My $10,000 hand

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/10/2011 (5131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Since I was raised for a good part of my youth just below the equator in Fortaleza, Brazil, the hotter the temperature, the more I like it. But with summer coming to an end this year, I kinda have to admit I am actually happy in a way.

This summer was very hectic for me as I did three major projects around my new house and poker was taking a bit of a back seat. With all of this work finally out of the way, I am in full swing and ready to get back to playing some serious poker.

So off I went. For the first time in months, all I did was play with my dogs and focus on poker. I didn’t take long to start playing some massive pots.

I played many interesting hands this week. I can’t share them all here, but I have selected a couple of fun ones to talk about.

The first hand was at 10-20 no-limit hold-em heads up and both my opponent and I were playing 5-k stacks. I raised the button with 3 4 of hearts and he three bet me to $160. I called.

The flop was 5 6 7 rainbow and he led into me, betting $220. I raised him to $640 and he called. The turn was a 10 and he check called my $1,120 bet. The river was a 4 and he went all in for around $3,000. That river was such a bad card for my hand, but I knew this player was super aggressive and also knew that the 4 was a good card to bluff at. I called and he showed me 10 8 for a bigger straight.

I could have possibly folded to his river shove but it’s not easy to fold straights in heads up — especially since he called $1,120 on the turn and I figured he had some sort of big pair and not a draw. I guess the end result shows how much I know.

The other fun hand was also at 10-20, but this time it was raised and I three bet holding J J. Another player cold four bet, to which the original raiser folded. I was sitting with more than $7,000 in front of me and my opponent had just over $5,000 so I called.

Now, cold four bets are usually a sign of real strength, so by no means did I think I had the best hand pre-flop. That, however, all changed when the flop came down J 6 5 rainbow. Out of position, he bet $380 and I raised him to $880 and he called. The turn was a 9 and he check called my $1,100 bet. The river was a 2 and he again checked to me. After a brief pause I went all in and he called me with K K, allowing me to win a nice 500 big blind pot of $10,000.

Now some people might say ‘Well he had K K!’ Well, yes he did have a big hand, but what hand was he beating besides a bluff? Actually only one, and that is Q Q and is there any way I am betting the river for value there with Q Q? Never, as it is more than obvious that his hand is basically face up with either A A or K K so even if I had Q Q, I can’t bet the river there unless I am turning my hand into a bluff.

For my sake, I hope that he never reads this column and continues to play this way. My bankroll will really appreciate it!

Follow Marco Carreira on Twitter @DontCryRebuy