Underplaying Acesby Dennis Phillips | Published: Apr 29, '09 |
 
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I'm having a great time in Monte Carlo, where I'm playing in the EPT Grand Final along with my fellow Team PokerStars Pros and hundreds of other players. I like these deep stack events with hour-long rounds — which will increase to 75 minutes on Day 2 — because it gives us a chance to play real poker instead of a shove-fest.
As Day 1A ended, I was in the middle of the pack with about 70,000 chips (from 30,000 to start). Here's a lesson from one of the hands I played towards the beginning of the tournament that helped me add to my stack.
With blinds at 75/150, I picked up ace-five of spades under the gun and raised to 450. It was folded around to the button, who re-raised me to 1,200. The small blind folded, the big blind smooth called, giving me almost 4-1 pot odds, so I called another 750. The flop came out with no face cards, but two spades. The big blind checked, I bet about 2,500, the button called, and the big blind continued to smooth call.
The turn was an offsuit jack, and the big blind checked again. I bet 5,000, trying to take it down by continuing my semi-bluff. The button went into the tank for a minute before folding, but the big blind smooth called yet again. The river was a beautiful spade, giving me the nut flush. The big blind tapped the table for a third time. I value bet 7,300, about a third of the pot and more than half of my stack (and his, since it was still so early).
To my amazement, the big blind pushed in 7,300 and turned over a pair of aces. When he saw my spades, he complained about me being lucky, but this is exactly what I've been talking about on this blog and on my radio show — either overplaying or underplaying pocket aces.
When you're in this situation, it's vital to know where you stand in relation to your opponent. On a draw-heavy board, if you think your aces are the best hand, you have to raise. By doing so, you'll make him pay to go for the flush if he's on the draw or play back at you to show he has a better hand. Either way, you'll gain information. In this case, the big blind never made a single raise the entire time, but ended up putting that amount of money in the pot by the end anyway. If you're going to call on both the turn and the river, why not put some pressure on your opponent and find out where you are?
We talked about this hand and another one from the EPT last night on my radio show. To listen to the podcast — which also includes an extended interview with Jamie Gold — click here.
Got a question or comment? E-mail me and I may use it on this blog or an upcoming show.