Tournament Poker Edge Analyzes Key Hand From Allen Bari's WSOP VictoryTournament Poker Edge Breaks Down Soul Read By Allen Bari |
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Card Player has teamed up with the great minds from Tournament Poker Edge to bring you top-notch hand analysis from key hands during the World Series of Poker.
This time around, we’ll take a look at a hand played by Allen Bari, winner of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Event. For the victory, Bari earned a first-place prize of $874,116.
Bari might not have picked up his first career bracelet had it not been for a sick call he made against 2009 champion Brian Lemke with two tables remaining.
Here’s a look at that hand.
| Event — Blinds/Antes | $5K No-Limit Hold’em | 12,000-24,000 with a 4,000 ante |
| Player Names | Allen Bari | Brian Lemke |
| Chip Counts | 524,000 | 830,000 |
| Hole Cards | Q Q |
J-10 suited |
The Hand
Allen Bari raised to 48,000 from the hijack and Brian Lemke made the call on the button. The flop came down A
K 9 and Bari fired a continuation bet of 52,000.
Lemke called and the turn was the K. Bari checked and Lemke bet 80,000. Bari called and the river was the 6
.
Bari checked once again and Lemke put him all in for his last 344,000 in chips. Bari thought for a bit before making the call, tabling Q Q for the crucial double up. Lemke mucked his then unknown J-10 suited.
Street By Street Analysis
Preflop
Action — Bari raised to 48,000 from the hijack and Lemke called on the button.
Analysis — Bari raised with pocket Queens and Lemke called on the button with J-10 suited to play the pot with a hand that plays very well in position.
Flop
Action — Bari bet 52,000 and Lemke called.
Analysis — Bari continued on a board that is very good for his preflop range and Lemke floats the bet with a gutshot.
Turn
Action — Bari checked, Lemke bet 80,000 and Bari called.
Analysis — When Bari checked the turn, Lemke took the opportunity to represent a strong hand. When he flatted the flop, it isn’t merely to make his gutshot. He also has to bluff when Bari shows weakness.
When the King pairs on the turn, it’s difficult for Bari to get any value by betting pocket Queens. Checking allows him to get value from any bets by Lemke with floats and draws and also allows him to get to showdown cheaply when Lemke checks it back.
River
Action — Bari checked, Lemke put him all in and Bari called.
Analysis — On the river, Bari checked again because he still can’t get value by betting. It puts him in a tough spot if Lemke shoves, but that doesn’t make betting better than checking.
Lemke knows that Bari will often get to the river this way with a medium-strength hand that will have a very difficult time calling a shove. On top of that, with only two tables left in a big WSOP event, the pressure to avoid elimination will be huge. Bari made a tough, but good call.
The Tournament Poker Edge Perspective
Allen’s river call sure seems tough with the board reading A-K-9-K-6, but thinking about Lemke’s range, it certainly seems like a good one.
Although we don’t know the history leading up to this hand, with two aggressive players like Bari and Lemke, you can imagine that there is a fairly aggressive dynamic. When Brian calls Allen’s raise preflop, Allen can pretty safely assume that Brian rarely has big hands like A-A, K-K, A-K, A-Q or A-J because he would normally be three-betting them. Brian will also be three-betting decent suited aces much of the time.
Considering the action to the river, Allen’s range looks a lot like what it is… a hand trying to get to showdown. Both players know this, so they both know that Allen will have a tough time calling it off for his tournament life with most of his hands. It becomes even less likely that Brian shoves the river with an Ace when it’s so hard for Allen to call with worse hands. That’s not to say that Allen never gets to the river with big hands, he’s certainly good enough to occasionally take that line.
If Brian isn’t shoving his A-x hands, that leaves 9-9, 6-6 and hands like K-Q, K-J, K-10 or K-9; all of which Brian will be three-betting some of the time. Also, there are missed draws and the chance that Brian was just floating to put a move on Allen in a big equity spot deep in a WSOP event.
Lemke actually had J-10 suited. His play in the hand is fine, and it’s a bluff that will work most of the time against most opponents, even very good ones. However, it’s an even better call by Bari, and making good decisions like this in key spots is surely one of the reasons he dominated the end of this event like he did.
Fellow TPE instructor Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek is good friends with Lemke and spoke to him about the hand. “He owned my soul and read right through me," Lemke said. “It was pretty sick.”
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