Hand Analysis from WSOP Main Event with Adam Junglen Part 1
Adam Junglen is an experienced 22-year-old live and online tournament pro. Although it might seem odd to call a 22-year-old an experienced pro, it’s common in the poker world. At age 19, Junglen won the Sunday Million on PokerStars for $198,000. At 20, he placed sixth at the EPT Barcelona Open Main Event for $268,000. Since then, he has continued making a living through mostly online events from home in Ohio.
As most non-Vegas based pros do, Junglen came out for the World Series of Poker this summer and cashed twice. He took time out to talk to PokerNews about a couple of interesting hands he played in the $10,000 Main Event.
Hand #1
Blinds: 50-100
Junglen’s Stack: 27,000
Opponent’s Stack (Keith Lehr): 30,000
Concepts:
- Overplaying big pairs early in the Main Event
- Disguising hand strength preflop
Preflop Action: Junglen opened from the cutoff with pocket aces to 300. Lehr reraises to 1,075 from the small blind. Jungle four-bets to 2,850. Lehr five-bets 5,000 more to 7,850. Junglen calls.
It's interesting because my four-betting range there is not very wide at all. After Lehr five-bet 5,000 more and I just call, I think my hand is face up because I don't play any other hand this way. I don't think he knows that, though, and most of the table doesn't know that, but now everyone reading this knows that [laughs]. But that doesn't matter because it was a specific situation in the Main Event. Anyway, when he made it 5,000 more, I knew exactly what he had. He had aces or kings.
Postflop Action: The flop comes ace-king-six. Both players check. The turn is a seven. Lehr checks, and Junglen bets 6,000. Lehr moves all in and Junglen calls. Lehr shows pocket kings for a set, and Junglen shows pocket aces for a higher set.
It's a cooler. Honestly, though, he misplayed the hand preflop. Don't get me wrong, it's very bad luck to run two kings into two aces in level one of the Main Event and flop set over set, but if I were him, I would three-bet and then just call the four-bet. I might lose all my chips postflop with set over set but for him to think I'd call 5,000 more with a hand like ace-king is a little bit optimistic.
If his hand is face up to you after he five-bets, why did you decide not to try to get in all in preflop?
I like just calling there because it could put a doubt in his mind and that I could possibly have pocket queens. I actually asked him if I would have gone all in preflop whether he would have called or not and he said no. I don't know if I really believe him though. When I call 5,000 more and have 18,000 behind, I'm pretty committed to the pot, and I'm assuming on most boards we can get it in, beside maybe an ace-high board without the king.
Early in the Main Event, what would you have done with a hand like pocket queens there?
I would have just called his three-bet and played postflop. I honestly just call his three-bet with a hand like pocket queens and even kings or ace-king because I have position postflop and it's level one of the Main Event. I would really only four-bet and call a huge five-bet with two aces. He thinks there is a chance I show up with ace-king there, but that’s just not the case. The Main Event is too deep. It's too juicy. It would be too marginal of a spot to put in 5,000 more in with ace-king, let alone four-betting.
What is your general take on how to play big pairs in a tournament like the Main Event where there are deep stacks and a lot of weak players?
Well, in the Main Event, the biggest advantage is the two-hour levels. I guess a good example would be if we have starting stacks, the blinds are 150-300, and a player limps and someone isolates to 1,200, I'm calling behind with jacks or queens and hands like that. I'm not reraising there. I'm playing the big and medium pairs more cautiously just because you do have such an advantage post flop and it's such a deep tournament. One pair is usually not going to take you too far.
Is overplaying big pairs a big mistake you still see a lot people making in the Main Event?
Of course there are always a few players really overplaying big pairs preflop. I read an update that said some guy went broke with aces on a seven-five-three flop against a set in the first level. Players have gotten better though, and there are fewer and fewer players going broke like that, but of course it still happens.
Tomorrow, Junglen recounts another hand he played at the 2010 World Series of Poker, and discusses putting pressure on shorter stacks, so stay tuned for that, and as always, follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
