Deep-Stack Cooler

Tuesday, Jun. 3, 2008

Strategy Snapshot: Deep-Stack Cooler

By Daniel Skolovy | Strategy Snapshots

High-stakes regulars "present" and "theguru11" get involved in a massive pot on Full Tilt's new deep-stack tables in this edition of the snapshot.

Players: theguru11 vs. present

Game: Deep-Stacked No-Limit Hold'em, heads-up, Full Tilt Poker

Stack Sizes: theguru11 $307,223.50; present $136,283

(Hand history from PL.com MarketPulse Biggest Pots section.)

The Setup

The hand starts off with present raising from the small blind/button to $1,800. theguru11 three-bets from out of position to $6,900. present makes the call and they take a flop of Q 5 T.

theguru11 continuation bets $9,600, and present thinks for a moment before raising to $28,200. After some deliberation, theguru11 makes the call.

The turn brings the Q. theguru11 checks and present fires $41,400 into the $70,200 pot. theguru11 check-raises to $194,400 and puts present all-in. present snap-calls and tables 5 5, which is ahead of theguru11's A Q.

The river brings the 9 and present's full house holds up to take the $272,565 pot - the second-biggest online so far in June.

The Breakdown

present raises from the button to $1,800 with 5 5. A pocket pair is near the top of present's button-raising range, meaning he raises hands a lot worse than that.

Pocket pairs are great hands heads-up - they often win small pots unimproved - and monsters when they make a set on the flop. They are definitely worth a raise heads-up at a deep-stacked table.

theguru11 knows that present's button raise doesn't mean much and three-bets with A Q. This hand is also near the top of theguru11's three-bet range, again meaning he three-bets with a lot worse hands.

This three-bet is for value. He's hoping to get worse aces and dominated queens to come along for the ride.

present makes the call with his pocket pair and they see a flop in a classic race situation. The flop of Q 5 T is seemingly good/dangerous for both players.

Both players make a strong hand for a heads-up match. Also, both players are somewhat wary of the monotone all-diamond flop. theguru11 has top pair, top kicker out of position after three-betting. He follows his pre-flop three-bet up with a $9,600 bet on the flop.

present ,who flopped bottom set, does not want to slow-play on this dangerous board and makes a raise to $28,800. He makes this raise for value and to charge theguru11 if he is drawing to that diamond flush.

theguru11 makes the call. He may believe that present is either drawing or on a move, or he may be waiting for a safe turn to get it in.

The turn drops the Q. theguru11 improves to three of a kind with the best kicker and he elects to check. present fires $41,400 and theguru11 now check-ships for $194,400, effectively putting present all-in.

theguru11 probably believes his hand is good - a good turn card came and he feels his hand is far ahead of his opponent's range. He beats any queen as well as any naked draw or pair and draw-type hands. Unluckily for him, present already has a full house and makes an easy call.

present is forced to sweat the river. Even though he has a full house, his opponent has seven outs to beat him: the last queen, three aces and three tens. Fortunately for present, the board bricks and present is the new owner of a $272,565 pot.

All in all a solid hand well played by both players. Just another example of a high-stakes cooler.

To see more hand histories from the latest high-stakes sessions, and the rest of the Top 100 biggest pots online over the last day, week, month and year, jump to the PokerListings.com MarketPulse section.

More Strategy Snapshots:

• Strategy Snapshot: Brother Runs Zig Down
• Strategy Snapshot: Second Nuts, but Second Best
• Strategy Snapshot: Caps Change Everything
• Strategy Snapshot: Sung Stung for $176k