Matt Brady, Johan Storakers and Brandon Terry -- What's My Line?The Hand That Never Was at the Aruba Poker Classic |
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Every Thursday, Card Player sits down with some of the best in the game to discuss pivotal hands from the week’s biggest tournaments on the circuit.
With five players remaining in the 2008 Aruba Poker Classic, play had come to a standstill. The deep stacks and low blinds had the players trading insignificant pots back and forth as they each waited for the ideal opportunity to present itself. Finally, a hand came down that could have busted one and severely crippled another, but the perfect combination of cards and decisions prevented disaster for Brandon Terry and eventual winner Matt Brady, and only made the minimum for Johan Storakers.
Card Player sat down with all three players to discuss the hand that never was.
| Event/Blinds-Antes | Aruba Poker Classic | 10,000-20,000 with a 3,000 ante | |
| Player | Matt Brady | Johan Storakers | Brandon Terry |
| Chip Count | 2,148,000 | 1,233,000 | 1,268,000 |
| Hand | J J |
A K |
9 8 |
The Hand
Johan Storakers raised to 65,000 from the cutoff, and both Matt Brady and Brandon Terry called from the blinds. The flop came Q J 10, and both blinds checked to Storakers, who checked behind.
The turn was the K, and Brady checked. Terry bet 50,000, and Storakers min-raised him to 100,000. Brady reluctantly mucked, and Terry mucked 9 8 face up. Storakers then showed A K for a better flopped straight, and Brady revealed that he mucked pocket jacks.
Amazingly, all three players flopped a made hand, and Storakers was only able to pocket 192,000 from it.
The Interview
Julio Rodriguez: Matt, why did you decide to just call after Johan came in for raise?
Matt Brady: It’s definitely not a standard play, but I was trying to keep the pot small for the time being. Because we were so deep, I’d like to flop something and win a huge pot rather than reraise right there and take down a small one. It’s borderline on my part, but I was trying to mix it up. Sometimes I’ll raise, and sometimes I’ll just call. On this hand I was out of position, so I chose to play it small.
JR: Brandon called, as well, and the flop hit everybody pretty hard. Brandon, did you consider leading at it?
Brandon Terry: I was really hoping he’d continuation-bet so I could get a raise in.
JR: Johan, why didn’t you bet?
Johan Storakers: It seemed like both were weak, so I checked behind, assuming it was my only way to make any money on the hand. Not only that, but by checking behind I thought it might make my hand look weak, as well.
The terrible thing is that if I had bet out on the flop with a continuation bet, I may have won a huge pot. Then again, the board might have paired by the river, and I would have been in real trouble, so I guess we’ll never know.
JR: Matt, what do you think of the check?
MB: I’m very surprised Johan didn’t bet there. I think by checking he’s showing significant strength, whereas if he had bet, who knows what would have happened? If he bet, I would raise, Brandon might have shoved, Johan would have shoved, and I just might have called off there with middle set. Who knows?
JR: The turn is a real action-killer with the K, and now Brandon decides to bet.
BT: I bet really small just to find out where I was in the hand. The king was obviously a terrible card for me, so when I got min-raised, I knew I was done.
JR: Johan, did you min-raise to get more value out of the hand, or were you worried about Matt behind you?
JS: At this point, I realize that even though I have the nuts, my hand is very vulnerable to the board pairing or a spade hitting the river. If Matt has a hand like two pair, a set, or a flush draw, I want to raise in order to price him out of the pot. After I made the raise, I realized that it could be a bad situation if Brandon had ace-rag of spades, giving him a freeroll, but luckily he just had the 9.
JR: Matt, did you even consider calling to see the river?
MB: I thought Brandon might have had a nine and was testing Johan, but if they both have the ace, I’d just be throwing away 100,000 in chips. If I call, Brandon would just blast the pot, and I’d be forced to fold. Of course, he only had the nine, and I would have been able to see the river for cheap, but there’s no guarantee I would have been paid off, anyway.
JR: It’s interesting that at this stage of the tournament, all three of you were trying to trap with your made hands.
MB: Well, it’s not just a matter of all three of us wanting to trap. Brandon’s hand and my hand are very vulnerable, especially in a deep-stacked tournament. Normally at this stage of the game, it would be a crazy all in that we couldn’t control. But with the blinds so low and a table that skilled, you really have to play differently in order to build your stack. I’d say it was half trapping, half playing it extra cautiously.
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