Setup Poker Hand of the Week
Our Poker Hand of the Week, comes from a $5/$5 + $50 Big Blind Ante No Limit Hold’em game at Live at the Bike with Kelly Minkin and several LATB regs.
Marc “Squish” Goone and Jeremy Levin are both regulars in this TV format, which means they have history and know each other’s game well.
Poker Hand of the Week Action
Preflop Action:
After two straddles Francisco raises from UTG+2 to $200 with K♥J♥ and gets 3 callers. The action is on Marc “Squish” Goone, who wakes up with Pocket Aces in the straddle, which is a dream spot for all cash game players.
He makes it $1,100 to go and as the raise is pretty small Julie (A♠J♠) , Francisco and even Jeremy with 4♥3♥ call as he has position and gets a very good price. Pot Size: $4,760
Flop:
The flop J♣3♦4♠ is super interesting as it is very decent for all 4 players! Squish checks his Aces and so does Francisco with his top pair.
When the action comes to Julie, she bets $1,100 with top top and Jeremy quickly moves All-in right behind her for $7,110 with bottom two pair. Pot size: $12,970
Marc suddenly is in a nasty spot with his Aces as there are still two players, from which one has already shown strength, to act behind him and Jeremy is already All-In.
He thinks for quite a while and then decides to shove himself with the aim of isolating Jeremy. It works as Franciso and Julie both fold there top pair strong kicker. They decide to run it twice with Jeremy being a 73% favorite on the flop. Pot size: $20,080
1st Runout:
The first board runs out with 9♥8♣ and Jeremy secures himself 50% of the pot.
2nd Runout:
The second runout brings 7♦8♥ and Jeremy takes down the entire $20,080 pot.
Poker Hand of the Week Analysis
This hand is a good example, why you can easily lose a big pot with Pocket Aces, when you don’t thin the field and play them aggressively preflop.
The biggest mistake in this hand is definitely the way to small 3-bet by Squish. After a double straddle, 4 callers and already $1,060 in the pot, he should have made it 1.5x to 2 x pot as you want to play Aces out of position if possible Heads-Up or against a maximum of 2 players.
In addition to that, his opponents now get way too good pot odds to fold especially Julie and Jeremy on the button. That’s why everybody calls the raise.
In this exacct situation Squish’s Pocket Aces are now only 61% to hold up preflop, which means he loses the hand in 39% of cases.
He then checks the flop for pot control, which is good, but after a bet from a tight player like Julie and an instant shove from Jeremy behind her, Marc has to assume that someone has him beat.
What makes it tricky is that there are basically no Two Pair combinations that make sense, except for 4-3s, so he probably discounts them.
However, after this flop action, I am putting Jeremy on a set as the board is rainbow, which makes draws and semi-bluffs highly unlikely and increases the odds of a set or Two Pair.
Due to the fact, that Squish checked the flop and has only invested $1,100, he is not pot-commited and can still get away from his hand.
Jeremy played the hand perfectly. Suited connectors play very well in a multiway pot in position and he got the right price, so he correctly called.
On the flop, his bottom two pair is well-disguised, but very vulnerable on later streets, that’s why a shove to both protect your hand and make weaker hands such as top pair top kicker or overpairs call off, is a great play.
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Watch the Poker Hand of the Week here from 6:04 on:
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