CatPants' WSOP PAHWM #4 (LAST ONE - ACT NOW!) - Event 13: $600 PLO Deep Stack (2 Viewers)

[Chippy McChiperson]

Coming home.

Context:
Level 20, first hand of day 2, down to 118 of the 6000+ runners. No notable pay jumps until the top 50 or so, so pay jumps are still not a concern.
No reads on anyone. I am second oldest at the table. One of only three americans. Hoodies, headphones, and sunglasses out in full force. I'm one of the last if not the last 'weekend/homegame warriors/ neighborhood poker dads' left in the event.

Blinds 10k/15k with a 15k BB ante
Average stack overall in the event is about 850k

Posting Hendon mob profiles here just for fun. Table is....just a bit experienced. Average LTD poker earnings north of 500k I think. And then, me.

SB: 500k https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=514702
BB 315k https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=431938
UTG (Hero) : 655k
UTG + 1): 440k https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=142244
MP: 2.6M https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=598773
HJ: 1.25M https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=108480
CO: 1.45M https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=482908
BTN: 290k https://pokerdb.thehendonmob.com/player.php?a=r&n=200572

No reads on anyone. My second time day two-ing a WSOP event in the 'production' room, so nerves aren't as bad as they were the previous year.

Shuffle up and deal, hero hopes for a few folds to get settled in - and instead looks at .

Pot is 40k.

Hero raises to 40k.
MP calls
CO calls
All others fold.

Flop comes .

Hero BETS 100k.
MP FOLDS
CO CALLS

Turn brings

Hero CHECKS.
CO thinks and CHECKS.

River is an improvement card:

Pot is 345k.

Hero CHECKS
CO thinks for a few seconds and then 'aggressively' announced pot and slams chips down in front of him - bet of 345k.

Action on Hero. Call would leave hero with 170k.

Hero TANKS. Like longer than I've ever tanked, four minutes or so. Couple things I considered.

Pro knows I'm a rec. I've shown weakness after c-betting the flop out of position with a larger sizing. This screams aces and flush draws, maybe the odd pair with a gutter type of hand. I should have no boats outside of an occasional 99 with like J1099 double suited - which is still likely too loose for a first hand of the day UTG open. I also look like a friendly neighborhood poker dad who may say "golly gee" when facing a three dollar raise.

I block the 99 so that's unlikely. Is he really calling a hand that has two sixes or a 9/3, 6/3, or 4/3 to a UTG open? He really shouldn't be. And even 99 probably doesn't let the turn go check-check as I have many hands in my range that could call the turn.

Ace high flush would play this way up until this point. But why bomb the river? Outside of my specific hand, you're only getting called by better, and I probably don't have better.

Wraps would play this way, naked 3s would play this way, other stone cold bluffs would play this way. And it's calls like this that make or break you.

I count out the chips just to get the visual on exactly what I'm committing and take a breath before making the call.

::Sopranos style fade to black::

 

[MrCatPants]

Oh no that's it. You'll have to wait for an interview in 10 years where I allude to what the fade to black meant to me.

 

[Rhodeman77]

Definitely feels like the nut flush. Really think a pot sized turn bet gets him off of it. It denies him the direct pot odds to draw, especially with the board paired, and it denies any implied odds since Hero will be left with scraps after the bet.

 

[Chippy McChiperson]

Definitely feels like the nut flush. Really think a pot sized turn bet gets him off of it. It denies him the direct pot odds to draw, especially with the board paired, and it denies any implied odds since Hero will be left with scraps after the bet.

Ok but what boats could hero realistically have in his range? There aren't very many, maybe AA66 or AA99, but if villain has Ax of hearts he blocks that.

 

[MrCatPants]

Ok but what boats could hero realistically have in his range? There aren't very many, maybe AA66 or AA99, but if villain has Ax of hearts he blocks that.

No one has boats here in my opinion (during the hand analysis, not post analysis), except in very rare circumstances like you describe. I shouldn't, and since I have a 9 blocker he really shouldn't either.

 

[Rhodeman77]

Neither person should have boats. But if Villain puts Hero on AAxx he is drawing to just hearts, no 2 pair, maybe trips if he has a 6. So a pot sized bet on the turn prices him off a bare flush draw, even if he doesn’t have to worry about a full house. And Hero knows he has 2 heart blockers as well reducing his chances even further to hit it. A pro should be able to fold in that spot.

