Give us your opinion in the comments section below for your chance at winning a six-month Card Player magazine digital subscription.
Ask any group of poker players how you played your hand and they’ll come up with dozens of different opinions. That’s just the nature of the game.
Each week, Card Player will select a hand from the high-stakes, big buy-in poker world, break it down and show that there’s more than one way to get the job done.
The Scenario
You are at the unofficial final table of 10 out of a field of over 1,000 players. As a result, you are already guaranteed nearly $40,000 from your initial $3,500 investment.
The blinds are currently 30,000-60,000 with a 10,000 ante, meaning your fourth place stack of 3,035,000 is worth just over 50 big blinds. There are two players remaining with less than 15 big blinds each and there is a significant pay jump of more than $20,000 if you can make it to the official final table of nine.
The action folds around to you in the small blind and you limp in with 6
6
. The big blind, who is also the chip leader with 8,345,000, raises to 180,000. You call and the flop is K
106
.
You check your flopped set and your opponent checks behind. The turn is the 7 and you check again. This time, your opponent bets 225,000.
The Questions
Do you call or raise? What are the benefits of raising? If you are going to raise, how much? Are you raising for value, for information or to price out your opponent from hitting a draw? If calling, what is your plan for safe river cards? What is your plan for scary river cards?
What Actually Happened
Facing a bet of 225,000 at the WPT Lucky Hearts Poker Open main event from Brian Altman, Jared Jaffee opted to call with his set of sixes on a board of K1067.
The river was the 9 and Jaffee checked again. Altman bet 410,000 and Jaffee complained about the turn and river cards before reluctantly making the call. Altman showed 108 for a rivered straight and collected the pot.
Jaffee never really recovered, losing a coin flip a short time later before busting in 10th place, earning $39,437. Altman went on to win the tournament, earning his first major title and the $723,008 first-place prize.
What would you have done and why? Let us know in the comments section below and try not to be results oriented. The best answer will receive a six-month Card Player magazine digital subscription.
