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
There are 31 players remaining in a major European tournament and you are in the money, guaranteed at least €22,740 from your initial €5,000 investment. You have 886,000 in chips with the blinds at 12,000-24,000 with a 3,000 ante, giving you 37 big blinds to work with. You have a reputation for being overly aggressive, but you are very accomplished and are arguably the best player remaining in the field.
A player who started the hand with 1,367,000 raises from under the gun to 54,000. Keeping up with your aggressive mindset, you three-bet directly behind him to 121,000 with K
4. The action folds back around to your opponent, who makes the call.
The flop comes down J
103, giving you a flush draw. Your opponent checks and you check behind. The turn is the A
, which adds a gutshot straight draw to your hand. Your opponent checks and this time you bet 142,000.
Your opponent calls and the river is the A
. Your opponent checks and you have 620,000 behind.
The Questions
Do you check or bet? If checking, how often do you expect to win at showdown? If betting, how much? What realistic value hands are in your range given your line? What hands are in your opponents range given his line?
What Actually Happened
At the 2016 EPT Grand Final main event in Monte Carlo, Vanessa Selbst found herself holding K4 on a board reading J103AA.
She decided to bluff 370,000 and her opponent, Joao Vieira instantly called with pocket tens for a full house. Selbst was left short stacked with just ten big blinds and ultimately busted in 26th place, earning €26,850. Vieira lasted until 13th place, picking up €53,310.
The eventual winner was Jan Bendik, a poker player from Slovakia, who pocketed €961,800 for the win, the largest score of his career. Previously, Bendik had finished in fifth place in the 2011 EPT San Remo main event.
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.
