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
It’s the penultimate day of a major live tournament and there are 24 players left. You are guaranteed at least €33,300 from your initial €5,000 investment, but the winner will take home seven figures and there is about an €8,000 prize jump if you can ladder up one more spot.
You are one of the shorter stacks left in the tournament, but with 932,000 at blinds of 25,000-50,000 with a 5,000 ante, you still have plenty of big blinds to work with.
It folds around to you on the button and, sensing an easy opportunity to add some chips, you raise to 110,000 holding 8
6. Much to your dismay, the big blind, who has more than 3,000,000 in chips, makes the call.
The flop, however, is a good one, coming down 7
65
. You opponent checks and you make a continuation bet of 120,000. Your opponent, however, then check-raises to 320,000. You have a total of 697,000 behind.
The Questions
Do you call, raise or fold? If calling, what is your plan for the turn if you brick? What is your plan for the turn if you improve? If behind, how many outs can you count on? Does your stack size give you enough fold equity? Is there ever a case where you can just fold to this check-raise?
What Actually Happened
At the EPT Barcelona main event, November NIner Vojtech Ruzicka was facing a check-raise on a board of 765 from his opponent Harcharan Dogra Dogra.
Ruzicka opted to move all in for a total of 817,000 and Dogra Dogra called with 43 for the bottom end of a straight. Ruzicka needed to catch up with his open-ended straight draw, but the turn and river fell 10 A to send him to the rail in 24th place.
Dogra Dogra went on to finish in seventh place, earning €230,950. The eventual winner was Polish poker player Sebastian Malec, who earned his first EPT title and the €1,122,800 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.
