Mariano He probably just won the biggest pot of his career when he flopped a king-high straight flop Hustler Casino Live against his HCL colleague Andy Stacks. Luckily for Mariano, Andy has the one hand that would give him a full double – an ace-high flush.
In this strategy column, I will discuss how Mariano should flop this multiway hand in a four-bet pot, as there are many hands that would still call on the flop. Mariano makes a good bet on the turn. I think he should bet bigger now that we’re on the turn, since it’s harder to get much value out of two streets than three.
Nik Airball loses a $477,000 pot with flush over flush!
The hand started with bets of $100/$200/$200, with Mariano opening under the gun at $500 K♦10♦. Action folded Charles on the button, which 3-bet to $2,000 8th♥7♥. Andy then decided to call the big blind A♦4♦. Mariano then four-bet to $9,000 when both opponents called.
Charles and Andy played this straightforward preflop, while Mariano mixed it up a bit by choosing to 4-bet instead of calling with king-ten suit.
Incredibly, the flop landed J♦9♦Q♦ to give Mariano a straight flush and Andy the nut flush at the same time. All three players checked on the flop.
In a four-bet pot on this board, it is very likely that someone will have the Ace of Diamonds or something else related to the board. For this reason, I think Mariano needs to start building the pot, while Andy should check his entire range and Charles should fold with his air.
Andy looked again 3♥ Turn and Mariano bet $8,000. Charles got out of the way and Andy check-raised to $35,000.
I like Andy’s check because it’s unlikely to be outdrawn since most people would bet this flop with two pair or a set. Mariano needs to start betting and should bet a little higher as he needs to find a way to get money into the pot. Mariano just called with his Supernuts.
This is a difficult situation for Andy as it is difficult to find hands that have value and that would check the flop again, but he needs to put money in the pot with his nut flush. I think it’s okay for Andy to check-raise.
Once he gets a check-raise, Mariano definitely wants to slow the game down by calling, since the best hand his opponent can have is an ace-high flush or a set. He can’t lose, so he wants to do everything he can to keep Andy in the pot.
The river brought a fourth diamond 6♦ and Andy walked away with a bet of $120,000 despite having less than the pot in the pot. Mariano quickly moved all in for another $137,000 and Andy called before he saw the terrible news.
What would you do if the ace-high flush on the river faced an all-in of $137,000?
I think Andy got a little greedy with this bet because Mariano can easily escape his hands worse than a set. But this is a very difficult spot and I can see why Andy would be great here with the effective nuts.
You might think that Andy is determined to call since he has the ace-high flush and has a good chance, but he needs to think about which hands Mariano will come to the river with and move all in. There aren’t many hands that make sense as a bluff, unlike pocket tens with the ten of diamonds, as it would block straights and flushes.
For more information on this hand, check out my breakdown in the video below:
Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $7,000,000 in live tournament winnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. Sign up to learn poker from Jonathan for free at PokerCoaching.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle.
