Kao Saechao
Chip Count	2,500,000	1,850,000
Hand	(K J) A 8 10 6 (A)	(Q Q) 9 4 3 Q (5)

The Action

Six-handed at the final table, during a round of stud eight-or-better, Randy Ohel completed on third street and only Kao Saechao called. On fourth, Ohel bet, and Saechao called.

On fifth street, Ohel checked, Saechao bet, and Ohel check-raised. Saechao called. Ohel bet sixth and seventh street with Saechao calling on both streets. Ohel showed an ace-high flush and scooped the entire pot against Saechao’s trip queens.

Steve Schult: Given that Kao has a nine up, which is one of the worst door cards to have in this game, is he even supposed to call your complete with his buried queens? Does having such a bad door card turn his hand somewhat face-up?

Randy Ohel: No, I wouldn’t really play any hands at all against an ace with a nine. I’d play three nines, and two aces, and some really good, suited versions. Like two suited wheel cards, assuming they were live. Those are really the only hands I would play.

I wouldn’t play queens, for example. It’s just going to be very hard to play.

SS: Your hand seems like a mediocre holding for stud 8. How wide are you able to complete on third, assuming it was just Kao’s nine and the bring-in behind you.

RO: The only hands I wouldn’t open with an ace door card against a nine and the bring-in would be a Broadway card and a nine in the hole.

SS: So, it’s pretty much open season at that point, considering those hands would be very rare? You would need to have one of the last three nines in the deck at that point.

RO: Almost. I wouldn’t open some of the absolute worst of the other hands, either. Say like A-J-10 or something. But yeah, you can open really wide there. It’s much easier for the bring-in to defend against a seven or something than an ace, so you’re winning the antes a lot.

How’s this for the power of the ace? If you were to run the equities through a calculator, an ace with two random hole cards is a 50.38% favorite on third street against 3-4-7.

SS: You started with K-J in the hole, but let’s just say that you started with split aces for discussion’s sake. In a previous hand breakdown we did, you talked about how A-A-5 was miles better to start with than A-A-J because of the backdoor low possibilities. Is there any discernable difference between A-A-J and A-A-K?

RO: No. Those equities are very similar.

SS: On fourth street, you hit an eight which is somewhat of a brick for your actual hand, but you still bet.

RO: I’m always going to be betting fourth street. He could just have a three-flush that bricked on fourth and I am going to be betting a better range on fourth street here, especially since he caught an offsuit card.

SS: Things get really interesting on fifth. You catch the 10, which gives you a gutshot and a flush draw, while he catches an offsuit three. You decide to check-raise.

I’ve always thought stud variants were pretty straight forward. Can you talk about why you opted to check-raise instead of just continuing to apply pressure?

RO: Because I thought that he would bet, and I thought I could get two bets in. I would check-raise with my exact hand or if I had split aces. The particular hand that I had is a really good semi-bluff, and split aces is just really good value against a person who I think is just playing way too many hands with a nine, which he was.

If I think his range is something only such as three nines and aces and stuff, then check-raising would not be a good idea.

SS: If he had three nines, should he be putting in another bet on third street?

RO: No, because he has a nine against an ace. That spot is just too weak to ever put in more bets until later in the hand.

SS: When he calls the check-raise, what does that mean to you?

RO: Nothing. He’s just not the type of player that was going to fold for one bet. He didn’t three-bet, so he shouldn’t have three nines. Now is when I would raise again with three nines. He might have raised again with a big combo draw, as well. I’m not sure. He did like to do that. I think it makes it more likely he has a hand like one big pair.

But the fact that he didn’t fold doesn’t mean much. It’s more significant that he didn’t three-bet fifth. I think there are like zero hands that he folds there to the check-raise.

SS: On sixth, he does make three queens. You bet again when you brick your draw, and he just calls. Is this a spot where you would expect him to raise trips or is that unwise since there is a possibility of you making a low and he could theoretically be allowing you to freeroll him?

RO: He needs to raise three queens there. It’s a mandatory raise with three queens.

SS: Can you elaborate on why you decided to keep betting on sixth?

RO: Because the queen is a brick for him most of the time. And if he doesn’t fold now, he might fold on the end.

SS: When you hit the 10 on fifth, is your plan to just barrel off since you made a big draw and have decent equity?

RO: Not 100% of the time. If he had caught a more concerning card on sixth, I would’ve slowed down. A low card is going to be the most concerning, especially since he could have some of those three-flush hands on third that make a low and possibly a straight.

I thought I could never get raised on sixth, which turns out wasn’t true because he made three queens. I would think that if he had trips, I would expect it to be three nines and for him to raise me on fifth. It’s so unlikely for me to get raised on sixth that I might as well bet.

And if I had checked, I thought there was a pretty decent chance that he would bet again because he would think that I had a combo draw that I missed. This was an odd hand against a little bit of an odd player.

SS: Is most of this action player-specific?

RO: You just don’t get a lot of spots where you go up against a nine with your ace. The advantage of having the ace versus the nine allowed me some aggression during the hand at all times. That’s one of the disadvantages of playing the nine against the ace is that you’re subject to this.

The ace just gets to do stuff to the nine and the nine just has to take it. By virtue of having an ace, you’re entitled to put bets and raises in more often.

SS: If he raised sixth, how do you proceed?

RO: I just call and try and make my hand because he has to have trips at that point.

SS: Is there any merit to trying to get a check-raise in on the river when you make the flush? Especially since you’ve mentioned he has aggressive tendencies in spots where he shouldn’t have them?

RO: No. My board is low so I just have to do a lot of betting. My board versus his board is just not one that enables me to do a lot of check-raising at this point. Especially since I went for the check-raise on fifth. I’m just supposed to bet.

Again, because he started with this nine, he’s not entitled to bet a whole lot so when I check, he just has to check a lot. He’s not checking three queens obviously, and it would’ve worked here, but he’s not supposed to have those hands.

But let’s just go back to fifth street for a moment where I check-raised. I had a straight draw, a flush draw, and two overcards against his specific hand. I had one of the worst hands I could possibly have at this point and yet my hand is still a favorite against his hand. That just goes to show how much stronger my range is there than his.

I had a pure semi-bluff with ace-high and one of the worst hands I could show up with, and I still have a lot of equity.

(Editor’s Note: Ohel was a 55% favorite on fifth street, according to the Card Player Poker Odds Calculator.)

SS: How do those numbers change on sixth when you brick? If he didn’t make trips, would you be an underdog with one card to come?

RO: If my ace and king are still live against only one pair, I have 18 outs and we have seen 10 cards. So 18 out of 42 is what I am against queens. That’s pretty good with one card to come. Think about that with two cards to come – 18 out of 44 unseen cards.

I have more equity with this hand than I would with just a low draw and ace-high, which is a more common hand, but everything I have is doing very well here. When he gets check-raised on fifth, I was bluffing and yet he’s a big dog. It’s just not a good spot.

I’m going to keep pounding this concept because it’s the most important concept of the hand. This is what happens when you have a nine against an ace. ♠