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Today the next street has been revealed for the malta competition and here's my entry. I had fun creating it

If you enjoy reading can you click like below to help me progress to the next round, thanks! 

Have a great Thursday/Friday!!!

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Imagine you’re in Malta playing the 2015 PokerListings Battle of Malta. Lucky you!

You are close to the bubble.
The blinds are 1,000/2,000/200.

 

Preflop

Everyone folds to the player in middle position. He’s an aggressive Swedish pro, with 136,250 chips, and he raises to 5,000. Two hands earlier, the villain lost 20% of his stack on a bluff on the river.

You’re on the button with K♥K♦ and a stack of 130,500.

 

You decide to 3-bet 12,000 chips.

The small blind and the big blind both fold.
Villain calls.

The pot is now 28,800 chips.

 

Flop

The dealer reveals Q♠K♠7♠.

Villain bets 12,000.

The action is back on you. You now have a 118,500 stack.

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As the flop is being dealt I'm trying to stay calm, and just so hoping for a decent flop. I know how much this one hand can influence my tournament. It's crazy I think to myself as the dealer is reaching for that first card from the top of the deck just how much variance there is in poker. Here in this tournament which is the biggest in my life I'm just hoping so hard that I get a decent flop. Give me a chance to get some chips from this aggro Swedish pro.

The dealer sets the first card down Queen of spades. Nice so far so good. I've still got an overpair, no ace please dealer. My eyes barely move from the flop as the second card is dealt. King of spades. YESSSSSSSSSS I look at that card again just to make sure. That is a king isn't it. Yes it is a king.

As the dealer is reaching for the third card, I return to my own two cards and peel up the fronts, I need to make sure here, I mean I know i've got the Kings, but I've got to make sure. My thumb slides under the cards and I bend them up revealing just enough of each to reveal what I already knew. I do have those kings - I've got the top set. But I just had to make sure.

I'VE GOT TOP SET.

I try to compose myself.

By the time my eyes return to the flop - the third card has been dealt. 7♠

Hmm a monotone flop.

The swedish guy bets out. 12k. I look at the flop again, look at his 12k bet and then think.

I've got 118,500 chips and there's 28,800 + his 12k bet in the middle so 40,800 chips out there.

i've got almost three times the pot left behind in my stack. I know this guy is loose and I know he likes to bluff, but flat calling here is just not an option. This board is:

WETTTTT.

So wet I wonder how the cards aren't floating about on the table.

I haven't got an ace or a jack and there are none out on the board. So there are a possible 16 combos of AJ that he could still have in his hand that would LOVVVVE to see a turn.

If he hasn't got AJ, he could equally well have any of the 16 combos of AT or TJ.

I also don't have a spade in my hand which makes it that more likely that he might have one in his. So that's a possible ten spades out there including the all important ace of spades.

What's more there's still a possible 4 combos of AK out there, and 4 combos of QK. There's also the outside possibility he's hit bottom set. I discount a set of queens as I'm sure this aggro guy would have 4bet me with those preflop.

Having processed all that... my head hurts a bit

 

but two things jump out at me

PROTECTION.

and

Sure he could have flopped the flush, but considering we only had 65bbs at the start of the hand, and the many hands I just evaluated in my head that he could have, that want to see a turn and river I decide I'm going all the way with this hand. I'm not here to min cash. I'm here to win this tournament.

So I'm raising the question is how much.

The pot is now 40.8K , if I bet 3/4 pot (30,600) and he calls I'll have 87,900 behind on the turn and the pot will be 102,000. I'll have a decent stack to shove if he misses the turn and decides to check. I mean he's a aggro pro not an aggro donk. He bluffed the river two hands ago when he had chips - psychologically he's going to be feeling that 20% he's just spewed off 2 hands earlier. Pro's don't tilt as often as amateurs - so I can't expect crazy wild spew just because he's an aggro player.

If I go for a 1/2 pot on the flop here instead I'll be betting (20,400) into the pot of 40,800. If he calls the pot on the turn will be 81,600 and i'll have 98,100 behind. It will be much harder to get the stacks in before the river, and that's what I want to be doing here because we are

SHALLOW.

He's got alot of hands that will want to see a river and given his chip loss two hands ago, if I can get him to put a significant portion of his stack in now he just might call me if he misses the turn. If we get to the river and he's missed, he's not going to have enough fold equity with the small portion of his stack he'll have left to try any moves and he'll realise that. So I think it's a bad idea to try to structure the hand assuming he's going to bluff me on the river, like he did to the other guy 2 hands ago.

Having thought it all through I go for the 3/4 pot raising his 12k donk by just another 18,600 chips to 30,600

Perfect given my stack to setup a shove on the turn but also just about small enough to let him think he still has some fold equity, in case he does have a decent drawing hand and decides to put full pressure on me with the monotone flop by raising me here on the turn.

I declare I'm raising, place the 30.6k out there, and wait for him to make his move.

 

#HandMalta #BOMflop

Nice one ;)

shallow = shallow water lol good one

What do you want to imply when you said "I haven't got an ace or a jack and there are none out on the board." ???

Hey Andrea! Because we don't have an A or a J and there are none on the board, it's that much more likely he could have an ace or a jack or both!

@skilful lol ok I understood that but my question was why you said these since that also are no T, 9, 8, 6, 5, 3, 2 on the board. Sorry I am not following your reasoning on this.

happy to chat on skype if you like, :) skilfulpoker

thanks for the likes guys appreciate it!