I haven’t done one of these blogs in ages where I go over my day with you all, but felt inspired to do so after my first day of play here in the Bahamas for PCA 2018. I just wanted to share a few key hands from the day:
HAND 1
Level 1
Blinds 500-1000
Ante 100
Stack depth 250 bbs
Koray Aledimir raises under the gun at a 7 handed table to 2500. It folds around to me in the big blind and I re-raise to 13k with As Qs. Koray called.
Flop: Js Th 5d
I bet 7k on the flop and Koray calls.
Turn: 9c
Check, check.
River: 6s
I bet 100k
Koray tanks for a while, using a time bank extension and then makes the call with 5c 6c
Thoughts- I don’t normally three bet in this situation, or at least I never used to in the old days when poker was much easier, but felt like it’s important to have some type of 3 betting range in this situation and AQ suited is a fine hand to be doing it with.
On the river I chose a larger sizing to get Koray off a one pair hand which is his most likely holding as played. Sure, he could check back two pair or better on the turn, but it is far more likely that by the river he has exactly one pair. It was hard to see the 6s as a scare card in this spot. Had he not made two pair on the river, I don’t think he would ever consider calling me, but with two pair he has to call because theoretically I could bet AA or KK for value in this situation on the river. He beats that hand with two pair, but not with just one.
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HAND 2
Level 2
Blinds 600-1200
Ante 200
Stack Depth 80 bbs
At an 8 handed table Steffan Schillhabel raises to 3k from under the gun. Chris Huni calls from middle position, and Sam Greenwood calls from the button. The French businessman calls from the small blind, and I call 1800 more with Kc Jc
Flop: Kh 9c 3c
I check, Stefan checks, Chris bets 6500 and Sam Greenwood calls from the button. I check-raise to 20k, Chris folds, and Sam calls.
Turn: Qc
I bet 15k, Sam makes it 66k, I only have about 4k more and go all in. He calls and shows Ac Tc
Thoughts- this hand was a bit annoying because the dealer flashes my second card and my hand was supposed to be Kc Ts. He flashed the Ts and replaced it with the Jc. Lucky me! With K-T off suit I wouldn’t have lost too many chips in this spot, but with my stack size and the pot already bloated, it was a good spot to put some chips in.
When Sam called on the button and then called my check-raise I thought it was very lucky he had a flush draw as well. Either that or slow playing a a set. Once the turn comes considering my stack size and what’s already in the middle, there is just no getting away from a King high flush despite not feeling great about it when he raised.
That eliminated me early on and forced me to the re-entry cage. I’m now in $200,000 just a couple hours in.
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HAND 3
Level 4
Blinds 1000-200
Ante 300
Stack Depth 125 bbs
I raise on the button at a 7 handed table with Kh 7h to 5000. From the small blind Timothy Adams makes it 20,500. I call
Flop: Qd Td 7s
Check, check.
Turn: 3s
Check, check.
River: 2c
Timothy bets 45,000. I use a time bank and make the call. Timothy shows Kc 6c for King high
Thoughts- Obviously K-7 suited is a raising hand from the button, but I don’t really love it when Timothy raises me from the small blind. We were still relatively deep stacked, and as a general rule you want to play most of your big pots in position rather than out of position. Calling the 3-bet is marginal at best. I’m not entirely sure it’s correct, but it felt right in the moment.
When Timothy checks the flop I can absolutely justify a bet. I think sometimes you should bet, and sometimes you should check. The frequency is something you just need to figure out on your own! There is no “correct” play here in terms of it being either a bet or a check, you should have this hand in your betting range sometimes, but also in your checking range. You don’t want to ALWAYS do the same thing with specific hands on the flop or your opponents will learn your tendencies and really exploit you.
On the turn it seems like my hand rates to be the best hand so the dilemma is between protecting my equity or protecting myself from a possible check raise. I took the safer approach and checked.
By the river, if Timothy checks I’m going to have the best hand well over 80% of the time I’d say, but when he bets I can only beat a pure bluff. He made a big bet, so I didn’t think it was all that likely he was betting, A-T for example. It was either a slow played hand, a set of deuces, or an Ace high/King high type hand that he didn’t think could win at showdown. I think I have a stronger hand than I’m supposed to in this situation on average, so I made the call and picked up a key pot.
I ended the day with 438k in chips which is a nice stack, almost doubling up and looking forward to day two where the blinds will be 3k-6k. You can follow updates all day long at www.pokerstarsblog.com and also there will be a cards up live stream show at www.pokerstarslive.com so be sure to tune in!
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