Setup Poker Hand of the Week
In our Poker Hand of the Week we analyse one of the best EPT hands and bluffs of all time between Adrian Mateos and Johnny Lodden at the Final Table of EPT Grand Finale in Monte Carlo 2015.
We are at the final table of the Grand Finale of EPT Season 11 in Monte Carlo and playing for some life-changing cash.
With Adrian Mateos and Johnny Lodden two tournament legends clash in this unforgettable and very exciting hand as it plays on so many levels. A true level war between two poker legends.
The Blinds are 40,000/80,000 and Adrian Mateos has Johnny Lodden covered.
Poker Hand of the Week Action
Preflop Action:
Johnny Lodden raises from UTG with 5♦5♣ to 160,000 and gets three callers. One of them is Spanish poker wizard Adrian Mateos, who is on the button and has J♠T♠. Pot size: 955,000
Flop:
The flop A♠3♦9♣ isn’t great for any of them, but Mateos decides to apply pressure as he is the chipleader and tries to steal the pot with a small donkbet of 275,000.
Betting into three players looks very strong, but Fares calls with middle pair, while El Asmar gets out of the way.
When the action comes back to Johnny Lodden, he decides to make a play at the pot by raising to 715,000. Fares fold, but Mateos surprisingly sticks around. Pot size: 2,385,000
Turn:
The turn is the 4♣, which is a decent card for Lodden as it is an undercard to his pair of fives and gives him a gutshot to the Wheel.
Johnny Lodden now checks over to Adrian Mateos and now the Spaniard bets 650,000. Lodden calls and we have a massive pot brewing. Pot size: 3,685,000
River:
The A♦ on the river pairs the board and benefits the range of Mateos, who is repping a big hand. Johnny consequently checks again over to Adrian, who thinks a couple of second and then announces “All-In”.
From Lodden’s perspective the Ace on the river hasn’t really changed much, because if he was ahead on the turn then he is still ahead now. It is for his tournament life though and Johnny goes into a 5-minute long tank!
He ultimately folds his hand and as insult to injury gets shown the bluff by Adrian Mateos.
Poker Hand of the Week Analysis
What a hand! Metagame and leveling at its finest. We want to enter the analysis with the bet of Adrian Mateos on the turn as he is basically representing the Ace or a set here. However, would he have called a UTG Raise with a Ace-Rag?
Probably not, so the only Aces that make sense are A-9 or eventually a hand such as As4s or As3s. Nevertheless, when Johnny Lodden opens the door with his check on the turn, after he raised on the flop, Mateos gotta take a shot here with Jack-high.
Due to the fact, that the turn doesn’t change anything from Lodden’t view and Mateos is respresenting a very narrow range, the Norwegian poker legends decides to stick around with only 2,000,000 in chips behind and a pot size of 3,685,000.
Poker Hand of the Week Conclusion
Given the fact that Johnny Lodden seems to suspect something and especially that he gets 3 to 1 on a call, while Adrian is representing a very narrow range consisting of a set of threes, A-9 and eventually A-4 or A-3 he has to call here.
When you have invested half your stack on the flop on turn and get 3 to 1 on a call, then it is a mistake too fold, even though the money jumps are huge and there are some ICM considerations.
Johnny Lodden had the right read all the way and at the latest, when he commited himself on the turn, he should have gone with his read.
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