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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
There are 12 players left in a massive big buy-in tournament that started with 1,476 entrants. With 6,325,000 in your stack, you are the overall chip leader, although nobody in the tournament is desperate at the moment. The blinds are 30,000-60,000 with a 10,000 ante, giving you 105 big blinds to work with.
With each of the two remaining tables six-handed, you raise from under the gun to 130,000 holding K
10
. The button, who started the hand with 3,055,000 and is one of the more notable players left in the tournament, calls.
The flop comes down K7
3 and you make a continuation bet of 215,000. Your opponent calls and the turn is the 10
, giving you two pair. You check and your opponent bets 350,000. You check raise to 900,000 and your opponent calls.
The river is the Q. There is now 2,640,000 in the pot.
The Questions
Do you check or bet? Your opponent called a flop bet and then a check-raise on the turn. What does that say about his hand? If betting, how much? Is there any value to turning your hand into a bluff catcher? What hands are in your opponent’s range that would bluff the river? What worse hands would bet for value? What better hands could your opponent have?
What Actually Happened
At the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, Andre Crooks opted to check with his K10 on a board reading K7310Q.
His opponent, Joe Ebanks, checked behind and the hands were tabled. Crooks showed his two pair, but Ebanks revealed KQ for a better two pair and took the pot.
Both Crooks and Ebanks went on to make the final table.
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.
