In our Poker Hand of the Week we analyze the world-class Hero Call by poker legend Phil Ivey against Christoph Vogelsang at Triton Cyprus.
Poker Hand of the Week Setup
We are in the early stage of the $200,000 buy-in Coin Rivet Invitational, which was one of the most expensive and biggest prized live poker tournaments in 2022.
Christoph Vogelsang has Phil Ivey easily covered at the start of our Poker Hand of the Week.
Poker Hand of the Week Action
Preflop:
The blinds are 3,000/6,000 with a 6,000 big blind ante. It folds to Phil Ivey, who raises to 13,000 from the button with 
.
Ben Heath calls from the small blind holding 
as does Christoph Vogelsang with 
in the big blind. Pot Size: 45,000
Flop:
3-way to the very interesting flop of 
, which gives Ivey top pair, while Vogelsang picks up a straight flush draw.
It checks to Ivey, who makes a small continuation bet of 36% pot, which is called by both opponents. Pot Size: 93,000
Turn:
When the 
pairs on the turn and Heath, checks Vogelsang decides to represent it with a sizeable bet of 55,000 into 93,000. Phil calls and Ben quickly folds. Pot Size: 203,000
River:
On the 
river all of the draws bust. Vogelsang has to bet to win the pot and he pulls the trigger by putting Phil Ivey All-in for 121,000.
Ivey goes very deep into the tank for almost three and a half minutes. Finally, he decides to make the call and Vogelsang has to show his seven-high, while Ivey collects a huge 444,000 pot.
Poker Hand of the Week Analysis
Very interesting hand. Let’s go through it step by step.
Preflop is standard and there is not much to say about it, except for that Ben Heath could have 3-bet from the small blind with Pocket Fives, a call makes more sense though. Vogelsang has an easy call with a beautiful Suited Connector and two players in already.
The flop is spicy and as good as it gets for Christoph, who picks up a Straight Flush Draw. Ivey has flopped top pair and choses a small 36% cbet sizing. That’s the reason, why Ben Heath calls here as you are not supposed to fold a pair to such a small bet. I would have liked a check-raise here by Vogelsang with his monster draw as you can put a lot of pressure on your opponents, but he just calls.
The turn is another interesting card as the board pairs. This gives Christoph Vogelsang, who has the most Eights in his range, the idea to represent it by leading out with a sizeable 59% pot bet. Heath quickly gets out of the way, but Phil does make the call.
The King on the river doesn’t change much as Vogelsang has only very few Kings in his range with hands such as KJs, K9s. However, Christoph continues to tell his story by putting Ivey All-In. He basically is saying that he has an eight or even a full house here.
The problem of Vogelsang’s play is that Phil Ivey has only 121,000 chips behind with 444,000 in the pot. That means Phil Ivey gets great pot odds of almost 4 to 1 and he therefore only has to be right every fifth time, that’s why the G.O.A.T. ends up calling here after going deep into the tank.
Poker Hand of the Week Conclusion
Great call by Phil Ivey, which is mainly based on pot odds and simply mathematics though. Ivey has to call 121,000 to win 444,000 leaving him pretty much pot-committed.
Ivey’s call only has to be correct in approximately 20% of the time and since he called on the turn and the river didn’t change much, he should be calling here in a majority of the cases.
Phil Ivey obviously knows that and makes another great call. That’s why most poker experts call him the G.O.A.T.
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