Being dealt pocket aces and seeing some willing takers is usually a good feeling, but when a pot goes multi-way, things can get really tricky with each new community card.
The popular poker vlogger Mariano was reminded of this recently during one of Hustler Casino Live streams, featuring several known faces, including that of Dan “Jungleman” Cates.
Stakes are $25/$50 with a $50 big blind ante and a $100 straddle, and “Jungleman” is the effective stack, starting the hand with $24,025 in front of him.
Preflop Action
The hand starts with Mike X raising to $100 from the highjack with K♥8♠ and Mariano 3-betting to $500 from the cutoff, holding A♦A♣.
Three players find this a fair price, as he picks up a call from Jungleman in the small blind holding 5♦3♣, Brown Balla in the big with 9♠6♣, and the original raiser Mike X.
After all the preflop action is done, they proceed to the flop four-handed, with $2,150 in the middle to start things off.
Preflop Play Analysis
The preflop action is certainly a bit off the rails in this hand. Mike X makes a somewhat dubious and very small raise with a borderline hand.
This hand is outside of GTO opening ranges, but it is even more questionable to raise with it in a game where chances of stealing blinds with a min-raise are virtually zero.
Mariano has the best starting hand in poker and facing such a small raise, 3-bet is the only option. He makes it 5x the original raise, which is more than fine in loose live games, as we clearly see from the action that follows.
Jungleman’s decision to cold call from the small blind can’t be explained within any reasonable poker strategy. There is no doubt Cates knows his small blind ranges, but he probably felt in a mood to gamble it up.
Facing a raise, a 3-bet, and a call, Brown Balla should really not be flatting from the big blind with a hand as weak as 9♠6♣. The only reasoning is that he might know that Mike’s min-open means a marginal hand, so he is fairly confident he’ll see the flop, but even then, it’s a questionable play.
Closing the action, Mike X is getting such good odds at this point that he does have to call at this point, even though he has a kind of hand that can get him in a lot of trouble in a 3-bet pot.
Flop Action
The flop comes K♣6♦3♦, so everybody picks up a piece. The action checks to Mariano, who continues with a c-bet of $1,000.
Next to act, Jungleman bumps it up to $3,800, which gets rid of Brown Balla. Mike X, with his top pair, is not ready to give up just yet, so he makes the call. It is back to Mariano who, after weighing his options, decides to just call as well.
The action moves to the turn three-handed, with $13,550 in the middle.
Flop Play Analysis
The flop improves all players involved in a hand except for Mariano, who remains ahead with his overpair.
The action checks to the preflop aggressor, as it will often happen in a multi-way pot, especially the one containing paint. Mariano decides to c-bet into three players, which can be a bit risky, but this is a fairly wet board, and future cards can easily make his pocket aces shrink.
Jungleman’s raise is an interesting one. Taking a bottom pair with some backdoors and turning it into a check-raise bluff is a legitimate strategy, but it is done more frequently in heads-up pots. With two players still to act behind, this is certainly an ambitious move.
Brown Balla gets the memo and mucks his middle pair, as he should. Mike X is now in a tough spot – he has a weak top pair in a hand with a lot of action. It may seem weak to just fold, but facing a bet and a raise, especially in a 3-bet pot, it is probably the best path. But he decides on a riskier approach and calls to see another card.
Back to Mariano, he has a couple of options. He is never folding, so it is either a call or a 3-bet, and both plays have some merits. However, given the preflop action, he is concerned about small sets and two-pair hands, which are certainly possible here. So, he plays it cautiously and just calls to see what develops.
Turn Action
The turn card is 7♣, completing a couple of straight draws from the flop and bringing the second flush draw, as the board reads K♣6♦3♦7♣,
Jungleman checks, and now Mike X takes over the betting lead, firing out for $8,000. Both Mariano and Jungleman make the call, bringing the pot to $37,550.
Turn Play Analysis
After his bluff attempt is intercepted by two players, Cates decides to abort his plans and checks the turn.
Mike X decides to now take over the betting lead, which is somewhat ambitious with a weak top pair. After 3-betting before the flop and then calling on the flop, Mariano certainly has better hands in his range, such as pocket aces, AK, and, with some frequency, even pocket kings.
The bet doesn’t really accomplish much as it is unlikely that both players are drawing, and it is unlikely (although not impossible) that weaker hands will call.
For Mariano, the turn hasn’t changed things much, so he has no reason to do anything but call at this point. If he is beat, this can help him save some money, and if his opponents are bluffing or overplaying a weaker hand, this allows them to continue doing so.
As for Jungleman, this is probably the point in a hand where he should be getting out. He has very few clean outs to improve and he is out of position. As it turns out, he has about 22% chance to win, but without seeing his opponents’ hole cards, calling here is very optimistic.
The only reasoning behind it is that he really wanted to get lucky, or he had plans to bluff certain rivers that bring flushes, especially diamonds, as his line is consistent with big flop draws.
River Action
As it turns out, Cates does get lucky, with the river coming 4♦, completing his straight draw on the board of K♣6♦3♦7♣4♦.
Jungleman now takes back the initiative and bets out for $12,200, leaving behind just $25. Mike X decides he’s had enough and finally mucks his hand.
Mariano is now in a difficult spot with his pocket rockets. He takes his time, but eventually, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he makes the call, shipping the $62,000 pot Jungleman’s way.
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River Play Analysis
Hitting one of his outs, Cates doesn’t want to take any risk in allowing the action to check through. Completing his straight on the river, he absolutely wants to go for full value, and with less than a third of the pot left in his stack, it’s an easy decision.
Mike X can only fold at this point, as he’s likely not beating Jungleman, and there is still Mariano to act behind him.
As for Mariano, it is a bit of a difficult spot, primarily because of the great pot odds he’s getting. In reality, this is a horrible river card, completing all sorts of draws from the flop, and if Cates had even $20k, Mariano would probably be able to get away from it.
As it is, he can’t turn down such a good price to see his opponents’ two cards, as there are probably some instances where Cates will be bluffing on this river, so both options are probably pretty close.
