Hello dear community,

I saw this hand played live online yesterday, and wanted to discuss it with fellow players, beginners to pros, to share opinions.

It was so incredible that I especially registered on the forum to discuss about it.
Here it goes:

(if you want to avoid spoilers, check the video with the link down below)

Table: 'High Roller MILLIONS $1.5 GTD [Day 1] Buy-in $525 - Blinds 2500/5000

Seat #2 is the button
Seat 1: Mangudai (23.6bb)
Seat 2: Down2Muck (63bb)
Seat 3: YohViral (37.9bb)
Seat 4: ArtOfWar8 (10.9bb)
Seat 6: BeerPressure (23.8bb)
Seat 7: KingfusionGG (25.5bb)
Seat 8: S Chidwick ( 38.6bb)

*** ANTE/BLINDS ***
BeerPressure posts ante 0.12
KingfusionGG posts ante 0.12
S Chidwick posts ante 0.12
Mangudai posts ante 0.12
Down2Muck posts ante 0.12
YohViral posts small blind 0.5
ArtOfWar8 posts big blind 1
Dealt to YohViral [Ad Ac]

*** PRE-FLOP ***
BeerPressure folds
KingfusionGG folds
S Chidwick bets 2bb
Mangudai folds
Down2Muck folds
YoHViral raises 8bb
ArtOfWar8 folds
S Chidwick calls

*** FLOP *** [3s Jc 2s]
YoHViral bets 5.9bb
S Chidwick raises 13.3bb
YoHViral raises 30.4bb
S Chidwick calls

....

I think it is better if you watch the video yourself :

https://youtu.be/zxmXeJj-4Gk?t=12077

Enjoy and feel free to give me your feedback so we can all share opinions.




****SPOILERS****

The analysis

I have no idea how this hand could have been played differently. They are two great players, S Chidwick play was absolutely amazing given the odds, and the [balls] to do that big stack vs big stack, in the last 10 minutes of Day 1. I have nothing to say about YohViral's play because I do think he played his Aces bad, but maybe calling the raise PF and go see a safe the turn was an option, but then again, how different would it have been for S Chidwick ?

He has 37% equity on the flop, if a brick comes on the turn, he still has 20% equity. The turn 9 does help him but not that much (25%).

Now let's talk about his raise. What I find very interesting, (besides his call PF) is his raise sizing on the flop. He raises YohViral's 5.9bb bet to 13.3bb in a 23.7bb pot (most likely thinking about calling a shove all in at this point). By sizing this much, YohViral needs to be good 16% of the time and he has 63% equity here. Suppose YohViral's has any set. YohViral is ahead 74% of the time, but S Chidwick has 25% equity which is exactly what he needs to call a shove! (what an epic play)

It is an easy call here for YohViral. But is it an easy shove though? I do not find YohViral's shove to be a gamble play because, IMO his first objective here is to protect, but I also think he could have called to have a peel, as I do not think S Chidwick was bluffing, especially at this stage of the game. (And I am sure many of us will think he could have just called, but in the heat of the moment, how many of us would have played the same ? to me this really is one of the trickiest spot I have seen in a while)

Let's say this time, S Chidwick has any set, he has YohViral drawing dead. He is 90% favorite.
After S Chidwick's raise, Yohviral shoves, giving S Chidwick 21% equity:

17.1 / (61.5 + 17.1) = 0.21

S Chidwick has 37% equity, the odds are just too good for him not to call.


The questions:

Would it have been safer here to call S Chidwick's raise on the flop, see a safe turn and then shove all in ?
or
Is it ok to re-raise PF with AA for protection ?
and
Was it foolish from YohViral to shove knowing that he could have been facing any set ?


I think I just answered my own question , but still, I would like to have your point of view as I am sure not everybody would agree.

Thanks for the read and talk to you soon!

Ufool

Moved from BBV as you wont get answers/discussion there.

Hello, do you know where I can post it then ?
Thx.

ufool, fidstar 'moved' your post to the Beginners Question area of 2+2/

This spot seems extremely standard to me and your questions show that you have a long way to go imo.

3betting this pre from sb is absolutely mandatory, cbetting flop is completely standard (though mixing in some checks is fine). Vs the raise oop I think piling is perfectly reasonable with AA - we can run into sets sometimes (though idk if 22/33 are even pure calling such a big 3b at this depth), but we're going to win vs hands like QJ, KJ, AJ, and maybe even some trapped KK or whatever. We're crushing most fds (even nfd has no pair outs vs us) and this flop is basically a dream. Not sure if piling is correct but it's definitely reasonable.

Chidwick's line also completely standard here. Peeling the 3b with a decent suited A, then probably mixing between raises and calls otf and when clicked in it's an absolute snap. AA is a worst-case scenario here, our A is live vs hands like QQ, KK, KJs, and sometimes YohViral might have hands like K hi fds or combo draws that we're doing super well against.

I don't think this spot has to go this way every time, but I think every decision made by both players was completely standard and reasonable. The only thing I might nitpick is the 3b size while so shallow effective, but in ante games that might be the size anyway...don't really remember.

I have a very hard time seeing how AA doesn't get it in on that flop. He invested over 35% of his stack on a pretty decent flop.

The only thing I'm not 100% about is the call vs 3b preflop against the relatively large sizing. But to solve for that we would need the BB 3b range against min open from MP.

Is this a large sizing for tournaments? For 100BB cash games it's on the small side if anything considering there're antes. I wouldn't like a bigger sizing with these stack depths though.

A9s is fine to call here in a cash game with no antes and rake so I imagine it's always a continue here, but again I'm not sure how tournament factors like ICM change things.

With only 0.6bb total in antes, I feel like 4x is on the larger side giving stack sizes.

That said, I was under the impression the tournament was down to 7 players with big ICM implications with one player under 10BB after the hand. If that's not the case, I doubt there's any reason to think the hand isn't super standard. Otherwise we would need to see the payout structure to plug in numbers.

This line looks pretty standard to me.

The 4x 3bet is probably designed to make 4betting/shoving awkward for HJ. HJ can 4b shove 155% pot, if they go smaller they're essentially pot committed. The call with A9s looks standard.

PF usually means "preflop", but the context makes it seem like you mean calling the flop raise. AA is obviously a mandatory stack off post-flop. Shoving is the best play by a mile.

Stacking off with the nut flush draw also seems fine. You have more than enough equity to call a shove. The small raise IP on the flop is clever because you risk the minimum against what is most likely a rangebet, getting the best price for fold equity. At the same time you have more than enough equity and pot-odds to call a shove. Leaving a 38% pot-sized bet behind allows IP to exercise their positional advantage for another street.

BOCK STANNIT. nothing to talk about really, other than Chidders being a gigantawhale4laif

There was a time 2p2 had great strategy discussion

Now a completely standard boring hand is labeled as "incredible play"