Not all fun poker hands involve massive pots. Sometimes, interesting situations arise even in (relatively speaking) smaller pots, giving us some food for thought.
One such hand took place recently during a Poker at the Lodge live stream, featuring none other than the big boss himself and a player named Kuz.
Adding to the confusion was Kuz’s decision to reveal one of his cards on the river as Doug Polk was pondering what to do – something that’s rarely recommended, but it works out for him this time.
Stakes are $25/$50 but there seems to be a bunch of straddles out there, and Kuz is the effective stack, starting the hand with $70,000.
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Preflop Action
Because all the straddles, the action starts with the small blind, who folds, and then it is up to Doug Polk in the big blind, who makes it $2,000 to go with 5♦5♣.
It folds all the way around to Kuz, who posted $800 straddle in the cutoff. With Q♠6♠, he makes the call. Rampage on the button decides to get out of the way, so they proceed to the flop heads-up, with $4,725 in the middle.
Preflop Play Analysis
These multi-straddle pots are sometimes hard to analyze because of all the dead money in the middle, but this hand seems pretty normal before the flop.
Polk has a small pocket pair in a game with deep stacks, so he certainly wants to get involved, and a small raise seems to be the best way to enter the pot.
With two suited cards and having already posted $800, Kuz has an easy defend, especially since he’ll be in position for the rest of the hand. So, nothing out of the ordinary thus far.
Flop Action
The flop comes 4♦4♦3♣, and Doug fires a small continuation bet of $1,600. Kuz wastes no time making the call.
Going to the turn, the pot is $7,925, with Polk keeping the betting lead.
Flop Play Analysis
The flop comes above average for Polk’s hand, as he manages to flop an overpair with pocket fives, which is certainly not a common thing.
Regardless of his actual holdings, on a small paired board, he’ll continue close to 100% of the time as a preflop aggressor as this board favors his range. A small bet of $1,600 is fairly standard as well since there is no reason to bet larger at this point in the hand.
Kuz doesn’t have much going for him, as he doesn’t even have a backdoor flush draw. However, players don’t like folding to a small flop bet in position as long as they feel they have any equity. Plus, there could be some bluffing opportunities down the road, so this call is pretty standard.
Turn Action
The 7♣ comes on the turn, completing the straight draw and bringing the second flush draw, making the board 4♦4♦3♣7♣.
Polk continues with the aggression, betting out $4,500. Kuz wastes very little time before raising to $12,000, and Polk makes the call. Going to the river, the pot is $32,325.
Turn Play Analysis
The 7♣ on the turn is an interesting card as it makes the board more dynamic, but it’s not the one where Polk has to slow down. There are still plenty of hands that Kuz could have called on the flop that are still behind, so he wants to protect his equity.
Kuz’s decision to raise shows that his flop call wasn’t just an auto-pilot type of move. He had plans for certain turn cards, and this one qualifies. He is holding a six, which somewhat blocks his opponent from having a straight and gives him some room to try and represent the straight himself.
Polk is in a strange spot facing a raise because he has two fives that very much block what Kuz is trying to represent. So, he has to decide if this is just a bluff, a slow-played flopped monster with a hand like pocket fours or maybe A3, or maybe a float that now turned a flush draw.
There are so many possible options at this point in a hand that calling and seeing the river seems like the most reasonable thing to do.
River Action
The river comes the 4♥ for the full runout of 4♦4♦3♣7♣4♥. Polk checks to his opponent, who immediately moves all in for just under $55k.
Facing a big overbet on a double-paired board and somehow holding an overpair still, Doug is in a tough spot, and things get even more complicated when Kuz decides to show him one of his cards and turns over the 6♠.
After going back and forth, Polk eventually decides to lay his hand down and is promptly shown the bluff.
River Play Analysis
With the board double-pairing on the river and Kuz continuing to tell his story with an overbet jam, this is a really interesting spot.
Polk tries to narrow his range to hands like 56, which he blocks, and a three that raises the turn. Then his opponent proceeds to show him a card, and with a six showing, he can certainly have a five or a three to go with it.
If there is one thing that maybe could have swayed Doug towards a call, it is the speed with which Kuz moved in on the river. Polk can certainly have some fours in his range, which should at least give his opponent a pause.
But he has a history with Kuz and probably knows about his tendencies, so the fact that he moved in so quickly doesn’t have to mean anything. He could easily have a straight that he is just very confident about.
It’s hard to say what is the right decision here as it seem pretty close, but with such a big bet on the river, folding seems like a more prudent play in the long run.
