Answer to Yesterday's Tournament Poker Quiz Question

The Countdown to the WSOP continues...

Thanks for all your answers on my blog (previous post) and on Twitter. When you read what actually happened and the analysis, compare it to your thinking.

Question & Answer

This hand is taken from the final table of a $10,000 buy-in event at The Plaza in 2004.
The player with the 8c-5c was Layne Flack and his opponent was Daniel Negreanu. While everyone has seen Daniel's game on TV, few know much about Layne. Layne Flack is an aggressive player, and likes to raise pre-flop with a range of hands.

The hand was featured in a CardPlayer article and analyzed by Roy Winston and Michael Binger.

Main Event
$10,000 buy-in.
First place over $1 million.
You are one of the final 6 players.
You are Layne Flack.
I am Daniel Negreanu (without the cash wins, of course:))

Blinds are $1,500-$3,000 with a $500 ante

You have $110,000 and are under the gun. You find 8c-5c. You limp in for $3,000. Another player limps. I am in the small blind with $130,000 and call. The big blind also calls. There is $15,000 in the pot.

(Michael: Flack had 110,000 and the total of the blinds and antes was 10,500, which gave Flack an M of about 10. Either fold 8-5 suited or come in for a raise of about 8,000.)

(My comment: Six handed I like to raise with this suited connector hand because there is $10,500 in the pot to steal. Online a min raise can work to get your opponents to fold, while live play a 2.5 times the big blind raise has a better chance. Against top Pros, the reality is that you will be called when you come in with almost any raise.)

The flop is Ac-9c-6c. You hit your flush!

You bet $12,000. The first player calls and I call. The big blind folds. There is $51,000 in the pot.

(Michael: Likes the bet size as it may make your opponents think you are bluffing, betting top pair, or betting a monster. Betting 80 percent of the pot keeps them guessing.)

(Roy: Should have bet more on the flop.)

(My comment: I agree with Michael.)

The turn is a Kd. You bet $22,000 and only I call. The pot is $95,000.

(Michael: Bet half the pot, maybe $25,000-$30,000.)

(Roy: A $22,000 bet prices in your opponent. Bet more.)

(My comment: This is where I totally disagree. Here is why: there is $51,000 in the pot. You have $95,000 left. If you bet the pot and get called, you will have only $44,000 left which is not enough to make a pot sized bet on the river. After reading Gus Hansen's book, I would move all-in on the the turn. Gus will shut out action on the turn and not give his opponent the opportunity to draw out on him on the river.)

The river is a 10c. You check and I bet $14,000.

(Michael: You have to call with 8-1 odds.)

(Roy: If you know your beat, just fold.)

(My comment: I don't want to see the river.)

In the actual hand, Daniel revealed the Kc-10h for a bigger flush. Layne said that the only thing he would change is that he might not make the river call.

As you can tell, some Pros like to extract more value on the turn with smaller bets. However, given the chip stacks I would try to close things out on the turn and not give my opponent an opportunity to beat me.

For the full analysis go to the original article: http://snipurl.com/h9o6a

Poker Quiz and Answer: One Hand of Tournament Poker

The countdown continues to the WSOP....

Here is an actual hand of poker played at the Bellagio. You decide what the best course of action is based on the information provided below.

This hand is taken from a past issue of CardPlayer with analysis from Roy Winston and Michael Binger. I don't know Roy Winston, but I have played against Michael Binger. If there is one player I'd like to talk poker with one day it is with Michael.


Bellagio
First place is over $1 million.
No limit MTT
$15,000 Buy-in
There are 74 players left.

The blinds are $4,000-$8,000 with a $1,000 ante.
You have $430,000 and are in early position.
The big blind has $440,000.

The player under the gun who is extremely tight and has $225,000, raises for $23,000. The next player folds. It is your turn and you have 10d-10h. You call. Everyone folds to the player in the big blind. He calls. The pot is $82,000 with three players taking the flop.

(Michael: Calling is the right play. A re-raise turns your hand into a bluff and puts you into a difficult decision if you are re-raised all-in.)

(Roy: Re-raise)

(My comment: If your read is that the player under the gun is extremely tight, I would just call the raise. Before the flop, I would be putting both my opponents on a range of hands. The raiser will have a big hand, such as A-K. While the caller will have a pair or suited connectors.)

The flop is Jd-10c-7d.

The big blind checks. The initial raiser checks. You have a set and bet $60,000. The big blind calls. The initial raiser folds. The pot is now $202,000. (You have $347,000 left.)

(Michael: Agrees with bet. Wants callers with a set.)

(Roy: Should have made a bigger raise to end the hand here.)

(My comment: I have a set, but I don't like this coordinated a flop. My opponent may have a straight or a flush draw. If I bet here and get called, I no longer like my hand unless I hit a boat. If I bet the pot, my opponent will call given the implied odds. If I bet a little less, the same things will happen. I lean towards agreeing with Michael, especially if I'm just destined to lose this hand.

