There are few better feelings in Texas Hold’em than looking down at pocket aces. The only way to make this situation better is to have the absolute position and a raise in front of you in a generally loose game, guaranteeing some action.
This is the exact scenario that Steve found himself in during one of the recent episodes of High Stakes Poker, facing off against none other than the Hustler Casino Live main man Ryan Feldman.
The action is $200/$400, with the $400 big blind ante and the $1,000 straddle. Steve is the effective stack in this hand, with $412,000 in front of him.
Preflop Action
With seven players to start the hand, Ryan Feldman is the first to act and he makes it $5,000 with J♥10♥.
It folds to Steve on the button, who looks down at A♠A♥. He goes for a small 3-bet of $13,700, getting rid of the players in the blinds and Alan Keating in the straddle.
When the action gets back to Feldman, he makes the call, and they proceed to the flop heads up, with $29,400 in the middle.
Preflop Play Analysis
The preflop action in this hand is pretty straightforward. Feldman has a hand that’s more than good enough to open with, and given the extra money in the pot, $5,000 is a reasonable sizing.
Steve can flat with his pocket aces some of the time, but 3-betting is the default action here, with three players still to act. What’s interesting is that he goes for a very small sizing that’s not even three times the open.
In general, you don’t want to give your opponents great odds to call your 3-bets, but if there is ever the time to do it, it’s when you’re on the button with the best possible poker hand. Plus, the small sizing could incentivize one of the players still to act to go for a 4-bet bluff.
Peter and Keating are certainly more than capable of such plays.
As it happens, everybody folds, and Feldman has an easy call, getting great odds and holding a hand that flops well. Folding is out of the question, and there is no need to turn this specific hand into a bluff, although solvers do 3-bet this some of the time when stacks are deep.
Flop Action
The flop comes Q♣4♠2♦, so there isn’t much going on for Feldman. He checks to Steve, who fires a continuation bet of $14,000.
Ryan goes for a check-raise, making it $40,000 to go. Steve goes over his options for a couple of minutes and lands on a call, bringing the pot to $109,500.
Flop Play Analysis
This is a super dry board where Steve can feel very comfortable with his pocket aces. When Feldman checks to him, he fires a c-bet of just under half the pot, as he would with pretty much his entire range in this spot and on this texture.
Ryan takes a non-standard line by check-raising here, holding only a backdoor straight draw. If he also had a backdoor flush draw, this hand would be a better candidate for the flop raise, as he’d have more good cards on the turn to keep barreling.
Even so, on this specific flop, Feldman is representing a very narrow range with this play. There are no logical two-pair combos, so he is pretty much representing a set. The way the hand played out before the flop, he can certainly have all three sets, but it is still a rather narrow range of hands.
Occasionally, he can also take this line with a hand like AQ, although check-calling is certainly a more standard line.
Steve takes a little while to think about it, but calling is the only logical option. In rare instances where Feldman has him beat, this can save him some money. In all other scenarios, he wants to give his opponent an opportunity to continue bluffing.
Turn Action
The turn is the J♠, so the board is now Q♣4♠2♦J♠. Having picked up a pair, Feldman slows down and checks.
Steve isn’t happy to just check back, though, and he bets $52,000. Ryan makes the call, and the pot now stands at $213,400.
Turn Play Analysis
The turn card is a strange one for Feldman as it gives him the second pair and some showdown value, which means he now beats all non-pair hands.
His decision to check is thus understandable, as he now wants to get to a showdown as cheaply as possible, but Steve reads this situation correctly.
If Feldman flopped a monster, why would he slow down on a turn that brings a backdoor flush draw and also provides some equity for a hand like AK, which can still be in Steve’s range? He’d want to continue betting for value and protection.
He figures that he’s likely ahead, so Ryan either has a complete bluff that he’s done with or a hand with some showdown value that he can still squeeze some chips from.
Facing a half-pot bet, Feldman is in a tough spot. There is some chance that he’s still good, and he can still improve, so it is a fine line between folding and calling. Out of position and against an aggressive opponent, folding may be slightly better, simply because he’ll face another bet on the river a lot.
In this instance, he goes for the second option and makes the call, going to the final card with a lot of money in the middle.
River Action
The 3♥ comes on the river for the final runout of Q♣4♠2♦J♠3♥. Feldman checks for one last time, and Steve goes for value, firing $111,000.
Ryan is on the ropes, but he ends up tossing in the calling chips, shipping the $435k pot Steve’s way.
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River Play Analysis
The 3♥ on the river is pretty much a blank, although Feldman could have some A5 combos here. However, the most likely such combo after calling the turn would be A♠5♠, and Steve is holding the key blocker in A♠.
With that in mind, going for value on the river makes sense, trying to get called with the exact type of holding Ryan has (a single pair of some description).
Facing so much aggression across all streets, Feldman should probably cut his losses at this point, but Steve has a pretty loose image, and he can certainly have some bluffs here. He goes with his gut and makes the call, but he is promptly shown the bad news.
