Flopping Trips Versus an Aggressive Mike Leah
I have another hand to share with you from that $25,000 High Roller event at the Seminole Hard Rock, a multi-way pot in which I flop very well from out of position but face some serious aggression from a strong opponent.
We were in the 300/600/75 level, and the hand began with the talented Mike Leah opening with a raise to 1,200 from under the gun. One player called before it folded to me in the big blind where I'd been dealt J♠8♥ and I called.
The flop came 8♠8♣2♥, giving me trips. There are many reasons for me to check here, and I did. As I note in the video below, on such a dry flop it's very likely for the prefop raiser to continue with a bet, and indeed Leah did bet 1,600.
The third player then raised to 4,000 and the action was back on me. Folding doesn't seem like an option here (at least not for me), but what should I do? What would you do?
Take a look at the video below to hear my reasoning throughout the hand and see how things developed from here.
As you can see, Leah putting in that reraise after my flop reraise put me in a difficult spot. So did his turn shove. Would you find a fold with one of the best hands in your range, or are you a payoff wizard?
Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $6,700,000 in live tournament earnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle.