When I get called by the big blind, if the wrong card hits the turn, I will have to ry to get to the river as cheaply as possible.)

The turn is 2d. A possible flush, but you do have the 10d.

The big blind bets $80,000. You call. The pot is now $362,000. (You have $267,000 left.)

(In the actual hand, the player with pocket 10's did not call. He moved all-in and lost all of his chips. However, to me, that line of thinking is not very instructive, so I changed the play to a call.)

(Michael: You are priced-in to make the call here.)

(Roy: Call or fold.)

(My comment: No way I can fold to such a small bet, with the chance of hitting a boat on the river.)

The river is the 3s.

If the big blind moves all in, what would you do? If the big blind bets $140,000, what would you do?

(It seems to me that Michael and Roy would fold to either sized bet absent any other information about the opponent. The reason for the fold is that they want to save their chips for a better situation. If a call is made, and the call is the wrong decision, it is over.)

What did the big blind actually have in this hand?

5d-4d. He hit the flush on the turn.

Finally, they asked the player who lost with the set of tens, what he should have done. He agreed with Roy Winston. He said he should have re-raised preflop, which would have gotten the big blind to fold. And given the flop texture, he would bet more on the flop.

My comment: Hindsight is 20/20. Overall, though, I found this to be an interesting situation and one that we all face playing poker.

You can read the entire column here.

Answer to Play Pocket Aces Against Me On This One Hand

Here is an actual hand of online poker that puts you to the test with pocket Aces.

Thanks to everyone for all the great answers I received on my blog and on Twitter.

Let's get back to your hand with pocket Aces. While this hand is from Cardplayer's March 2009 issue, I changed it just a little so you could learn more about how you play and how a Pro thinks about the game.

Let's set the stage again:

You are dealt pocket Aces. Your opponent is me. You have never played poker against me, so you don't have any clue about how I play the game.

Full Tilt Poker
$150 Buy-in no limit tournament
400 players

It is the second level. The blinds are $20-$40. You have $5,000. You are in the small blind. (In this hand, you are the poker player Bryan Devonshire.)

I am under the gun with $3,500. The cards are dealt and I limp. A player in the middle position limps. It is folded to you in the small blind. You find Ad-Ah.

You raise to $210. I call and the other player folds. It is heads-up. The pot is $500.

Bryan: When a player limps and calls a raise, it often means a small pair. But, when the raise is from the blinds and the early limper has position post-flop, the range widens considerably.

My takeaway: I think the pre-flop raise should have been greater. There is $140 in the pot, and the raise builds it to $350. The limper is getting a little more than 2-1 on the call. Online players make loose calls, especially when in position.

The flop is Qc-10d-10s. You bet $223, and I call. The pot is $946.

Bryan: The flop is favorable. The range of hands is: 2's to J's, and suited connectors like J-10 to A-10, K-J, Q-J, and K-Q.

My takeaway: This is either a very good flop or a very bad flop. Most likely, it is a very good flop. I think the bet size is good to keep the pot small.

The turn is 8c. You bet $500.

I raise to $1,200.

This is where I changed the situation. In the actual hand his opponent called the bet. I thought it would be more instructive to put in this raise.

What should you do with your pocket Aces?

Bryan: We'll be raised by any hand that beats us on the turn, and we can safely fold.

With my raise, I got some of you to fold and others put me on a bluff. Brian's stack would have gone from $5000 to about $4,100. If he moved all-in, and was wrong he would have been down to $1,500.

In actuality, I have Kd-Qh.

What did we learn from this hand?

1. A Pro is looking to manage pot size since he believe he can outplay his opponents in a tournament. Since he had no read on his opponent, he decided to fold a winning hand. The expression is "a good fold is a good thing."

2. This hand may reveal your style of play more than anything else. Your decision to fold, call or re-raise reflects the kind of player you are in a no limit event.

Did you fold because you tend to believe a raise on the turn or were you thinking you would have a better opportunity to accumulate chips? Did you re-raise because you knew it was me you were playing against, or is your style to embrace more risk. If you decided to call, what were you hoping to accomplish since your opponent will fire again on the river.

3. I was playing the player by raising on the turn.

First, I would never call a raise pre-flop with K-Q offsuit in this situation. I would only call that small a pre-flop raise with all pairs, and a range of no-gap suited connectors.

Second, that flop with K-Q offsuit is trouble since I could be up against A's, K's or A-K. But, with such a small bet on the flop, I would have called.

Finally, on the turn when my opponent bets half the pot it either means a monster or fear. I would raise since it is not likely to be a monster and I want to put my opponent to the test if I sense fear or weakness.

I hope you enjoyed this quiz. Hey, I did you give pocket Aces! Let me know if you found this exercise useful. If it is I well do it again. Thanks!

If you want to read the actual hand from Cardplayer go to:
http://snipurl.com/g4jfq