Poker Hand Matchup: Kyle Julius vs. John Dibella

Outcome

With the blinds at 40,000 and 80,000 and a 10,000 ante, Dibella raised to 180,000 from the button, Julius called in the big blind. On the Flop, Julius checked, Dibella bet 225,000, Julius called. On the Turn, Julius checked, Dibella bet 340,000, Julius called. On the River, Julius checked Dibella bet 425,000, Julius called.

Analysis

Julius' smooth call in the big blind set the stage for this triple barrel bluff from Dibella. Julius played his hand quite well while out of position, ultimately winning the max as his check-calls invited bets from the preflop aggressor while cutting his losses on the off chance that he was behind. Dibella painted himself into a corner as he attempted to represent the Ace, but his bluffs were certainly not without merit. Dibella flopped a gutshot straight draw, but represented the Ace with the standard continuation bet. Dibella reiterated his story on the turn with a well tiered bet, hoping to shake the smaller pairs that might have check-called the flop, but Julius was ready with the call. Dibella was now double belly busted, as any Seven or Trey would deliver the straight. At this point Dibella might have been done with the bluffs, but another Ace on the river dramatically changed the board texture. It now made it less likely that Julius held one, and made it seem that perhaps Julius was check calling with the flush draw or a lower pair after all, and he hadn't reraised preflop indcating the Ace. Dibella submitted a well priced bluff with the second nut low, but Julius dragged in a large pot with his deceptive and passive approach to out of position play. Dibella lost 43% of his stack on the hand, slipping from 2.7m to 1.5m, but both he and Julius went on to make the final table.