POTD #162 EPT Paris Main Event vs an Unknown

"I had the top of my range so I called" is one of the classic punts.

Super high roller tournaments are booming. They are running more often and the stakes seem to be increasing, but they are still not the most popular tournament poker streams. The reason for this is, best-on-best poker does not often capture the human drama of a main event. I am reminded of Louis CK at the 2016 Oscars saying “I’m happy for all of you, but you came here winners and you’re leaving millionaires.” Even if you are a poker player who sells a lot of action and swaps a lot and has small pieces of yourself, you are an established player with easy access to capital. You are not necessarily the person anyone wants to root for; sometimes you are not even the person anyone wants to root against. Main Events feature characters who can enter as a non-millionaire and leave as a millionaire, which makes for compelling drama for a TV audience.

As a poker player, you want to play your game, but you need to consider the soap opera you have been cast into. Are you playing a maniac who has tightened up because the stakes are so big? Are you playing the nit who wants to run a big bluff on TV? Are you playing someone who just got a piece of advice from a top pro, but has no idea how to apply it? Today’s hand occurs in the money of EPT Paris in 2023 vs. a player who was unknown to me, Jason Anand. He seemed tight, but it’s possible I had only seen him show down three hands lifetime. These were huge stakes for him, but that doesn’t always lead to tight play, so I resorted to solver baselines, only to learn that I did not play my opponent or my cards correctly.

2024 EPT Paris €5,300 Main Event
(3k/6k/6k) (SB/BB/BBA) We are in the money. 30k Starting Stack. ~350k Average.

HH: Pokernews Update

I raise (515k) raise UTG7 to 13k with A♥️8♥️, it folds to Jason Anand (covers) who calls in the BB.

Flop (35k) Q♥️T♠️7♦️: Jason checks, I bet 25k, Jason calls.

Turn (85k) A♦️: Jason checks, I check.

River (85k) T♣️: Jason bets 55k, I call and lose to K♦️T♦️.