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 down to the final two tables of a big buy-in major event as one of the chip leaders with 10.5 million in chips. With blinds at 40,000/80,000, you are in early position with Q
Q
.
You raise to 200,000 and are called by the player in the cutoff who you have very little history with. The flop comes A
A
10 and you make a continuation bet of 200,000.
The player in the cutoff raises to 610,000 and you call. The turn is the 2 and you check. The player in the cutoff moves all in for just over 4.1 million in chips.
The Questions
Should you be betting this flop? If so, what is your bet sizing and why? When faced with the raise on the flop, should you fold, call, or three-bet? What range are you putting him on when he raises the flop? Are there any physical tells you would be looking for while contemplating your decisions on each street? When he moves all in on the turn for such a big over bet, what is his range and do you call or fold?
What Actually Happened
At the 2013 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, Ray Qartomy bet his pocket queens and called a raise from Derrick Cutler on the flop of AA10. When Qartomy checked the 2 turn card, Cutler moved all in.
Qartomy went into the tank for several minutes before asking if Cutler would show his hand. When Cutler said he would not show, Qartomy mucked his hand. Cutler ended up tabling his hand anyway, showing pocket tens, giving him a full house and the pot.
Qartomy still had 118 big blinds at the conclusion of the hand, sitting on a stack of 9.5 million while Cutler increased his stack to around 6 million. Qartomy went on to final table the tournament, finishing in fourth place for $639,925. Cutler finished in eighth place, cashing for $232,700.
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.
