A Hand Matchup From the 2010 Legends of Poker

Outcome

With the blinds at 1,000-2,000 and a 300 ante, Nguyen raised to 5,500 from under the gun, Aguiar called on the button, Player A called in the big blind. On the flop, Player A checked, Nguyen bet 7,500, Aguiar raised to 21,900, Player A went all in, Nguyen went all in, Aguiar called.

Analysis

Player A found the pot odds attractive for the preflop call, facing an additional 3,500 for the pot of 16,700 with his suited jack. He must have been delighted when he flopped an unlikely flush, and set the trap by checking it to the preflop raiser. Nguyen led out with a modest bet on his flopped nut flush, risking his customers in an effort to build a pot. Nguyen realized a bet was expected by his opponents since he had raised preflop. He hoped this expectation along with his bet of less than half of the pot would not kill his action. Aguiar was the third player to connect heavily with the flop, with top set he promptly raised to protect his vulnerable hand from potential flush draws, but it was already too late. Player A sprung his trap but was dead to his straight flush redraw, while Nguyen reraised all- n with the nuts, curiously discouraging a side pot or overcall from Aguiar. Aguiar was bound to call with his top set, but was unable to find a board-pair for the redraw to a full house. Player A was eliminated, Aguiar lost nearly half of his stack, while 2010 November Niner Soi Nguyen advanced his chip position to 220,000 as the dealer coolored his opponents.