Heavy artillery on the river
On the river we're faced with another tough decision, but luckily our friends Gus Callsen and Philipp Foldfond are here to advise us. Who should we listen to?
| Hand history |
| UTG+2: 115 bb MP1: 100 bb MP2: 46 bb CO: 65 bb Hero (BTN): 258 bb SB: 45 bb BB: 258 bb UTG: 145 bb UTG+1: 100 bb Preflop: Hero Ñ A  J 6 folds, Hero raises 2 bb, 1 fold, BB 3-bets to 8 bb, Hero calls 6 bb Flop: (16,5 bb) A Turn: (16,5 bb) A River: (76,5 bb) A |
A
Q
On the flop we listened to Frank Dux and checked back. Our goal was to keep our opponent's range wide and avoid a possible check/raise.
The dealer put a jack out on the turn and our hand improved to a full house. Our opponent checked again and we couldn't wait any longer to start inflating the pot.
We put in a pretty sizable bet (12 bb - 2/3 pot), but our opponent check/raised us 2.5x. We considered the different options and came to the conclusion that Miss Call - flat calling - was right.
However, the river card gives us more to think about. Another queen pairs the board for a second time giving us aces full of queens but our opponent goes crazy, betting twice the size of the pot.
We only lose to pocket queens, but can we call such a big bet when our opponent is unlikely to be bluffing?
Luckily, our good friends Gus Callsen and Philipp Foldfond are here to help!
Whose advice will you take?
Question of the day: call or fold?
 |
Gus Callsen: "We have the second nuts, only one hand beats us! Instacall!"
Well, we expected nothing less from Gus. He degenerately loves his hands and hates to throw them away, especially such strong ones. Lately he hasn't been doing so well online, but he still knows a thing or two about aggression. Plus, to his credit, he has multiple tournament wins under his belt.
Gus, in contrast to our conservative friend Philipp, also has some experience in a real fighting arena. In the famous boxing prop bet against Theo J he may have lost, but rumour has it he just wasn't motivated enough. The prize - $3.5 million - is just pocket money for him.
Gus likes to play his strong hands fast, but for some reason his opponents always seem to have the nuts... Not a big deal! Gus is sure that he will win his $18 billion back. For example, a couple of days ago he casually logged a session with a billlion dollars profit.
 |
Philipp Foldfond: "Unfortunately we have to let this hand go. Our opponent will show us QQ way too often".
Our buddy Philly is far more of a sceptic. He thinks that, as we are playing against a professional, our opponent will practically never bet this big on a bluff, because we often have an ace. It's too optimistic or, quoting Phil, "deadly optimistic", to make the call here.
Plus, Chong Li is famous for his cruelty. Several hands earlier he wrestled away a player's whole bankroll even though the guy was begging to be left a few cents for a "spin up". No such luck though, Chong finished him with one fell swoop.
We could continue the analysis further and construct the ranges in 5 steps, following the recommendations of Paul 
lnternet Otto, but there is no need for it here. At least for Mr. Foldfond it is crystal clear: it's a perfect situation for an exploitive fold.
It is your turn now. Whom will you listen to? Let us know!
And if it was a tournament?
 |
Bracelet Feltmut: "I don't know about cash games, but in tournaments it's always a call. I will never let my hard-earned 30 bb go so easily".
An expert at competitive arts, Bracelet Feltmut suddenly showed up. He holds the world record number of tournament victories and as usual wants to throw in his two cents. Composure isn't his strong side and the fact itself that we question this call on the river has put him on horrible tilt.
Feltmut jumped at the opportunity to prove that in the early stages of the tournament he will never fold the second nuts, especially when in the majority of cases we'll chop the pot.
Do you agree with Feltmut? Let us know in this forum thread or in the commentary box.
