Finnish pro Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro battles it out versus the man that needs no introduction, Phil Ivey, in a $344,319 pot at the epic proving ground known as "RailHeaven."

Players: Phil Ivey vs. Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro

Game: $500/$1,000 No-Limit Hold'em, Six-Max, Full Tilt Poker

Stack Sizes:

Kelopuro $278,824; Phil Ivey $172,160

The Setup

Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro raises from the button/small blind to $2,500 and Phil Ivey reraises to $8,000.

Kelopuro makes the call and they see a flop of A♦ 7♦ T♣. Ivey then bets $13,000 and Kelopuro smooth-calls.

The turn brings the J♥ and Ivey bets $32,000. Kelopuro tanks before raising all-in. Ivey snap-calls off his remaining $118,160 and tables the A♣ J♦ for top two pair. But it's not over - he will need to dodge approximately half the deck versus Kelopuro's K♦ 9♦.

The river bricks out the 3♥ and Ivey's top two pair holds for the $344,319 pot.

The Breakdown

Kelopuro starts the hand out with a standard raise off the button with K♦ 9♦. A suited king in position in a heads-up pot is a great hand for a raise and is well ahead of your average button-raising range.

Dodging half the deck like it ain't no thang.

Ivey three-bets his good ace, A♣ J♦, to $8,000. This is another automatic play - a good ace like A-J against an aggressive, in-position player is an easy reraise for value.

Kelopuro makes the call on the button with his suited king because he is in position; they're 170BB deep, and Ivey can be reraising with a still very wide range.

When the flop comes A♦ 7♦ T♣ Ivey bets out his top pair, good kicker for $13,000. This play is a no-brainer: with top pair, great kicker, Ivey is betting his hand out for value. He stands to be much better than Kelopuro's range and is looking for value from everything from a worse ace to draws, to weaker pairs.

Kelopuro flops the nut-flush draw and elects to just flat-call. This play is standard at the lower limits, but at the nosebleeds, almost all nut-flush draws are played fast. The flat-call in position could be a plan to float Ivey on a later street. He may think Ivey does not have an ace, and he plans on raising any turn card in an attempt to win the pot that way.

The turn comes the J♥. This card improves Ivey's hand to top two pair and he bets $32,000 again for value.

Kelopuro now elects to ship all-in. This is a very strong semi-bluff. The turn improves his draw substantially by adding an extra six outs by way of a double gutshot (any queen or eight now makes him a straight).

Kelopuro, who was likely to be raising most turns anyway, now has more than enough ammunition to make a move versus Ivey's still-wide range. So, he shoves all-in.

Ivey, of course, is near the top of his range and makes an easy call with top two pair, aces and jacks. He isn't out of the woods yet - he still has to dodge almost 15 outs on the river.

Evidently it is all about the Benjamins.

Luckily for the Full Tilt Pro the river blanks out with the 3♥ and Ivey's two pair holds for a $344,319 pot.

All in all a good hand played well by both players. Because Ivey is such a strong player and his range is so balanced, he could have either the nuts or air on that turn. Which is why a semi-bluff like Kelopuro's is a profitable play in the long run.

Kelopuro was just unlucky that Ivey was both at the top of his range with top two and had the luck to fade his numerous outs.

To see more pots from the latest RailHeaven sessions, or more of the Top 100 biggest pots online over the last day, week, month and year, jump to the PokerListings.com MarketPulse section.

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