In our Poker Hand of the Week we are analyzing one of the sickest bluffs of 2021 by Matt Berkey vs. Dylan Gang in a $288,000 pot on the Hustler Casino live stream.
Poker Hand of the Week Setup
This hand was played at the NL$200/$400 high stakes cash game on the Hustler casino live stream featuring Antonio Esfandiari, Andy Stacks, Nick Vertucci, Mikki and more.
They are playing 6-max with blinds of $200/$200/$400 and a $200 Big Blind Ante. Both players are really deep and Dylan Gang has Matt Berkey slightly covered at the start of our Poker Hand of the Week.
Poker Hand of the Week Action
Preflop:
Lucky raises UTG to $2,000 with A♦10♣ and Matt Berkey makes a loose 3-bet from the cut-off with J♥9♥. Dylan now looks at Q♠9♠ on the button and goes for a cold 4-bet to $15,000!
Lucky folds, but Berkey decides to see a flop and just like that there are a staggering $33,000 in the pot preflop.
Flop:
Heads-up to the action flop of 5♦8♣7♦, which gives Dylan a gutshot to the nuts to go alongside his two overcards and Matt a Double Belly Buster.
Berkey checks and Dylan makes a continuation bet of 56% pot. Matt check-calls. Pot Size: $66,000
Turn:
The 3♣ on the turn is a blank and Berkey checks for a second time, while Dylan fires again. This time $45,000 into $66,000 (68% pot).
Matt Berkey thinks for a couple of seconds and then announces All-In! Dylan snap-folds and Berkey wins a huge $288,000 pot with just Jack-high.
Poker Hand of the Week Analysis
Sick bluff based on a fantastic read by Matt Berkey! Let’s go through this spectacular hand step by step.
Berkey’s preflop 3-bet with Jh9h against a UTG open is pretty loose, but can be interspersed every now and then, since the hand has a good postflop playability and he is in position.
Dylan’s cold 4-bet is a classic squeeze play intended to win the hand and all the dead money right here, but Berkey calls as he has picked up quite some equity with his double gutshot.
The turn is an absolute blank and Matt checks again. Dylan fires a sizeable second barrel of 68% pot and Berkey goes into the tank for 20 seconds.
There are $111K in the pot and Matt has 177K behind, which is 1.6x pot. After having observed Dylan and his stack, Berkey check-raise shoves and Dylan snap-folds.
Poker Hand of the Week Conclusion
Great play by Matt Berkey, who reads the situation perfectly and plays his straight draw to perfection.
Berkey has some history with Dylan and knows that he makes a lot of moves and is slightly tilting. His cold 4-bet pre from the button is a typical squeeze spot and Matt knows that Gang doesn’t need a hand to make this play.
Matt simply doesn’t believe Dylan’s story of the big hand and sets a trap to maximize his value by checking twice and then check-shoving the turn.
The best thing about this play is that Berkey is always drawing live here and even if he gets called he still has some outs. A perfect check-raise bluff!
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Watch the Poker Hand of the Week from 38:05 here:
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