 

[Chippy McChiperson]

Neither person should have boats. But if Villain puts Hero on AAxx he is drawing to just hearts, no 2 pair, maybe trips if he has a 6. So a pot sized bet on the turn prices him off a bare flush draw, even if he doesn’t have to worry about a full house. And Hero knows he has 2 heart blockers as well reducing his chances even further to hit it. A pro should be able to fold in that spot.

Ok what if he has 789Thh or 6789hh? We're way behind on the turn but ahead on the river

 

[Rhodeman77]

Ok what if he has 789Thh or 6789hh? We're way behind on the turn but ahead on the river

Hero is ahead of both of those hands on the turn. Really ahead of 6789hh.

 

[JustinInMN]

Ok what if he has 789Thh or 6789hh? We're way behind on the turn but ahead on the river

I have a hard time thinking villain would bet this river unless he is specifically turning his hand into a bluff to target bigger flushes.

 

[Chippy McChiperson]

Hero is ahead of both of those hands on the turn. Really ahead of 6789hh.

Derp, forgot the 3 paired on the turn. Still, I think villain has more in his range than just the nut flush, and we only have to be right 33% of the time to be profitable. With the flat payout structure, I’m inclined to call.

 

[Rhodeman77]

Derp, forgot the 3 paired on the turn. Still, I think villain has more in his range than just the nut flush, and we only have to be right 33% of the time to be profitable. With the flat payout structure, I’m inclined to call.

I call as well, but I think the better play is to pot the turn with the brick that hurt all drawing hands.

 

[MrCatPants]

I call as well, but I think the better play is to pot the turn with the brick that hurt all drawing hands.

I thought about this but also thought I shouldn't have boats in my range so would be vulnerable to getting jammed for my full stack as it looks so much like aces up.

 

[Rhodeman77]

I thought about this but also thought I shouldn't have boats in my range so would be vulnerable to getting jammed for my full stack as it looks so much like aces up.

If you bet pot on the turn there is no fold equity to a jam though, you don’t have enough left to fold. Yes your hand looks like aces up, that’s what you want the villain to think. Like you said earlier, neither of you should have boats here.

 

[MrCatPants]

Interviewer: "Hey Mr. Cat Pants, so what was with that whole fade to black thing this morning?"

3-time WSOP event casher Mr. Cat Pants: "Well, I wanted the PCF audience to be able to interpret the ending as they saw fit. All things were possible in that moment, and I think the beauty is in how each person saw the story end in their mind."

Interviewer: "But how did the story end in your mind? When you wrote it?"

3-time WSOP event casher Mr. Cat Pants: (chuckles) "Well, probably a little something like..."

======================================================

I push in my chips and announce the call.

CO looks a bit perplexed and then looks at me and gives some "show me" body language as if I'm dopey enough to show first. I just sit there.

He slaps his cards down and announces two pair. I never got a perfect look at the hand because it was across the table, but 90% sure it was

I flip over my hand and announce the king high flush. Dealer verifies and starts awarding the pot.

"Wait, wait, what did he call with?" CO calls as dealer moves to pull in my hand. Dealer confirms king high flush, and CO gives a thoughtful nod.

I get to pull in a very nice pot, which includes my first few 100ks of the event, and it puts me a little over a million and into the top 15 or so.

 

[Rhodeman77]

So your “weakness” on the turn and river induced the big bluff attempt. Great call!

Do you think he can call a bet on the turn with that hand if you continue the story of big over pair made two pair?

 

[MrCatPants]

So your “weakness” on the turn and river induced the big bluff attempt. Great call!

Do you think he can call a bet on the turn with that hand if you continue the story of big over pair made two pair?

I dont think he can. All he has is the gutter, tripping the 9 or maybe setting the 10 as outs if I'm bombing turn.

 

[grebe]

Well played, and even better written. Thanks for the entertainment!

 

[JustinInMN]

I dont think he can. All he has is the gutter, tripping the 9 or maybe setting the 10 as outs if I'm bombing turn.

Not to mention the isn't clean, so 7-9 outs at best depending on how you count the remaining 3s. Even at that Villain can't think 3s full of 10s will win with hero taking a line that screams KKxx or AAxx.

What's interesting is Villain also has a full house blocker so I get how he may be thinking there's only one possible combo of full house for hero. So maybe that's why he decided to bomb the river, it's another version of the blocker play.

Both players holding a 9 on a 9-hi flop really changed the dynamic of this hand. It turns out showdown value was a lot further from the nuts than usual for a PLO hand with both players able to effectively eliminate full houses from opponent ranges.