In our Poker Hand of the Week we analyze the insane Hero Call by Viktor Kudinov with ten-high against German wizard Fedor Holz at Triton Poker Cyprus.
Poker Hand of the Week Setup
We are at the final table of the $30,000 NLH 6-handed event Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Cyprus 2022 with only eight players left.
Fedor Holz has Viktor Kudinov easily covered at the start of our Poker Hand of the Week.
Poker Hand of the Week Action
Preflop:
The blinds are 50,000/100,000 with a 100,000 big blind ante. Fedor Holz is one of the chip leaders and therefore tries to apply pressure with a raise to 240,000 from the small blind with 
after it was folded to him. Viktor Kudinov picks up 
in the big blind and decides to defend. Pot Size: 3,600,000
Flop:
The flop comes 
and Fedor checks. Viktor checks behind. Pot Size: 580,000
Turn:
The turn is another 
, which gives the preflop raiser a big range advantage. Consequently, Fedor takes a small stab with a 30% pot. Kudinov does make the call though with his gutshot. Pot Size: 930,000
River:
The river is the 
, which is another card that benefits the range of the preflop aggressor. Holz needs to bet in order to win the pot and choses a value bet type sizing of 390,000 into 930,000 (42% pot).
Kudinov thinks for a little bit more than a minute, makes the call with ten-high and is good! Fedor Holz looks stunned, while Viktor collects a nice 1,710,000 pot.
Poker Hand of the Week Analysis
What an insane call by Viktor Kudinov. Let’s take a close look what made him come to the correct conclusion.
Preflop is pretty standard as Fedor is chip leader and since it folds around to him, he should raise a wide range here given the ICM pressure on the final table. 109o is a defend for Kudinov and that’s what he does.
The flop comes King-high, which is perfect for the preflop raiser, but Holz surprisingly decides to check instead of making a continuation bet. Kudinov has a relatively easy check behind with his gutshot.
The turn is another King, which doesn’t really change much, but now Fedor makes a delayed cbet. Viktor is not convinced and makes the call.
The Ace on the river is another good card for the preflop raiser Fedor Holz, since he has all the Aces, Kings and Queens in his range. Fedor chooses a small 42% pot sizing sending Kudinov into the tank.
After a little bit more than a minute Viktor Kudinov comes to the conclusion that Fedor’s story simply doesn’t add up, so he calls him down with just ten-high and is good!
Poker Hand of the Week Conclusion
Incredible call by Viktor Kudinov! However, in my opinion he was only able to make it, because Fedor played the hand in a suboptimal way.
By checking the flop as preflop aggressor and not making a continuation bet, Holz got Kudinov suspicious. The turn then brought another King, which didn’t change the board and Viktor correctly figured he is still good.
In addition to that, the delayed cbet on the turn and the 42% bet on the river are simply too small to get Viktor to fold his hand.
The Ace on the river makes the call trickier as Fedor is having some Aces in his range, but if Holz doesn’t have the Ace then Kudinov is most likely good here.
Fedor Holz himself said after the hand that the call makes sense:
“My value bets are some traps. He needs to call some of his J and T high and 9T seems a good candidate for the price he’s getting,”
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