This month in our ‘Dear Deadman’ series, Simon Deadman, our Brand Ambassador and Poker Professional, has selected a hand which shows a great example of being in a tricky spot with the best starting hand in NLH.
Mr M from Northampton was playing in a large tournament with a modest buy in, yet it had a £100,000 guarantee.
“With the Blinds at 100/200 I have 20k and the villain also has around 20k. I have developed quite a loose, aggressive image and get dealt AhAs UTG. I min raise to 400 and it is folded round to the Small Blind who calls, and the Big Blind folds.
The flop is Kd5c2d and the SB checks, and I bet 1,000. The SB motions as if he is going to fold but the calls 1,000. The turn is the 6s and the SB checks again, I bet 2,500 and the SB raises to 6,000. I feel that the SB possibly has flopped or turned a set here, most likely flopped with the fake fold motion. What do you think and what would you do here Simon?”
Firstly, open Bigger, you’re 100bbs deep and if you’re hand selecting well you should be opening hands you want action with, so open to 500-600. The more money in the pot, when you have a decent starting hand, the better. A bigger bet also defines our opponent’s ranges more, because people call a min raise with a lot wider range.
I like the fact that you’ve included a live read here. Too many players just look at their own cards, and miss a ton of information that their opponent is giving away.
I would expect our opponent to just call the turn with all the hands that we are ahead of (KQ,KJ,flush draws etc.) so I like a fold here. It’s always hard to fold an over pair on a board like this, but I think with his strong line, and your live read also, we can find a fold. Of course this is opponent dependent, everyone plays differently so you have to adjust accordingly.
In summary, Simon feels that this is a spot to fold and look for better opportunities as the tournament progresses.
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