I was playing $10-$20 nl cash game at Bellagio two nights ago. The games were good, there was a lot of action. I was sitting in seat 9 and on my right in seat 8 was this years $1500 Pot Limit WSOP bracelet winner James Dempsey. In seat 1 on my left was a very aggressive player. I respect both of their games, but in different ways. Having an aggressive player directly on my left, I felt I was in for a frustrating night. Now that I am stuck in between these two players I decide that I have to play my hands a little more disguised. Here’s how I played a hand with these two players in the pot & I was out of position.
I was in the SB holding Ad 6d, the action folds to the button which is seat 8 James Dempsey, he opens for $60, I flat & the BB flats. The flop is Qd 9h 8d, I flop the nut flush draw. Since pre flop there was just a button raise which I don’t give much credit to for a big hand, I check the nut flush draw, BB checks, James Dempsey on the button checks. The turn card is the 10c, now I decide this is a good card to bet to disguise my draw. On the turn I bet $120 into two people cause they’re gonna probably put me on a naked jack for the one card straight or possibly KJ for the nut straight & there is a good possibility that I am not going to get raised, cause leading out from the SB I could have a wide range here and I want to disguise my flush draw so if a diamond hits the river a player with a straight would pay me off cause they would never assume that I bet a flush draw on the turn into two players on a one card straight board. After I bet the $120 on the turn the BB & the button call. At this point my eyes are focused on the river card and BAM! deuce of diamonds hits the river, now I tank for a minute to make it seem like I don’t really know what to do now that a Diamond hit the river. Now it looks like I feel I have to value bet here and fold to a raise type of play. So I bet out $380 on the river, the BB folds and the button (Jack Dempsey) tanks for a minute. At this time I am hoping he raises me, of course. After tanking for a minute James grabs a stack of black chips ($100 chips) and jams it into the middle. How perfect is this, I have the nuts & I just got James Dempsey to commit a lot of chips. I ask the dealer to give me a count on his chips. He shoved in $1900 more on top of my $380 so I tank for a minute and shove all in for another $970 on top into a pot of $3,200 thinking it would be an easy call for him. James now seems pained over my shove & knows I have him crushed. James comes out of the tank after 2 minutes and shows me the J of diamonds & folds, I scoop a nice pot, only $970 away from a double up but I am not complaining.
After the hand was over James says ” man I never thought you had a flush after you bet the turn & because I am holding the J of diamonds I just figured you had either a naked J or KJ & I could get you off the hand when the diamond hit”. Within this hand I feel there were two nice plays. The fact that I disguised my hand so well to scoop a big pot & the way James played his hand.
First, with my checking the flop & betting the turn with my nut flush draw on a one card straight board it creates a spot where I am investing minimal chips to get possibly a maximum return, which happened in my case. If I brick the river on this hand I lose very little compared to if I hit the river, the pay off is well worth it.
Second, James’ way of thinking is very impressive, even though he lost the hand I am still impressed. He’s holding the J of diamonds so if a player is betting into him on the turn out of position he would have to assume that the player is holding a J or KJ with out a diamond redraw and if he flats the turn in position he can steal the pot away on the river if a diamond comes.
This entire hand is the exact definition of the Meta-game ( the game within the game)
More WSOP updates and hand breakdowns to come
Back to the grind
