Hand Of The Day #48

Here are two hands from Julie's tournament a couple of weeks ago.

Level 2 (50/100) - UTG (Julie) raises to 400. I'm the Hyjack, and call with A2c. Four players see the Flop of 7c 6h 2d. UTG bets 1200. She's probably got an Overpair, but it could also be a hand like AK. I've only got Bottom Pair and a Backdoor Flush Draw. But that's a rather dry Flop for this situation. Since we started with 10k, and I've got around 8500 left, I make the call. All others fold.

Turn [7c 6h 2d] 8c. She pauses for a moment, and bets 2300. Time for me to go into deep thought. OK, now I know she's got an Overpair. I did pick up the Flush Draw, which she might not see coming. I'm assuming that I've got 14 outs (nine for Flush, two 2's, and three A's), which means I'm around 30% to win, or 2.5/1 odds. The pot size is around 6500, so with the 2300 call, I'm getting 35% pot odds + whatever I can win get on the River. Even though this would only leave me with just 4950 if I miss, I make the call. Besides, if this go badly, I can always head over to Nautica to play some $1/$2.

River [7c 6h 2d 8c] Kc - Yahtzee! She pauses for a moment, and checks. I instantly go All-In for my remaining 4950, hoping it looks a little bluffy. She thinks for a moment, and says, "I don't believe you." She calls, and shows 9 9, I show my Nut Flush, and she is left with under 1000 chips.

To be fair, Julie was dealing with some "Real Life" Tilt that day which certainly affected this hand.

Level 13 (700/1500) - We are at the Final Table with around seven players left. UTG+1 (Brad, who is the healthy Chip Leader) limps, which was very unusual for this stage of the tournament. I'm the Cutoff with 8 8, and raise it up to 3500. Only UTG+1 calls.

Flop 7s 6h 3d. He checks. I make a standard bet of 6500. He thinks for a bit, and check-raises to 14k. OK, I didn't see that coming. I count down my stack, and I have 20k-ish right now. So if I just call the 7500 raise, it would leave me with just under 13k, which means that I can't call this raise. It's a "Pump It or Dump It" situation.

So what kind of hand does he have in this spot? Brad is a loose Cash game player who rarely plays tournament. And so far, he's been playing like a loose Cash game player who rarely plays tournament. Limping UTG+1 is a good example of this.

Did he limp with a Big Pair, trying to trap? Doubtful, because this is such a bizarre way to play it.

Did he limp with a smaller Pair, and hit a Set. It's possible.

Did he limp with 54s, and flop the Straight? Maybe, but why not just call, and raise on the Turn.

Did he limp with a Cash game hand like 75 or 64, and flop a Pair with Straight Draw? It's possible.

Did he limp with JTs, and just decided to make a move instead of folding? Maybe, who knows.

After thinking about it for a minute, I finally asked myself the only question that really matters ... Do I want to broke with 8 8 in this spot? The answer is No. With 20k, I've still got around 13BB, which is still a decent stack at this Final Table. I fold face up, hoping that he will show his hand. He just flashes 5s.

After we finished the Heads-Up part of the tournament, I find out what he had. As it turns out, he limped UTG+1 with 52s, and check-raised with just a naked Gutshot.