Run It Twice -- Di Dang'Urindanger' Talks to Card Player About a Heads-Up Pot-Limit Omaha Hand |
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Di Dang
is a 25-year-old poker pro who makes his living playing the highest stakes cash games on the Internet under the moniker “Urindanger.” He plays as high as the $500-$1,000 half pot-limit Omaha/half pot-limit hold’em games on Full Tilt, and specializes in heads-up action. Dang sat down with Card Player to discuss an interesting heads-up pot-limit Omaha hand.
The Game
Game: Pot-Limit Omaha
Blinds: $300-$600
The Lineup
Di Dang: $110,017
Villain: $73,949
Key Concept
Run It Twice— Review of the Hand
Kristy Arnett: First of all, what’s your experience with this player previous to this?
Di Dang: I play him a lot heads up at $300-$600 HA, and he only plays one table, so I know he’s always thinking about his hands and his opponent’s hands. He’s a really smart guy, and he’s made most of his money sports betting. He knows that I give his bets a ton of respect because he thinks that I think he’s nitty. That’s one of my biggest reads on him. So, he’ll pick out spots to bluff, so I’m always looking out for spots that he’s going to try and use that read against me to stay one level ahead of him. I’m going to try to catch him bluffing a few times here and there.
Preflop Action: Villain raised to $1,800 from the button with Q
Q
8 3. Dang reraised to $5,400 from the big blind with A
K Q 9
. Villain called. The pot was $10,800.
KA: How often is he raising on the button, and how often are you three-betting him out of position?
DD: He raises a lot on the button, almost 100 percent of the time. A lot of times he raises the minimum. I three-bet him a lot because if they are raising every time, they are going to have such a wide range and have trouble playing, because most flops are going to miss their hand when they call because their hand is normally weaker. My hand here is really good to three-bet, because I’ve got three high cards and a suited ace. This is a pretty standard three-bet.
KA: So, you aren’t surprised when he calls?
DD: No, I wasn’t. In PLO, if you raise, you are calling a three-bet 95 percent of the time unless you have really, really bad cards.
Flop Action: The flop comes K J 9. Dang checked, and Villain bet $10,800. Dang called. The pot is now $32,400.
KA: Why did you decide to check-call this flop?
DD: With our stack sizes, you aren’t really happy betting and then getting raised, because all I have here is two pair, and a 10 [will help], but there is a flush draw, so maybe the 10 isn’t good. So, I have four outs with a king or a 9, and then three outs for a 10, at worst. Still, with an eight-outer, it’s not good to bet and get it in. I decided to check-call, because if you check, sometimes he’ll bet worse hands. In this case, he had two blockers. Obviously Q-10 is the nuts, and he has two queens in his hand. He knows that there’s much less of a chance that I have the nuts, too.
On the turn, if I miss my hand, I’m forced to check and make a tough decision. Like I said before, though, I give a lot of respect to his bets, and he would have taken this pot away from me probably.
Turn Action: The turn is the 10. The board now reads K J 9 10. Dang bets $32,400. Villain reraises all in for $57,749, and Dang calls.
KA: When you hit your hand on the turn, why did you decide to bet pot?
DD: Well, the pot was already $32,000 and I only had $45,000 behind. If you look at the board, it’s pretty scary. There are a lot of two pairs, a lot of flush draws, and he’ll check behind a lot of hands that have outs against me. I have to charge him to hit. Also, if he has a queen, then he’s going to stack off now, so I also get value from worse hands.
River: The river is the 8. The board now reads K J 9 10 8. Dang shows A K Q 9. Villain shows Q Q 8 3. Dang wins the pot of $147,898 with a straight to the ace.
KA: So is this just an unlucky spot for him?
DD: Yeah, he has to call because he has a straight and flush redraw. A lot of times, I’m potting with a set and a flush draw or two pair and flush draw. He’d be ahead of a lot of my range, and again, he has two queens, so there is less of a chance I have the straight, too. I think he played it really well. I just got lucky to hit the 10 on the turn.
KA: Do you think that beginning players don’t consider the importance of blockers enough?
DD: Actually I talked to Phil Galfond about this earlier. He said that a lot of beginning players over-rate blockers. They think that if they have two queens here, there’s no way the other guy can have a queen. I disagree with him a little bit. I think everyone should know that just because you have two queens, the other player could have one, but it lessens the chances of it significantly if you count card combinations. I think, a lot of times, you can use blockers to bluff, too.
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