POTD #9 2024 Triton Monte Carlo Event #1 WPT Global Slam: Nut Flush Draw vs Hossein Ensan
A Triton hand vs a WSOP Main Event Champ
Monte Carlo is the first EPT I ever went to. When I was 19, I wrote my final exam in around 55 minutes, rushed home, got my suitcase and went straight to the airport. The professor of the exam I just wrote was also at the airport, I guess we had both checked out on the school year. By the time I arrived via bus at Monte Carlo Bay registration for the Main Event had already closed and I could only play side events. I remember getting handed a stack of purple Euros to play a 5k and couldn’t believe one bill was worth so much money. I played a hand terribly vs a Dutch “online cash game” player where I got in 100 blinds with 9♠️8♦️ on 976 all diamonds and made a full house versus flush. Someone later told me that the cash game player was a massive nit. I ended up bubbling the tournament and would need to wait over five years to cash my first tournament in Europe. On to the hand, which has no thematic connection to the above story outside of it also taking place in Monte Carlo.
2024 Triton Monte Carlo Event #1 WPT Global Slam
Level 11: 6k/12k/12k (SB/BB/BBA) 250k Starting Stack. Registration just closed.
The Hand:
Hand History: My Poker Coaching Replayer
It folds to Xu Liang in the CO who raises to 28k, I call A♠️8♠️ on the button, Hossein Ensan defends the BB.
Flop (102k) K♠️T♠️T♣️: Hossein checks, Liang bets 12k, I call, Hossein makes it 50k, Liang folds, I call.
Turn (214k) K♠️T♠️T♣️K♥️: Hossein bets 58k, I call.
River (330k) K♠️T♠️T♣️K♥️A♦️ Hossein checks, I check. He shows J♣️T♦️ and I muck.
What was I thinking during the hand?
Preflop I could three bet or call, but I had been battling and playing some crazy pots with Xu Liang aka Timmy, so I decided I was only going to three bet if I was ready to 3bet/5bet and I thought A8s was the wrong hand for that. On the flop I play passively on paired boards with the BB still to act behind, if you don’t have trips and the BB continues, they often have trips, so you don’t want to put in a large raise into two uncapped ranges when you don’t have a blocker. Once Hossein checkraised the flop, I didn’t want to reraise and risk getting bluffed off such a strong draw and I didn’t want to fold a nut flush draw. The offsuit K turn I was expecting Hossein to check because his range looks like it has a lot of Tx and mine looks like it has a lot of Kx. Once he bet I thought his size was small enough that I’d get to continue nut flush draws. On the river I had three competing thoughts that I mulled over, maybe Hossein checkraised the flop with a king and is setting me up, maybe he’s bluffing and I have showdown, maybe if he bet the turn with a ten he won’t fold it on the river. All of those thoughts led me to check.
What I got wrong?
My preflop and flop logic were sound. My thought process on the turn was correct, I call twice on the flop with a king a lot more often than Hossein. I have a lot more top boat than he does and when I don’t have top boat, I often have tens full. Solvers pure check the turn with range in Hossein’s spot, but he bet. This is where I started to get things wrong, just because a solver chooses not to bet with range does not mean Hossein is “not allowed to”. He can do whatever he wants with his chips. He has taken me off tree and now it is my job to respond. 27% pot is a small bet, but calling twice on the flop has tightened up my range a lot. I have a full house a lot and a hand like mine is drawing dead versus his value bets and blocks his bluffs. If I wanted to continue some non full house hands, I should start with straight flush draws (I might have 5 combos of SFDs) or JJ/QQ, which I probably pure three bet preflop given the dynamic I’ve had vs Mr. Liang, but they would be better continues than bare nut flush draws. The solver pure checks range on the turn because my range is stronger— sometimes if you have a bad hand and someone bets into your strong range the correct exploit is to start bluffing, sometimes it just means they have a better hand than you and you should fold. This was one of those times. On the river, I am not sure if my spidey-sense was right and I was not going to get him to fold enough or if I was beating myself up for my bad turn call and gave up on the hand. If it was the former I deserve an attaboy, if it was the latter I deserve a demerit.
Types of Errors I Made
Bad Read
Focused too much on solver poker
Grade
When poker hands follow the script you expect, it’s easy to play well. The best players know how to improvise when things go off script. In this hand, I knew I had been taken off tree, but didn’t make the right adjustment. I do not get points for knowing I was off tree, only lost chips for failing to execute.
C