Run it Twice -- Andrew BrokosBrokos Talks Us Through a No-Limit Hold'em Hand |
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In this new series, Card Player sits down with high stakes pros to take a second look at a particular cash-game hand.
Andrew "Foucault" Brokos is known for his knowledge of the game and experience in no-limit hold'em cash games. In addition to cash games, Andrew has also cashed in the last three World Series of Poker main events, including a 35th-place finish in 2008, earning him $193,000. An instructor for Card Player Pro (powered by PokerSavvy Plus), Brokos is used to breaking down hands for strategy analysis, and here he discusses a no-limit cash-game hand with Card Player.
The Game
Date: Jan. 24, 2009
Type: Cash game
Game: No-limit hold'em
Blinds: $3-$6
The Lineup
Seat 1: Annabella Maria ($864.80)
Seat 2: Mizzles ($2,075.80) -- Button
Seat 3: MoneyGoByeBye ($603) -- Small blind
Seat 4: Andrew Brokos ($2,065.20) -- Big blind
Seat 5: DownUnder2 ($428.70)
Seat 6: hauptizzle ($2,007.80)
Run it Twice -- Review of the Hand
Preflop Action: hauptizzle raises to $21. Mizzle calls from the button, and Brokos call from the big blind with 7
7
.
Kristy Arnett: You are dealt pocket sevens. What goes through your mind as you try and decide how you want to proceed in the hand with a medium pocket pair?
Brokos: Generally, what I’m thinking is whether I’m going to play my hand primarily for set value, where I would try and see the flop and just get away if I don’t make three of a kind, or if I’m going to try and play my hand for value unimproved, meaning how comfortable I’m going to be with a pair of sevens on most flops if I don’t make a set. So, with a pair of sevens, generally, I’m not going to feel very comfortable with it after the flop with no set, especially in this case, since the raise is coming from fairly early position and there are two players already in the pot. I’m pretty much just looking to play my hand for a set. If don’t hit my set in this situation, I’m going to just go away most of the time, whereas if I had a pair of jacks or queens, that would be a hand that would have more value unimproved, so I might look to reraise with a hand like that to get the pot heads up. Since I need a very specific flop with sevens to continue, I’d rather more people stay in the pot with me and that we didn’t put too much money in the pot preflop so there’d be more to win after the flop if I do happen to make my hand.
Flop Action: The flop comes A
10 7
. Brokos hits his set and checks. hauptizzle bets $44, and Mizzles calls. Brokos raises to $199. hauptizzle folds, and Mizzles calls $155 more.
KA: Why do you decide to fast play here and check-raise?
AB: Not only do I flop a set, but also there is a very obvious second-best hand someone could have. Anyone who has a pair of aces is probably going to be reasonably happy with their hand, like if someone has A-K, or especially A-10. So, I decided to play it fast because I know there is a hand out there that could pay me off. On the other hand, there aren’t very many draws on the board, so when I do make this big raise, I think my opponents are going to read it as being either a bluff or a very strong hand. They are not going to put me on a semi-bluff. Really, at this point, I’m hoping that someone just has a strong ace and is not going to fold to me yet because he thinks I may be bluffing.
KA: How is your table image up to this point?
AB: As I said, this was a very aggressive table. I would say that I’m probably a little less aggressive than a lot of these guys are, but they do know me well enough to know that I’m definitely capable of showing up with a bluff. So, I don’t have an insane image, but this is a situation where people aren’t going to be folding A-K to me. They are certainly going to call at least one bet with it. Like I said, this play is either a pure bluff or a very strong hand, and it’s not very likely that I’m showing up with a medium strength hand here or a draw of some sort.
Turn Action: The turn is the 8. The board reads A 10 7 8. Brokos bets $345, and Mizzles calls.
KA: I see a lot of players check the turn in the situation. What went into your decision to continue taking the betting lead here?
AB: The bet is following up what I hoped would be perceived as a bluff. Frankly, my line is looking stronger and stronger, and even A-K is going to feel uncomfortable with their hand, but at the same time, I don’t think that there is anything else I can do. I don’t think checking is going to help me win a bigger pot from a hand like A-K. At this point, I’m hoping that my opponent is maybe on some kind of draw himself, like if he has 9-8 he might be more inclined to continue with the hand now that he turned a pair, or, if I’m lucky, maybe he’ll have two pair A-10 or A-7 or A-8 and he’ll feel tied to the hand. But really, even though I know a lot of hands are going to fold, and that an opponent will rarely have a hand that will pay me off, I’m mostly just betting because my central goal with a hand like this is to build a pot when they do have a hand. With a set, I just want to win the biggest pot I can, even if that means I sometimes miss out on the chance of winning a few small pots if I play my hand differently.
River Action: The river is the 5. The board reads A 10 7 8 5. Brokos checks. Mizzles bets $800, and Brokos calls. Mizzles shows K J , and Brokos wins the $2,795 pot with trip sevens.
KA: Why did you decide to check the river?
AB: I really felt that even if he had A-10, which I think is the strongest hand he could have that would still be losing to me, unless he somehow rivered a set of fives, if I made a big bet into him, he could find a way to fold because my line would look so strong at that point. At the same time, any hand that’s going to pay off a bet is going to try to bet for value, I think, because if I check he wouldn’t expect me to do that with a hand as strong as a set of sevens or anything better than that on the river. I’m really not expecting to get called on the river by a hand like A-K. There’s also the outside chance that he could bluff. It’s hard for me to see how he got to the river with a hand that he’d need to bluff with, but obviously if I bet, he’s not going to pay off with a bluff, but if I check to him, it gives him the chance to bluff, which is indeed what happened.
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