WCOOP Event 17: $530 PLHE

I continued my poor luck with table draws and got Steve Paul-Ambrose on my left in a tournament where the field in general was a giant donkfest. Steve didn’t get too out of line, but his presence alone deterred me from a few hands I otherwise would have played. You just can’t play as many hands from any position with a good player still to act behind you.

Anyway, I don’t think anything too interesting happened. Eventually I ran AK into AA for the last of my chips.

I was also playing the weekly FTP $300 6-max, where I fired a second barrel in a spot where I would ordinarily never attempt such a thing.

Full Tilt Poker, NL Hold’em Tournament, 100/200 Blinds, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.comHand History Converter

UTG: 17,658
MP: 6,912
CO: 5,030
Hero (BTN): 8,630
SB: 14,724
BB: 1,078

Pre-Flop: (300) 2 A dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to 530, SB calls 430, BB folds

Flop: (1,260) T 9 7 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets 750, SB calls 750

Turn: (2,760) K (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets 1,850, SB calls 1,850

River: (6,460) 3 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Results: 6,460 Pot
Hero showed 2 A (Ace King high) and LOST (-3,130 NET)
SB showed K J (a pair of Kings) and WON 6,460 (+3,330 NET)

Ordinarily, I would put SB on like a small-mid pair or a suited connector. However, because the BB was short and fairly likely to shove, re-opening the betting, I didn’t think SB would call here with such an “implied odds” hand. Instead, I put him on big cards that could take a little more heat. There was some chance he was trapping with a big pair- it was a good spot for it- but I thought his range would be much wider than that.

When he didn’t check-raise the flop, I eliminated the big pairs from his range as well as two pair, sets, and big draws. That didn’t leave much except for one pair hands and weak draws. In addition, the K is a good scare card for me to bet again.

Although the bluff didn’t work, the results really don’t contradict my read at all. He did have a broadway hand as I suspected. It just happened to be one that could call the flop. And I was right that he had only a weak draw on the flop- it just happened to be the only one that could be improved by a K on the turn. So in conclusion, I am never wrong. I am not always right, I admit it, but I am never wrong.