Hand Analysis from The Big Game with Andrew Robl
Andrew “Good2cu” Robl is known for his online and live cash-game prowess. He’s made numerous appearances on televised cash games, and most recently, he was featured on PokerStars.net’s The Big Game. He sat down with PokerNews to discuss a slightly controversial hand he played against Daniel Negreanu.
The
Stakes: $200-$400 with a $100 ante on the button
Type: Pot-limit hold’em preflop, no-limit hold’em postflop
For those who haven’t watched this episode, can you tell me what was going on at this table before this hand?
I came on halfway through the show. Three or four people had already busted, and Tony G was up about $400,000 just playing like a total maniac. Right before this hand, I played a huge pot with Tony G where I ended up laying down second pair with a good kicker when he bet two times the pot on the turn and he called the clock on me.
Preflop Action: William Reynolds straddled to $800. Robl raises to $2,500 with A♦J♠. It folded around to Daniel Negreanu in the small blind, and he called. The pot was $6,300.
I’d been playing pretty tight, but at this point, it’s pretty hard to put Daniel on a hand because he plays a lot of hands, even out of position. I did think that he’d be playing a little tighter against me though.
Flop Action: The flop comes A♥K♠2♠. Negreanu checked and Robl bet $4,000. Negreanu called. The pot was $14,300.
What do you think his range is now?
His range is pretty much any pair, flush draws, maybe a gutshot if he has king-ten, king-jack, or jack-ten.
It seemed like he was peeling a lot during this episode.
Yeah, in general he plays pretty loosely and pretty passively. Again, I still don’t have a great idea of what he has.
Turn Action: The turn was the 10♦. The board now read A♥K♠2♠10♦. Negreanu led with a bet of $8,500. Robl called. The pot is now $31,300.
What does his lead on the turn do to his range in your eyes?
I thought he could have a bunch of hands, but his mostly likely holdings were a hand like ace-ten, king-ten, queen-jack, or maybe a hand like four-five with a wheel draw on the flop, or a spade hand like eight-seven or nine-eight of spades, trying to steal the pot. There’s no real point in reraising here. I’m not going to get any value from his worse hands, and it would just put me in a bad spot. I just called and planned on reevaluating on the river. I think he might want to take down the pot with a weak draw in case I have nothing.
Or, he could have a hand he is betting for value like a straight he made or two-pair, but I think in general he’s more likely to have the weaker hands in his range than the stronger hands because why wouldn’t he check those value hands on the turn to let me keep bluffing. I guess there is a chance he was just leading into me with a good hand without thinking.
River Action: The river was the 10♥. The board now read A♥K♠2♠10♦. Negreanu bet $18,500. Andrew tanked, and Tony G called the clock.
What were you thinking at this point?
This card is interesting because in my eyes I think it’s a terrible card to continue bluffing on. The way the hand played, it’s pretty likely that I have either an ace or a king, but there are only really two hands with a king that I could have, which would be king-queen and king-jack. But, there are a ton of hands I could have with an ace. Most players wouldn’t fold an ace on this river because they’re going to chop with any other ace. There just aren’t that many hands that beat you. So, I thought if he was bluffing on the turn, he’d probably give up on it on the river.
When he made that bet, I was thinking about everything I just told you, and then Tony G called the clock on me after about 30 seconds. Then he started yelling at me, which kind of affected my thinking. I was thinking that Daniel could definitely have some spade hands, but then I was thinking that most of those hands are going to not call me out of the small blind because he’s out of position, there are two more players to his left that could squeeze, and I’m a tight and pretty tough player so I thought he’d be playing a bit tighter against me. I thought he could have hands like eight-seven, six-seven, nine-seven, or nine-eight of spades, but that’s not that many hands. I also thought that if he did have those hands, there’s a decent chance he’d give up on the river. The hands that beat me are king-ten, ace-ten, a set of twos full of tens. Those hands are pretty unlikely, too, so I was in a really tough spot. I didn’t have that much time to decide, but I guess I just figured that he wouldn’t try to bluff me in this spot. It’s definitely a very big lay down for that spot, but I just decided to fold.
Table Action: “What?” Negreanu said in surprise after Robl folded. He then showed the 6♠ and needles Robl, “I was so happy you called the clock Tony, high-five for the assist there just in case.”
When you call on the turn, it’s like you have a hand that you think is good. So, when this river doesn’t change the action much or texture of the board, you’re saying it would be a bad spot for him to bluff. Do you think that he was thinking that you knew it was a bad place to bluff; therefore, he could get away with it? Or do you think he was just bombing the river to try and get you to fold?
I think Daniel said to himself, “I have six-high and I can’t win unless I bet.” That’s probably what he thought.
It’s a funny hand because there could be leveling going on here, but you’re saying there’s not?
No, I don’t think so. I don’t know what he thought I was going to fold. I could have trips there too. I almost always have an ace or trips there.
On the show, you joked about being on tilt. Were you really tilted?
Um, yeah. I was a little tilted, but at the same time, I’m not going to go on crazy Phil Hellmuth tilt and start running around the room.
Have you talked to Daniel since then?
Yeah he actually called me on the phone and we talked. We’re cool now. I thought that was very big of him. It was probably a tough thing to do. In my blog I was kind of talking s*** about his poker game, so I’m sure it wasn’t easy to call me up. I really appreciated it, and it made me think much higher of him.
Did he address the things you wrote in the blog?
No, not really. He said he was going to start playing online again, so I told him that I was more than willing to play him. I haven’t seen him at the tables yet, though [laughs].
If you would like to read more about this episode of the Big Game, you can read Chad Halloway’s recap of the show.
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