A Hand Matchup from the 2015 PCA $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em

Outcome

Preflop, final table, seven handed, with the blinds at 30,000 and 60,000 and a 10,000 ante, Robl raised to 140,000 from under the gun, Sippl called in the small blind, and Kenney called in the big blind. On the flop Sippl checked, Kenney checked, Robl bet 210,000, Sippl called, and Kenney called. On the turn Sippl checked, Kenney bet 635,000, Robl went all-in, Sippl folded, and Kenney called.

Analysis

Robl managed to make top pair after raising preflop, but he had two interested customers each with a flush draw and overcard to the board. He led out for a modest amount on the flop where both Sippl and Kenney called with a nice price for their draw. The turn was a great one for Robl, moving him to a 69% favorite to win the hand. But Kenney had other ideas, and suspecting that the preflop raiser had simply been making a continuation bluff on the flop, and encouraged by two checks from Sippi to his right, made an aggressive semibluff with a bulky bet. This sent Robl into the tank as it was obviously an alarming line to face as it would most likely involve his tournament life by the river. Robl ultimately decided he was going to go with his hand in spite of Kenney's show of strength, and it was a great decision in an uncertain spot. Kenney was obviously priced in to call the additional 205,000, and he managed to catch the nut flush on the river to eliminate Robl in 7th for $313,700.