POTD #50 Final Table Friday: Sergio Aido Reads My Soul

Could I have done something different

A plan I have for a future guest POTD is that a subscriber will send me a hand history of an entire tournament they play and privately select their three biggest punts. Then I will review their play, pick their three biggest punts, and see if we overlap. I think this is a good teaching tool, because the biggest and most common mistakes one makes are ones they don’t even realize they’re making. Many “standard” hands are anything but; if you identify leaks in your game from hands you thought were normal, you will improve rapidly. I am going to write about hundreds of my own punts in my newsletter, which has forced me to dig deeper than just hands that I remember well and know to be punts. I’ve been looking back at some memorable hands I played, where I didn’t think I made any errors, only to learn that I made some. Today we will review one from final table of the 2018 Triton Jeju 2018 Main Event.

In POTD #44, I wrote about the gnawing uncertainty when you give up on a bluff: Would it have worked? You’ll never know. That gnawing uncertainty is unpleasant to feel. However, to me, the worst feeling is if someone makes a big call or fold against you on the river. The question running through my mind is, How did they know? Did I give off a tell? At your most paranoid, questions like: “Did I peel my cards too high? Was the deck marked?” can race through your head. In today’s hand, at one of the highest stakes final tables I’ve ever played, Sergio Aido made one of the biggest folds anyone has ever made to me. Did I do anything wrong, or did Sergio just get lucky?

Triton JEJU 2018 - NLHE Main Event 2M HKD $255K
6 Handed Final Table (15k/30k/30k) (SB/BB/BBA)

Sergio Aido (3M) raises t70k LJ Q♥️J♥️, Wei Leong Chan (1.1m) folds HJ, I (1.925M) have A♠️K♣️ CO and make is 220k, Jason Koon (2.4M) folds OTB, Richard (2.3M) folds SB, Mikita (2.9m) folds BB, Sergio calls

Flop Q♠️6♦️2♦️ (515k): He checks, I bet 100k, he calls

Turn T♥️ (715k): He checks, I bet 400k, he calls

River J♠️ (1.515M) he checks, I bet 1.19M, he folds