2015 WSOP Europe 888 Hand of the Day: Nitsche Comes Late, Leaves Early
The 2015 World Series of Poker Europe began in Berlin, Germany, Thursday with the first of 10 scheduled gold bracelet events, Event #1: €2,200 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em.
PokerNews was on hand for the kickoff and will be in Berlin for the duration of the 17-day series. As a part of our coverage, we will be bringing readers a special "888 Hand of the Day" every single day throughout the entire WSOP Europe schedule.
On Thursday, 888 Poker Ambassador Dominik Nitsche saw the flight from his Edinburgh, Scotland, home delayed by several hours. When he did finally arrive in Berlin, the German native and three-time WSOP bracelet winner headed straight to the Spielbank Berlin casino at Potsdamer Platz to late register Event #1.
Unfortunately, he was out much quicker, lasting less than a few orbits. However, his play did provide some insight into late-registration short-stack strategy, making the three hands he did play the 888 Hand of the Day.
Nitsche jumped into the game with a 10,000-chip starting stack at the beginning of Level 9 with blinds at 300/600 and a 75-chip ante — less than 20 big blinds.
"They gave me less than 20 big blinds," he would later tell PokerNews. "You've just got to get it in eventually."
Nitsche got in the action when he defended his big blind against a 1,200-chip open from New Zealand native and big stack [Removed:17] that was called by a third player. The flop fell 4♠6♠5♦, and Nitsche checked. Yan, who finished second in the WSOP Asia-Pacific A$25,000 High Roller last year, also checked, as did the third player.
The turn brought the 4♣ and even though he held an unconnected Ax3x, Nitsche fired out a bet of 2,500.
"This board is typically best for me in the big blind," Nitsche said. "It hits me the hardest out of all them. I have a stack size where I can bet around 40 to 50 percent of the pot and if one of them calls, I can make a good decision on the river.
"If the river is a seven, that would be a great card for me, completing the one-card straight. In fact, there are a lot of good river cards for me. Plus, it's quite hard for David to do anything about it, unless he has aces and checked the flop, but I did have an ace, so that's not likely."
Both opponents folded, and Nitsche took down the pot to move above the starting stack.
Soon after, another big stack at his table, the formidable Terrence Chan, made it 1,300 from early position. It folded to Nitsche on the button, and he three-bet to 3,000 with KxJx. The blinds passed, and Chan called before checking the 3♣5♦6♥ flop.
"Terrence opened from early position, so he has quite a lot of Broadway cards here," Nitsche explained. "I think if I bet he's going to fold quite a bit. I don't think it's likely that he has a pair of nines or better because he would just go all in before the flop there.
"The only problem is if he has seven-eight suited or something like that and hit the board. I thought it was more likely that he just missed and I could take the pot down with a small bet."
Nitsche fired out 2,500.
"I don't need to risk much," he said. "I just bet 2,500 into 7,000, which is all you need to take it down usually. Then he just went all in and I had to fold, but I'm quite happy with how I played that."
Left relatively short, an orbit later Nitsche open-shoved the K♥Q♦ from the button and got called by Yan in the big blind holding pocket threes. Although the board paired on the turn to give him additional outs, Nitsche bricked and busted.
"King-queen on the button for 12 big blinds, I have to get it in there," he said.
As the 2015 WSOP Europe rolls on, be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews for continued coverage, including regular 888 Hand of the Day articles.
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