Professional Poker Tour Hands – Part I – A calculated bluff on the river

I recently participated in the Professional Poker Tour (PPT) event at The Mirage in Las Vegas. The PPT is the most recent creation of WPT founder Steve Lipscomb. It is comprised of a series of invitational freeroll events with prize pools of $500,000 each in the first season. They represent one of the first opportunities for players to play in events with significant added money. I believe this will be a growing trend in the near future as television revenues and sponsorship for poker continue to increase.

Ultimately, I managed to break even in the event at The Mirage. I am going to share three hands I played that helped me accomplish that feat. The first is detailed in this column.

Hand No. 1. I drew a tough table for this event. Come to think of it, all the tables were pretty rough, as donkeys weren't invited to the PPT (I may have slipped through the cracks, though). One player in particular whom I had difficulty avoiding was Marcel Luske, who was seated two spots to my right. Marcel is a truly outstanding player, which those who watch much televised poker already know. His feat of back-to-back second-table finishes the past two years at the World Series of Poker is a near impossible task when considering the size of the fields (almost as improbable as, say, two straight final tables in the same event).

In any case, Marcel is extremely aggressive, raising lots of pots, so I knew right away that he was a player I'd have to contend with all day. At the third level ($100-$200 blinds), Marcel limped in from middle position and I made it $900 with the A K. He called, and everyone else folded. Marcel started the hand with close to $20,000, and I had a bit more than my starting stack of $10,000.The flop arrived with the 8 7 7. Marcel checked, I bet $1,000, and he called. At this point, I thought he could have a range of hands. Marcel doesn't mind "taking one off" with less than premium values, perhaps allowing him to either make a hand somewhere down the road or try to outplay his opponent. I wasn't yet quite sure where this left me. He could have a small pocket pair, an 8, a 7, a flush draw, a straight draw, or just two overcards.

The turn was the 2. Now, Marcel led for $1,000. Again, this could mean a couple of things. He could be on a draw, betting $1,000 (and hoping I didn't raise) so that I didn't make a larger bet to make it tough on him. Or, he could be betting some sort of pair. At this point, I considered laying down my hand, as I thought a pair was his most likely holding. Also, I thought he'd probably make a slightly larger bet if he were on a pure bluff, making it more difficult for me to call. I decided to call, though, thinking I still may have the best hand. If not, I probably had either six outs (if he had an 8) or nine outs (if he had a pair smaller than sevens).The river brought the J , completing a backdoor flush. Marcel again bet $1,000. To me, it appeared that he had a pair of eights or something a bit smaller, but the small possibility of a busted draw existed. With $6,100 in the pot, it was going to be difficult for me to fold (he had picked just the right amount for a value bet against my likely hand of ace high). However, I had another thought: Since he probably was either betting a small pair or bluffing, what would happen if I raised to represent a backdoor flush? This certainly would give me a better chance to win the pot, and I thought that unless he had a big hand such as trips, a straight, or a flush, it probably would work. So, I made it $3,000. After the briefest moment of hesitation, Marcel called. I told him, "You got it. I just have A-K." Marcel showed J-8 for jacks and eights to take the pot.

I don't really have a problem with losing $3,000 on the river in this hand. I felt Marcel had me beat, but that his hand wasn't strong enough to stand a raise. Unfortunately, he caught a card that improved his hand on the river, convincing him to call. It was possible that I might put in a raise with A-J or the like on the end, hands that he could beat. Also, Marcel has proven himself to be a great reader of hands and people, so getting made was a possibility, too.

This wasn't the last time that Marcel and I would tangle in this tournament. Next issue, I'll discuss another hand we played, as well as my fatal hand.