Another one from WSOP Main 2012 - QJ in Lojack

From Day 1 of the WSOP Main 2012 - starting stacks were 30k, this hand is late in Level 3, approaching the 6:45 dinner break. Blinds are 150/300, no ante til after dinner break.

Hero in lojack has about 60k chips. Preflop folds to Hero who has QJ suited, and opens for 750. Villain on the button calls, and blinds fold.

Villain is a VERY aggressive player - young guy, has the poker look down, wearing some kind of hipster hat, showed up an hour late because "he just doesn't care", etc. He is the only player I've seen with some serious aggression on Day 1, other than myself of course He is the guy I mentioned in the last post who played KJ and I called and beat him with AJ on a missed low board, earlier that day. I've also seen him bully short stacks around and show bluffs frequently, as well as make ridiculous bets and raises throughout the day (e.g. raising pre to 12x BB, or betting 7x pot after the flop). V's stack is around 45k.

Pre flop pot: 1950

Flop: QJ3 rainbow

Hero bets 1325, V calls. Post-flop pot: 4600

Turn: 6, still rainbow, all 4 suits out there, no risk of flush.

Hero bets 3375, V calls. Pot: 11,350

River: 10

Hero bets 7,500. Villain raises to 24,500.

Hero's play?

 

Flat call. He could have trip3s or 89 i guess but if you wont look up a player that aggressive u will have a tough time value betting anything.

He likely reads you as being top pair and thus vulnerable to more bluffs. You lose only to AK, 89 or a set. Of those we can discount the high sets and ak as likely preflop 3 bets Plus you block them.

89 would be an inside draw. So we are mostly down to a set of 3s played slowed on a board with straight possibilities. Unlikely

 

^^^ Pretty much this. I would think a bit but my thought process would be the same and I'm pretty sure I'm calling in this spot.

 

If you're one of those visual type people... there is footage of the villain from my 2012 Day 1 hand above, getting knocked out on Day 3 by Antonio Esfandiari. Watch the video below, and fast forward the video to 43:25 (almost the end). You can see villain, if it helps you get any reads for this hand. He isn't nearly as aggressive with a short stack and surrounded by big names on tv cameras as he was on Day 1

 

I say call. If my math is correct you would still have 37,550 left after the call. So you're not dead. I would definitely not go all in! His reraise is well sized, like he wants a call. But as has been pointed out, there aren't a lot of draws that make sense to have called initially. The high sets make no sense because of pf action, same with AK.

But he did size it well.

 

I'm not a poker guy but I like the drama and the stories.

But if you lose this one I'm gonna need a new Hero.

 

If he's super aggro, wouldn't he have raised you with AK? I think he may have Q-10 or J-10 for a lesser 2 pair. He's not putting you on AK by betting every street either, he has you for AQ or KQ and thinking he just sniped you with his two pair.

 

Seems to me he gutshotted the straight and raised the perfect amount for a call from hero.

 

Hero tanks and eventually makes the call. Villain shows AK for broadway on the lucky river card. Definitely not the read I had on him - I figured if I was losing that hand, I was losing to a low set, maybe even a set of 10's on the river kind of deal.

As we were bagging up chips at the end of Day 1, he was talking to me about that hand. He sort of apologized for how he played it and said that he told himself before the flop came out he was going to play it like a low set until the end, no matter what I did, and was willing to get knocked out for that hand too... and he just got lucky it played out even better than a set. It's a sick spot to be in but that's how the game goes sometimes. I still bagged up for more chips than he did after Day 1, so I made it back and then some... but just shows how a really aggressive player can think. If you lack the brains you better have a big pair of balls...

 

I know you're saying he's agro, and I'm not doubting that at all, but he didn't play this particular hand aggressively. He played it pretty passive pre-flop, called it down, and then made a good value raise at the end.

I think his apology is BS. It's poker, he won a hand. He shouldn't feel the need for an apology.

 

Agreed on all counts, not sure why he brought it up. Was surprised he was talking to me in the first place. But yeah, totally aggressive player changes it up on me to see how I adjust I guess. Nice hand, he got lucky.

 

Enjoy these hands, keep them going!