POTD #141 Monte Carlo Monday: $125k Main Event Giving Up vs Brian Kim

I get counterfeited and give up

On Thursday, I kicked off a month-long collaboration with Octopi Poker by writing about a hand where Alex Foxen gave up with jack high on the river when his opponent had a king-high flush draw. In that blog post, I posited that it’s possible Foxen gave up because he had a live read on his opponent Xue Song. Foxen fancies himself a bit of a live read specialist, and he is someone who likes putting max aggression on his opponents as the chip leader at a final table. If he gave up a hand that I think is a pretty clear bluff, I have to assume there’s a chance he had a live read. In today’s post, I will revisit a hand I played during 2024 Triton Monte Carlo where I gave up jack high on the river vs. Brian Kim in a spot where I had a live read that may or may not have been right; even after seeing his hand I am not sure. The similarities between these two hands made them a natural pairing to write about. Was my read right? Was I just lucky? Did I play my jack high better than Foxen’s jack high? All that and more in today’s POTD

Triton Monte-Carlo $125K NLH Main Event
(4k/8k/8k) (SB/BB/BBA). 200k Starting Stack. Registration is Open

It folds to me (481k) on the button, I make it 18k with J♣️9♦️, Lun Loon (473k) folds the SB, Brian Kim (270k) calls in the BB.

Flop (48k) A♦️Q♠️7♣️: Brian checks, I bet 16k, he calls.

Turn (80k) 8♠️: Brian checks, I bet 60k, Brian calls.

River (200k) 8♥️: Brian checks, I check and lose to K♠️J♠️