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 heads-up for a major tournament title and are already guaranteed a payday of at least $490,617, but you have your eyes set on the top prize of $821,811. Your opponent is a young, but experienced player and the two of you have already been battling for 50 hands in a back-and-forth match.
The blinds are 150,000-300,000 with a 50,000 ante, so your stack of 17,175,000 is worth 57 big blinds. Your opponent has you covered by just three big blinds.
Your opponent raises on the button to 600,000 and you decided to three-bet from the big blind to 1,875,000 with J
2. Much to your dismay, your opponent thinks for a bit and then makes the call.
The flop is the K8
5 and you decide to give up and check. Much to your surprise, your opponent checks behind. The turn is the Q, giving you a flush draw.
You bet 2,025,000 and your opponent thinks it over for about 30 seconds before making the call. The river is the 9. You have 13,225,000 in front of you and there is 7,900,000 in the pot.
The Questions
Do you check or bet? If betting, how much? Would you have bet even if you missed your draw? If so, how much? Is the river a good card for your opponent’s range? Given his line, what kinds of hands would call a value bet? Is there any merit to check-raising?
What Actually Happened
In the 2016 WPT Borgata Poker Open main event, Jesse Sylvia opted to bet 5,325,000 holding J2 on a board of K85Q9.
His opponent, Zach Gruneberg, immediately called with J-10 for a rivered straight. The pot gave Silvia a 3:1 chip lead in the match he would eventually go on to win. Gruneberg picked up $490,617 for his runner-up finish, and Silvia pocketed $821,811 along with his first WPT title.
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.
