Slava Fenomenico analyzed the hand from PLO10 at GGPoker, and the coach Anatoly Aalternative analyzed his play and gave advice.
Player Analysis
Preflop
There is no access to the solver right now, but I think the standard call here is double-suited AK94 with “good suits” (second to king). If instead the was an , for example, I would even 3-bet, probably. The opponent’s stats are something like 50/15, he was marked as a super fish for me, although he plays regularly. It's noted that he plays several inadequate draws, has inadequate aggression, and makes weak loose call downs. In general, the opponent is a mystery. I have BTN and SB fish behind me, I also want them to be in the hand, so there is an extra argument for calling instead of 3-betting.
Flop
In a 5-way pot, this flop is clearly not at the top of our list, but after three checks in front of us, I believe we are often ahead, plus some information is needed. Our hand isn't particularly strong, of course, and we can be behind even against average draw strength. But if we check, then on the vast majority of turns our hand will get worse or there will be little room for improvement. A 3/4 pot bet is standard for me, I don't think there are any alternatives.
Turn
Ok, we are heads up, in position, the turn is essentially a blank, great situation for us. I keep betting making all flush draws and wraps pay. I will occasionally value bet myself against KJxx or JJxx-44xx, but overall I should be well ahead against their range. But then, the opponent check shoves. It is also worth noting here that the opponent thought about the action for quite a long time and went into the time bank. The push doesn't look very strong to me. Of the adequate hands that could play like this, and which I lose heavily, there are only sets of JJxx and 44xx, which he could play on the flop in the 5-way pot from both bet and check-raise, plus I block a set of fours, so some of these combinations can be eliminated. In my eyes, Villain's hand looks like a strong wrap, or a flush draw that improved on the turn (something like A76x, A63x).
The showdown took me completely by surprise. Well, ok, they set a trap, and I was lured and robbed. I definitely wouldn't have had the guts to check-call, check-shove in a pot of five players with top set on a draw-heavy board like that. But the stars aligned, great turn, plus I decided to bet and then call. It would be interesting to see what villain's plans were for any spade turn, or Ax, Qx, Tx, 9x.
As a result, knowing the showdown, it is difficult for me to evaluate the hand. I probably shouldn't bet the flop in such a five-way pot with middle two pair, and, apparently, I need to courageously fold to the check-shove turn. In most situations, I would fold, but Villain's line seemed so illogical for strong value that I decided to call.
Trainer Analysis
Anatoly Aalternative // A man whose childhood dreams come true
Preflop
The logic, of course, can be followed, but with such a hand I would either 3-bet or fold it in this position, especially against an active player on the button with a short stack. I tend to fold – the nine is not connected very well. I would like to have at least some more connection – what kind of straights do we collect with the 9? The logic behind playing multiway pots like this is true for the button when we can realize more post-flop through position.
The solver agrees – fold to CO.
And on the button, we are calling because of the ideal position.
So I don’t like to analyze the post-flop play when preflop was played “not very well”, but since the format requires it, we will continue.
Flop
We contradict ourselves: the hand is not the ultimate dream, we have few draws, and there are a lot of bad runouts, but we bet for value. There is nothing to gain from in the multi-way pot – check. We play straightforwardly, we believe opponents in 3+ max games. Bluffs in such a situation are only polarized.
Turn
And then, like a famous song – ... everything flies to #### at ...
We narrowed our opponent's range by betting on the flop – but we don't beat even half of his hands. We should be checking the turn and try to get to showdown.
Recommendations
Study preflop play until you start dreaming about it. And in this dream you yourself will begin to find mistakes.
We study what the ~15% range consists of – like on UTG, what the ~50% range consists of – like on BTN, how and why we protect certain hands against different ranges. We analyze more hands in multiway pots, paying attention to showdowns from opponents.
Analyzing the game, we do not look for justifications for our decisions but compare different lines of play and find a suitable one in order to be able to justify it for ourselves during the game.
