Multi-way pots tend to produce some of the strangest situations in poker, especially in wild games with wide preflop ranges. And, if we know one thing about Poker at the Lodge, that’s that players (or at least some of them) really don’t like folding before the flop.
The hand we’ll be breaking down today comes from a recent stream and features three regulars: Tesla, T1000, and Trey. Things kick off with six players seeing the flop, creating a very complicated situation.
Stakes are $50/$100, with a $200 straddle active. Stack sizes are a bit all over the place, but T1000 has everyone else covered, with $180,000 in front of him.
Preflop Action
The hand begins with Muscle Mike opening from UTG+1 with K♥Q♠. Trey, in the hijack position, makes the call with J♠10♠.
Doug Polk in the cutoff looks down at pocket fives and he calls as well. Tesla is next to act on the button and decides to join the party with 8♠5♦. San does the same in the big blind with 4♦3♦ and T1000 completes the action, calling in the straddle with 9♦7♥.
So, we proceed to the flop with six active players and $3,750 in the middle.
Preflop Play Analysis
The preflop action in this hand is quite interesting. Muscle Mike has a bit of a marginal hand opening the action, but it is good enough to get involved, especially with deep stacks.
Trey has a very nice hand, and he could even consider 3-betting here, but he at least wants to call and see the flop. Both options have some merits, but with quite a few players to act behind him, there is nothing wrong with a more conservative approach.
Polk has a small pocket pair that is certainly worth taking to the flop to try and hit a set. While raising to try to secure position has some merit, it also reopens the betting action and risks potentially shutting him out of the pot.
Tesla has no business calling with his hand, but he is on the button, and he loves the action, so it's no surprise to see him getting involved. Finally, San and T1000 are getting great direct odds, so they call to see the flop, without trying any ambitious moves against a bunch of players.
Flop Action
The flop is an action one, as it comes 9♠9♥6♠. Everybody plays in flow and checks it to Mike, who had the preflop lead, but he decides to check as well.
When the action gets around to Tesla, he decides to bet $2,000. T1000 and Trey call, Mike, Polk, and San get out of the way, and they go to the turn three-handed, with $9,750 in the middle.
Flop Play Analysis
With six players to the flop, it’s really hard to say what the best course of action is for any of the players. Given that, it makes sense that they take the standard line of checking all the way to the preflop aggressor.
Muscle Mike didn’t connect with the flop whatsoever, so he gives up, which he should do 100% of the time. Continuation betting into five players just doesn’t make any sense.
Tesla has a gutshot straight draw on a paired board. Against one or two opponents, betting this hand to see what develops would be fine. But against five players, there is simply no need to open the betting action. He can check and see the turn in position and take it from there.
After Tesla bets, T1000 could certainly raise with his trips, but he is aware that there are five other players in this pot, so calling is the standard play here. Trey has a good enough hand to see the turn as well, so he makes the call.
Turn Action
The 7♠ peels on the turn, and it is an ultimate action card, as it improves everyone. With the board reading 9♠9♥6♠7♠, T1000 turns the nuts, Trey catches his flush, and Tesla makes his straight.
The action once again checks to Tesla, who bets $13,000. T1000 makes the call, as does Trey, and they go to the river with $48,750 in the pot.
Turn Play Analysis
Although Tesla catches his gutshot on the turn, this is probably not the best card to keep barreling on. The 7♠ also completes the spade flush draw, which is a very likely holding for at least one of his opponents. Plus, the board is paired already.
He should exercise some pot control here and check to reevaluate on the river. Going for an overbet in this spot is pretty much turning his hand into a bluff, which feels unnecessary.
T1000 no longer has the absolute nuts, but he is only losing to two combos of straight flushes, so he is certainly not worried about that. He could raise here, but with such a strong hand, he probably wants to try and keep Trey around.
Trey is in a difficult spot. He has a flush, but it’s not even the nut flush, and two players are showing interest. While it’s probably hard to fold at this point, it’s worth considering it. But it’s hard to blame him for making the call, especially closing the action.
River Action
The river comes the 10♥, for the final runout of 9♠9♥6♠7♠10♥. T1000 now decides to lead into his opponents, betting $35,000.
Trey takes a long time, but eventually finds a fold. Tesla turns his hand over and thinks for about a minute before tossing in calling chips to send an almost $120k pot T1000’s way.
–
River Play Analysis
T1000 realizes that this is a scary runout, with four to a straight and three to a flush. So, his opponents may decide to take a safer route and check with a lot of their hands if given the opportunity. To avoid this scenario, he leads out with a sizeable but reasonable bet of $35,000.
With this line, Trey realizes something is up. The ten on the river isn’t a completely harmless card, either, as it could have helped improve T1000 to a full house. With another player still left to act as well, he finds a very good fold with a hand that’s turned into a pure bluff catcher by this point.
Tesla is in a better spot as he has no players left to act behind him, but his hand is much weaker. He is losing to all the flushes as well, and it’s really hard to come up with bluffs that T1000 would play this way. The best he can hope for here is a chop, so folding seems like the best course of action. It’s safe to say his curiosity got the best of him in this one.
