Poker Hand Matchup: Kyle Julius vs. Faraz Jaka

Outcome

Final table, three handed, with the blinds at 150,000 and 300,000 and a 40,000 ante, Julius raised to 700,000 from the button, Jaka reraised to 1,850,000 from the small blind, Julius reraised to 3,095,000, Jaka went all-in, Julius called and was all-in.

Analysis

Jaka ended day 1A as 6th in the chip counts, Day 2 in 1st, Day 3 in 3rd, and days 4 and 5 in 1st. To most observers he seemed fated to win this thing. His active and aggressive style obviously served him extremely well, but he may have been a tad forward leaning in this hand as he went after Julius' four-bet from the button with King high. Jaka's hand was certainly quite strong against a standard button raise in a three handed match, but Julius' bet sizing contained a vital hint. His raise laid Jaka 1,245,000 more for the pot off 5,365,000, or 4.3:1 pot odds. This isn't a reraise from someone who is afraid of a call, and given Julius' benefit of position under most circumstances he would be content to just call Jaka's three bet with his marginal hands rather than attempt to end the hand with such a small reraise while risking Jaka the opportunity to reopen the betting. Jaka missed the warning and could not find the brakes. Jaka busted in 3rd later in the level for $755,000, pushing his lifetime earnings to 3.1m. Jaka had tremendous momentum, had regrouped from earlier bad beats, and kept up the pressure extremely well but the high blinds at this stage of the tournament and his broadway cards got him into trouble when he ran into a real hand.