This is my entry into the RankingHero Malta competition. All week we've been playing a phantom hand of poker - which has been a good bit of fun and pretty stimulating. I've linked to my previous streets below. I even had the exact same hand (give or take a suit!) come up in my own game yesterday - check out the turn link below if you want to see that! Seems like I will have this hand ingrained in my subconscious for sometime to come 

Turn
Skilful - Blog Post - Ranking HeroImagine you’re in Malta playing the 2015 PokerListings Battle of Malta. Lucky you!www.rankinghero.com

Flop
Skilful - Blog Post - Ranking HeroToday the next street has been revealed for the malta competition and here's my entry. I had fun creating it www.rankinghero.com

Preflop
Skilful - Blog Post - Ranking HeroHey RankingHero! This is my entry for the #HandMalta  #BOMpreflop competition. If you like my post can you click like and help me progress to the next round, thanks!! www.rankinghero.com

ANYWAY! Here is the final street. Below is my response for what I would do on the river.

Thanks ALOT if you have liked my earlier posts here.

If you enjoy reading this if you could like it, that would make my weekend! Thanks :)

Here is the hand:

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.

You raise his bet to 28,000 chips.

Villain decides to call.

Turn

The turn card is 3♠

Villain checks.

The pot is 84,800. You have a 90,500 stack

On villain’s check on the turn, you bet 24,000 chips.
And, once again, he calls.

River

The river is the 2♥.

The pot is now 132,800.

Villain decides to push all his stack in.

He covers you by 6,000 chips.

What do you do?

OK. So this was not what I had in mind when I looked down on those beautiful Kings preflop. I have KK 3bet with just 65bb's and get called. Awesome! But then the

Wheels started to fall off. Anyway we are where we are!

It's decision time. Let's start with the math.

The pot was 84,800 on the Turn and I bet 24,000 and he called. Which means the pot on the river was 132,800 before he shoved.

With his shove the effective pot is now 199,300 and I have 66,500 chips behind so I'm getting 3:1 on the call.

Thanks for setting up that... 3:1

Mr Swedish Pro.

So game theory wise we just have to be good 1 out of 4 times. But we aren't in a game theory vacuum here. Let's explore some other factors.

The only real pure value hand in his range here is the nut flush. The second and third nut flushes are already out there on the board, so we know he doesn't have either of those. What's more we have screamed strength with our line throughout this hand.

The turn is the crucial stage of this hand for the river decision we are now facing. If we had not bet the turn, then we would have more of a decision to make here. But we made a tiny bet on the turn so the Ace of spades is definately within our range. Our range is uncapped on the river.

This would be a pretty sick bluff. The set isn't even a good bluff catcher anymore! It's not even like we have to fold everything we have in our range here. For him to shove without a spade in his hand for his tournament life would be pretty suicidal given how this hand has played out.

So by shoving here it would appear that this tricky PRO has merged his range or has the nuts.

At the start of this post we said he was going to get what was coming to him.

He is going to get what is coming to him for sure... Nothing! No value town to be found here!

I FOLD! Next hand please dealer!

#HandMalta  #BOMriver.