Outside of the premium pocket pairs, Big Slick has the potential to be the most exciting hand for amateur poker players. But it can also be the most dangerous.
In this hand from WPT Global Ambassador Patrick “Egption” Tardif, he picks up A♥K♦ on the button, and takes it to the streets against two other opponents in this deep-stacked cash game hand. But danger lurks when faced with a river overbet.
“Being the second caller with a premium like A♥K♦ feels like you are keeping it safe and easy,” says Tardif. “But it lets players come in behind you, and it does not cap your opponents the way calling a squeeze would.
“It seems like a small mistake, but it sets off a domino effect of bad decisions.”
Click through the hand below and check out the quiz that follows!
The Takeaway
How did you do? Would you have folded on the river? Tardif says the lesson is a much wider one, aimed at fixing mistakes on all streets.
“The lesson here is not really to fold A♥K♦ on the river, even though that is correct,” he says. “The lesson is to build the pot preflop with your best hands so you never end up in that spot.
“Squeeze, set yourself a sensible stack-to-pot ratio, and a board like K♠Q♦J♣ becomes a hand you are happy to play instead of a trap you have to escape. Fix the small decision early and the expensive one never arrives.”
Hand Study · By Tim Ulmer, with commentary from Patrick “Egption” Tardif · Analysis powered by the QuintAce solver.
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