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
With 1,295,000 in chips, you are near the middle of the pack with 13 players remaining in a major live tournament. The blinds are 15,000-30,000 with a 5,000 ante, giving you a comfortable 43 big blinds to work with.
A relatively unknown, but laggy player raises to 70,000 in the cutoff and you look down at A
3 in the big blind. You three-bet to 185,000 and your opponent calls.
The flop comes down A
J5
and you fire in a continuation bet of 205,000. Your opponent then moves all in. You have 900,000 remaining behind.
The Questions
Do you call or fold? If calling, what kind of hand do you expect your opponent to turn over? If folding, what hand do you think you are up against that has you beat? Does the board texture affect your decision at all? Does the fact that you would be left with only 30 big blinds affect your decision? What kind of tells would you be looking for in your opponent to help you make up your mind?
What Actually Happened
At the 2013 WPT Legends of Poker main event, Stephen Graner was faced with a decision for his tournament life holding A3 on a flop of AJ5.
After some time in the tank, Graner eventually called and his opponent, John Gordon, turned over Q5 for bottom pair and a flush draw. According to the Card Player Odds Calculator Graner was a slight underdog, winning the pot approximately 49 percent of the time.
The turn and river fell 10Q and Gordon’s two pair sent Graner home in 13th place, where he earned $19,445. Gordon went on to make the final table, finishing in sixth place for $85,080. The eventual winner was Jordan Cristos, who banked $613,355 for his first major tournament 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.
