Nik Airball Gets Too Sticky Against Action Dan
5 minutes
Last Updated: August 7, 2024
Small aces are one of those hands that can easily get you in trouble and cost you a lot of money when you flop a top pair, and your opponent keeps on barreling.
This is especially true if the said opponent has a bit of a reputation for being aggressive, which is definitely the case for Action Dan, one of the Lodge live stream regulars.
In the hand we’ll look at today, Nik Airball finds himself in a pot with Action Dan, facing a couple of bets, including a big river barrel. The game is $200/$400, but a double straddle is on. Airball is in the first straddle, posting $800, while Action Dan is in the second straddle, with $1,600 already on the line.
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Preflop Action
The action in this hand folds all the way to Viper in the small blind, who looks down at 10♥9♥ and, with $130k in his stack, decides to just make the call.
The big blind folds and Airball goes for a raise to $4,500 with A♠5♣, starting with $208,000. Action Dan, in the double straddle, opts to flat with A♣2♦, and Viper does the same.
Three players go to the flop with $14,300 in the middle.
Preflop Play Analysis
With the pot bloated from all the straddling, it’s no surprise to see the action folding all the way to the blinds. Players who have no money invested hardly have an incentive to get involved without premium holdings.
Viper certainly has a raising hand with 10♥9♥, and it is somewhat surprising to see him just limp. The only reason is probably the double straddle and the fact that a raise and a potential 3-bet could quickly put his entire stack in danger.
However, if he wants to play this hand, he should definitely be coming in for a raise to about $4,000 to try and pick up the dead money or at least get rid of a couple of players and play with a hand that can flop really well.
With Viper passing on the opportunity, Airball’s raise makes a lot of sense. He has an ace blocker and position on Viper, so if he can get Action Dan to fold, he’ll be in a good spot even if Viper sticks around.
Action Dan should be folding or 3-betting his baby off-suit ace. Cold calling doesn’t make much sense here, as apart from a few favorable flops, he’ll never be really comfortable against an aggressive player. So, a cold call is surprising, to say the least.
Closing the action, Viper certainly wants to see the flop with his suited connectors, and calling is the most reasonable option. There is something to be said about squeezing, but that can lead to things getting out of control pretty quickly.
Flop Action
The flop comes A♥9♠2♠, giving everyone a piece, but Action Dan flops the best, getting a top and bottom pair.
Viper plays it in flow and checks. Nik fires a continuation bet of $5,000, Action Dan calls, and Viper follows suit, bringing the pot to $29,300.
Flop Play Analysis
This is an action flop, with all three players getting a piece and two of them having some backdoor equity.
Airball’s continuation bet of about three-thirds is fairly standard, especially as he holds the ace of spades, reducing the number of flush draw combos his opponents might have.
Action Dan decides to call, which is probably the best course of action in a heads-up pot. With another player still to act, though, raising is likely a better option, as he wants to deny equity and force Viper out with all marginal holdings.
As played, Viper has an easy call with a bottom pair and a backdoor flush draw. He is getting way too good odds to fold before seeing the turn.
Turn Action
The Q♦ peels on the turn, so the runout is A♥9♠2♠Q♦. Viper checks, and Nik Airball decides to slow down and checks as well.
Action Dan goes for a bet of $18,000, which gets rid of Viper, who got no help on the turn. Airball quickly calls, and the pot grows to $65,300.
Turn Play Analysis
Once he gets called in two spots, Nik realizes he needs to slow down, as his weak ace could easily not be the best hand here.
Action Dan can be pretty confident he has the best hand after both opponents check, so he goes for value. The $18,000 bet is about 60% of the pot, and with a flush draw already out there and now a potential straight draw as well, the sizing makes sense.
Viper clearly has no business sticking around, so he folds, and it’s back to Nik. This is a tricky spot, as his opponent can still have some draws that he is ahead of. However, with Nik holding the key card, which is the A♠, and thinking about the preflop action, the number of bluffs in Dan’s range isn’t that big.
He could potentially have a hand like J♠10♠ or J♥10♥, although he’s not as likely to call on the flop with the latter in a three-way pot. It is a close one, and Nik ends up calling.
River Action
The river is a complete brick as it comes 7♥. The final board isA♥9♠2♠Q♦7♥, so all draws have missed.
Airball checks, and Action Dan goes for a pretty big bet of $48,000. After a couple of minutes, Nik makes up his mind and makes the call. Dan turns over his two pair and picks up a $161,300 pot.
River Play Analysis
The river card is as much of a blank as it can be, so nothing has changed from turn to river. Airball checks, as he would on all blank rivers, and Dan goes for a sizeable bet of $48k into a $65k pot.
The sizing seems right, as it is big enough to be both a bluff and a value bet. It’s not an overbet, but it’s not a small “please, call” type of wager, either.
If Airball put his opponent on a semi-bluff of some sort on the turn, this is a great river to call on, as all draws have missed.
It is unlikely that Action Dan would go for a big river bet with a weak top pair, i.e., a hand like A8 or A6, and he would likely 3-bet strong aces before the flop, probably down to AT.
So, his value range here is pretty narrow – a few two-pair combos (A-9, A-2, Q-9), a set of deuces, and maybe some combos of pocket 9s that he decides not to 3-bet preflop.
With all this in mind, Nik’s call is definitely not that wild. An aggressive opponent will turn up with a busted draw fairly often in this spot.
