Venetian Poker Live is the most recent addition to the live streaming space, and the show has already started to deliver, bringing us huge pots, insane action, and, of course, some of the fan favorites pitched against one another.
One of these players is at the center of today’s hand analysis. Peter may not have been around for as long as some of the other players, but his fearless approach and willingness to risk his entire stack time and time again have quickly earned him a reputation as the player we all want to see in action.
The hand we’ll be analyzing today played out at $100/$200 stakes but with a $800 straddle on. Peter is the effective stack with $69,100, which would be fairly deep in a standard $100/$200, but with the big straddle in action, he has under 100 big blinds effective.
Preflop Action
The action begins with Peter opening from the cutoff with 9♠9♥, making it $3,000 to go. Britney is the next to act, and she makes the call with 9♦8♦.
Wasserson wakes up with A♥K♠ in the big blind and 3-bets to $15,000. Peter quickly makes the call, while Britney gets out of the way, and they proceed to the flop heads up, with $34,400 in the middle.
Preflop Play Analysis
The preflop action in this hand is fairly standard, which is somewhat unexpected for these live games. Peter opens with a decent pocket pair, and Britney has good suited connectors to try and see the flop with in position.
Wasserson has a mandatory 3-bet with his AK and he goes for three times the original open. With a caller in between, he could probably go a bit higher and make it something like $17-$18k.
Peter has an easy call with his pocket nines. Britney could certainly call as well, seeing she closes the action and has a hand that connects well with a variety of flops, but she makes a very disciplined laydown to avoid tricky spots in a bloated pot.
Flop Action
The flop comes Q♥Q♣10♠. With a gutshot straight draw and two overcards, Wess fires a continuation bet of $13,000.
Peter wastes no time calling with his pocket pair, and they proceed to the turn, with $60,400 now in the middle.
Flop Play Analysis
The flop is certainly not a bad one for the 3-bettors range, so a small (about third-pot) c-bet is super standard in this spot.
Peter could go either way with his hand. However, on this type of paired board, his opponent is c-betting at a high frequency, which means that a pair of nines is way too strong of a hand to fold. So, while folding is an option, calling is definitely a better choice.
Turn Action
The turn comes the A♦, making the board Q♥Q♣10♠A♦ and improving Wasserson to the top pair – top kicker. He keeps the pressure on and bets out for $20,000.
Peter takes a few moments to think and then he moves all in for $41,000 total. Wasserson makes an easy call for the extra $20k, and the pot balloons to $142,600.
Peter is drawing slim, as he only has two outs to save him. The miracle doesn’t happen, as the river bricks out in the form of the 5♥, and Wasserson rakes in a very nice pot.
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Turn Play Analysis
Ace is a much better card for Wasserson’s range, so he definitely wants to keep putting the pressure on in this spot, and the fact that it actually gives him the top pair only strengthens his position.
After facing two barrels in a 3-bet pot and with all cards on the board higher than his pocket pair, Peter should be giving up. His opponent is pretty much pot-committed unless he somehow has absolute air, which doesn’t seem likely.
If Wasserson does somehow have complete air, then it makes more sense to just call the turn, but with the stack-to-pot ratio being the way it is, it doesn’t really matter that much. Peter needs to make his decision on the turn, and given all the available information, folding seems like a much superior play in the long run.
