Doug Polk and Tesla have quite a bit of history. The two have played a number of huge pots, and it is no secret they love to go to war against each other.
This dynamic is probably the main reason why Polk decides to go for a rather unconventional line in the hand we’ll be breaking down today. He intuitively knows it is the right line against this particular opponent.
Blinds are $20/$50, but the double straddle is on, so it’s $200 to play. Tesla is the effective stack, starting the hand with $38,000 in his stack.
Preflop Action
The action starts with Doug Polk on the button, who looks down at A♣Q♥ and raises to $600. Tesla in the small blind decides to make the call with 6♦3♣.
San, the player in the first straddle, finds Q♠J♣ and decides to call as well, while T1000 in the double straddle decides to fold, so they proceed to the flop three-handed with $2,100 in the middle.
Preflop Play Analysis
Polk’s button open is perfectly standard, as he’ll be opening much wider than A-Q from this position. He goes for a standard 3x raise, although we often see some larger sizings in these live games. However, with two straddles in there, they are no longer as deep, so three times the straddle seems quite big enough.
Tesla finds himself in the worst possible position and one of the worst starting hands in poker. It’s hard to find a reason for anything but folding here. Perhaps he can occasionally 3-bet (although 6-3 isn’t the hand to do it with), but calling is definitely the worst of the three options.
But, as we all know, Tesla loves to get involved, and when he has any money in the pot, he doesn’t give up on hands easily.
Flop Action
The flop comes A♠A♦6♥, giving Polk very strong trips. Tesla connects with the board as well, as he pairs his six.
The action checks to Polk, who fires a small continuation bet of $500. Tesla makes the call, San gets out of the way, having completely missed the flop, and the two proceed to the turn with $3,100 in the pot.
Flop Play Analysis
The flop play in this hand is pretty standard. Polk chooses a small c-bet size, as he’ll often do on these types of boards, especially with no immediate draws available.
Having connected with the board, Tesla’s only real option is to call. Folding is out of the question, and raising here, especially with a player still to act, doesn’t achieve much.
Turn Action
The 8♥ comes on the turn, making the board A♠A♦6♥8♥. Tesla now decides to play out of flow and bets into Polk for $1,500.
Doug thinks for a little moment and then bumps it up to $5,000. Tesla makes the call, and there is now $13,100 in the middle going to the river.
Turn Play Analysis
The 8♥ on the turn is a pretty irrelevant card. It does create possibilities for some straight and flush draws, but it is unlikely to have helped improve either player’s hand.
So, Tesla deciding to take the betting lead on this card is a very unusual approach. He bets for about half the pot, which will hardly make things difficult for his in-position opponent. He may be able to fold out complete air, i.e. hands containing unpaired and small cards, but he is already ahead of those hands.
Against most opponents, Polk will likely just call in this spot, but he clearly knows how Tesla plays, as he decides to go for a raise.
While there are a couple of possible hands his opponent could have that are ahead, he knows he is most likely up against a draw or a weaker made hand, and he doesn’t want to let Tesla reach a cheap showdown.
Once Doug raises, Tesla should be done with his hand. All he has is a weak bluff catcher with almost no chance to improve. If he calls now, he’ll likely have to call a big bet on most rivers, and that’s really not a spot he needs to put himself in.
River Action
The river is a complete brick, as it comes 2♦, completing the board of A♠A♦6♥8♥2♦. Tesla checks to his opponent.
Doug Polk now takes a few moments before blasting out an overbet of $20k into a $13k pot. Tesla wastes very little time and makes the call with his pair of sixes, shipping a $53,100 pot Polk’s way.
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River Play Analysis
Polk’s decision to go for a big river overbet is quite interesting, but it shows a good understanding of what’s happening in the hand.
There are two possible scenarios. Either Tesla picked up a draw on the turn, or he has a hand like he has. The river is a total brick, which means that all draws missed, and his opponent will fold to any bet.
If he has a bluff catcher, once the river bricks, Tesla will have more incentive to call and catch Polk with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. And Polk knows that Tesla is the kind of player who will stick to his guns; in fact, a huge bet may convince him even more that Doug is trying to pull a bluff.
So, Polk manages to extract the maximum value in a hand that would normally see him pick up a small pot, showing how important it is to think about every spot and consider all factors before you decide what you want to do with your chips.
