Last week, in "Australia Part 1," I posted an interesting hand I was involved in with Yevgeniy Timoshenko (aka Jovial Gent/atimos) during the 2008 Aussie Millions main event.

Check out Part 1 to see where we left off. I'd like to thank the readers for their feedback, which I will now respond to while I evaluate my options on how to play the turn after I check and Yevgeniy Timoshenko bets $2,800 into the pot of $6,750.

The first option I have is to fold. Only one reader even mentioned the possibility of folding. This is clearly the safe and conservative route.

Although I have top pair and a flush draw, I have put my opponent on a pretty big hand and am nearly sure that I am beat at this point.

I can get away now, leaving myself with a fairly comfortable stack of $10k with blinds at $150/$300 ($25 ante).

However, as mentioned in Australia Part 1, I'm getting 3.4-1 to call his $2,800 turn bet. If all of my outs are live (i.e. he has an overpair), I am only a 2-1 dog to make the best hand.

Even in the worst-case scenario, where only a rivered flush will give me the winning hand (i.e. he has a set/straight), I'm a 4-1 underdog to make the best hand. Even if this is the case, I would only need to get a small river bet paid when I make my flush to justify calling the turn bet on the draw with improper pot odds.

My next option would be to just call the $2,800. Half of the readers who responded were in favor of this play, and for good reason. I get to see the river card and try to make my hand without risking my tournament life. I'm getting the proper pot odds against his possible range of hands, and can certainly justify a call here.

A major drawback to flat-calling is that it leaves me with only approximately $7,000 chips if I call the $2,800, don't improve, and fold on fifth street. I will have put nearly half my stack into the pot, only to fold on the river.

Also, there is a very small chance that he can't beat the pair of eights, and this play will leave me vulnerable to being bluffed off the best hand on the river.

My final option is to check-raise him all-in for just under $10,000 total. A few readers preferred this option over the other two. To a thinking player like Yevgeniy, my hand looks so strong that I may be able to get him to lay down the best hand in some cases.

Your tournament life on the line on a semi-bluff: a dangerous move. But: With high risk comes high reward.

With his bet of $2,800 plus the $6,750 already in the pot, I can almost double my stack by successfully semi-bluffing here. Even if I get called, I'll have a good chance of taking down an even bigger pot.

The obvious drawback to this play is that putting your tournament life on the line on a semi-bluff is a dangerous move. I'm certainly beat if I get called, and I'll be behind for my tournament life with one card to come... which is not a place you want to be.

It is a high-risk play... but high risk can lead to high reward. Then again, it can also lead to lonnnnnng flights home from Melbourne wondering why you didn't just toss your cards into the muck.

I suppose you're curious as to how the hand actually played out. I decided to try to the best of my ability to convince Yevgeniy that I had an absolute monster and was merely trying to suck him in with my check, by check-raising all-in.

He went into the tank, took the chips necessary for a call out of his stack and began to review the hand. After a few moments, he reluctantly called, showing J♠ J♣. With over $25,000 in the middle and my tournament life on the line... I may never be so happy to see the A♦ again in my life!

See you next week for part three... and thanks for reading.

Matt Stout

"All In At 420"

More Blogs from Matt Stout:

• Australia Part 1: Welcome to Melbourne
• Australia Part 3: Patience Is a Virtue
• Australia Part 4: TV Table Draw From Hell
• Australia Part 5: The Unfortunate Conclusion