Poker Strategy -- William Reynolds Discusses Pot With RaymerReynolds Talks About Players Reaching a Breaking Point |
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William Reynolds is a young pro from Sioux City, Iowa, whose biggest score to date is a fourth-place finish in the 2009 European Poker Tour San Remo event for $490,000. He competed in the $25,000 high-rollers event at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and got into a big hand with 2004 World Series of Poker Champion and Team PokerStars pro Greg Raymer on day 3 of the event.
Blinds: 3,000-6,000 with a 500 ante
Preflop Action: Reynolds raises to 15,000 in early position with A
4
. Raymer calls from the small blind. The pot is now 39,500.
Kristy Arnett: Had you been opening a lot of hands preflop?
William Reynolds: Yeah, I’d been opening quite a few hands. I wanted to open a lot of hands, so I felt A-4 was a good hand to do it with. Greg called from the blinds. I knew he’d been wanting to play a pot with me, because we’ve played a lot together for the past three days. I figured he’d peel all of his suited connectors and things like that.
Flop Action: The flop is K Q 7. Raymer checks, and Reynolds checks behind. The pot remains 39,500.
WR: I decided to go ahead and check this flop back, because like I said, I thought he’d be calling with all of his suited connectors, so I figured ace high had enough showdown value if it got down to the river, and also, he would never put me on the nut flush if another spade came. He would almost always assume with how aggressive I’d been that I would bet the flop with the ace of spades, especially since we’re not that deep with 40 or 50 big blinds.
KA: Was your check also to avoid a check-raise?
WR: Yeah. If he had check-raised me, we would have just been playing a big pot. I would have just shipped over him, because I figure Raymer is capable of making some type of bluff on that flop. I didn’t want to play a 400,000-chip pot with just a flush draw. I also thought I’d be able to pick up off on the river if the board just bricked out completely. I could maybe call with just ace high if I keep the pot small enough.
Turn Action: The turn is the 8. The board now reads K Q 7 8. Raymer checks, and Reynolds bets 28,000. Raymer calls. The pot is now 95,500.
KA: Why did you decide to bet the nuts here?
WR: Like I said, I didn’t think he could put me on the A, since I didn’t bet the flop, so I went ahead and bet the turn.
KA: What kind of hand did you put Raymer on after he check-called the turn?
WR: Any type of spade or a queen. Once he checks to me, I’m either bluffing or I have a big spade.
River Action: The river is the Q
. The board now reads K Q 7 8 Q. Raymer checks, and Reynolds bets 82,000. Raymer calls. Reynolds shows A4 for the nut flush, and Raymer mucks. Reynolds wins the pot of 259,500.
KA: Was the river card a scare for you at all?
WR: No. The river pairs the board, but it only really changes for a hand like K-Q, but I’m not really worried about that hand. I decided to bet around four-fifths pot or 80 percent pot. Greg tanked for a while, and I know he’d been getting sick of all my three-bets and all the pots we’ve played.
KA: How did you choose your bet sizing on the river?
WR: I figured betting 50 percent pot is the same as betting 80 percent pot, because I’m bluffing or I have it. That’s why I decided to make a nice-sized bet. I just didn’t see him calling the turn and folding to a river bet.
KA: In tournaments, it’s so important to feel out your opponent’s breaking points, and it seems you did here with Raymer. What advice would you give to players to find these?
WR: What I like to do is feel people out in the early stages, right from the get-go. If someone opens, I like to three-bet them small in position and see how they react. If they react by getting annoyed at it, then I’ll probably just key in on that person and keep doing it. I’ve been doing it a lot to Alex Brenes today. [Laughs]
Reynolds is currently competing at the final table of the High Rollers event. Find live updates under the tournament tab.
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